With another fine, dry (0% chance of rain, according to the met Office, Brecon Beacons mountain area forecast) night in store, I decided to take advantage of the mild overnight temperatures and run the trap on the Taff trail, north of Merthyr Tydfil, in the relatively under recorded 10km square SO01. The night started well, with the trap being switched on at 21:45, but at around 23:00, there was a sharp shower (so much for the forecast), lasting around 15 minutes, which had me scurrying around trying to cover the lamp, generator and eventually had me standing holding a golf umbrella over the trap.
I had planned to make it a relatively short session, but inevitably I ended up trapping until 03:15, as the moths just kept coming. By far the most numerous group were the Crambidae, with the mass of Scoparia ambigualis, Eudonia mercurella and Dipleurina lacustrata numbering several hundreds. After each visit to the trap, I came away with so many clinging to my trousers that as I stamped my feet to dislodge them, they filled the air like confetti.
In the end, 96 species were recorded, 15 of which were new to SO01 and of those 7 were macros.
Highlights included Argyresthia bonnetella, Acleris forsskaleana, Catoptria margaritella, Udea olivalis, Acrobasis advenella, Orange Swift, Large Emerald, Chinese Character (I don't get many of these), a stunningly marked Dark Marbled Carpet, Black Arches, Dingy Footman, Scarce Footman, Buff Footman, Dark Swordgrass, Dark Spectacle and Marsh Oblique-barred.
Continuing Adam's thread a little, I also had 7 Cydia splendana, but these are nothing unusual up here and I have often had good numbers of them in the past.
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