Winter trapping.

                                  Nantyffyllon on 29th,
                                  December moth x2
                                  Winter moth x4.

                                  Abercregan on 28th,
                                  December moth x5
                                  Winter moth x9
                                  Spruce carpet x2
                                  Yellow line quaker x2
                                  Feathered thorn x1.

an old pic

Came across this poor record shot of Loxostege sticticalis (trapped at Delvid Farm west Gower on 05 Aug 1995) when looking for some pics today - according to NBN this is the only Welsh record - is that correct?

Parc slip.

                                    Mottled umber x4

                                   December moth

                                  Feathered thorn.
                                  Also 2 Winter moth. All on the centre walls this morning.

Rhoose Point

3 December moths, 1 Silver Y and a Feathered Thorn in the trap this morning.

December Moth

Parc Slip

Slightly warmer temperatures last night meant I managed to catch more moths than last week - not difficult given that I caught a grand total of zero then...
Last night resulted in 1 Epirrita sp., 4 x chestnut and 1 x rusty dot pearl.

Ectoedemia argyropeza new for Glamorgan

I found around 15 mines of Ectoedemia argyropeza on fallen Aspen leaves at Hailey Park meadow, Llandaff North, today. This seems to be the first record for VC41. The mines were pretty obvious due to the distinctive green windows they create in the yellowing leaves:

Green windows

The mine begins in the petiole then moves into the leaf itself. Most of the mines were still occupied despite having fallen from the trees.

Mine in petiole

Larva in mine

There are plenty of Aspens in the meadow at Hailey Park, presumably planted after it was landscaped following closure of the landfill site. Although this tree is generally quite uncommon in South Wales, it is often planted in parks and I'm sure the moth must occur elsewhere. This must be the best time of year to look for them, as the green windows are so obvious.

Hailey Park habitat

Streaky Coleophoras

I caught a few of the streaky grey and white Coleophora in the garden over the summer, and kept a few for dissection as this group is more or less impossible to ID externally (with a few exceptions). I've now dissected these and the results are:

Coleophora tamesis 5    (foodplant: Jointed Rush)
Coleophora glaucicolella 1 (various rushes)
Coleophora striatipennella 1 (stitchworts and mouse-ears)

The predominance of tamesis is suprising as I don't know of any Jointed Rush around Llandaff North. C striatipennella appears to be only the 6th county record, though there is a previous one from ST17 (Penylan, 1989).

Rhoose Point

Nice to see this Feathered Thorn in the trap this morning.  To my surprise it's also new for the garden record!

Late Record

I had a Flame Carpet at Pengam Green, Tremorfa on 7th Nov. and according to GMRG data, is the latest ever for this species in VC41. A very late resident or an immigrant maybe?

Retrospective first for Wales

Whilst digging out a pic of Phyllonorycter scopariella for Chris I came across an incorrectly labelled (i.e. I got the original ID wrong!) photo of Caloptilia azaleella (Azalea Leaf Miner). The photo was taken on 27 May 2005, which trumps Dave's (Slade) 'New for Wales' Cardiff record on 15th May 2006 by almost a year ;-)

Also an unlabelled caddis which is Odontocerum albicorne (Silver Sedge) from the same folder, taken 12th July 2005. For those interested in naming the caddis attracted to your traps, Barnard & Ross (2012) is well worth buying.

Parc Slip

Trap was run last thursday night - 3 x red-line quaker, 1 x yellow-line quaker, 1 x chestnut, 2 x feathered thorn, 2 x Epirrita sp. and 1 Epinotia ramella (thanks for id Dave). Also a dark sword-grass resting on the wall this morning.

Llandaff North GMS 2013

With the Garden Moth Scheme having finished for the year (I'm not hardy enough to do the winter version) I thought I'd have a look at the moth numbers and compare them with other years. This is probably more meaningful than the usual end of year summary I do, as the trapping rate is fixed at once per week (from the start of March to the start of November). The downside is that it only includes 213 species (I've only included those which have been in the scheme from the start).

 Here are the results from my garden:

Year	Total moths	Species	Mean min. temp (degC)
2007	888	83	10.99
2008	768	83	10.64
2009	791	90	10.41
2010	953	95	10.11
2011	1141	96	10.71
2012	886	84	9.59
2013	1260	92	9.78

 
So 2013 has been the best year in terms of numbers, but not in terms of species. Quite impressive considering very few moths were caught before June. The low average temperature is due mainly to the very cold spring.

A few species had by far their best ever year in the GMS, these being Common Marbled Carpet, Swallow-tailed, Bright-line Brown-eye, Flame Shoulder, Dot, Buff Ermine and Agriphila straminella.

L-album Wainscot in Llandaff North

I was delighted to trap a late L-album Wainscot last night - this appears to be the 3rd Cardiff record after two in Jake's garden in Roath (in 2011 and 2013). It has also been recorded inland in the Vale in recent years, in Cowbridge and Dinas Powys. Which makes me wonder...is it now breeding inland or are these just wanderers from a burgeoning coastal population in Glamorgan?

L-album Wainscot, Llandaff North