Crocidosema plebejana

Photo of the moth from Lavernock...

Crocidosema plebejana

Drysiog, Bryn. SS8292.

4 Diurnea lipsiella on the wing this afternoon.

Abercregan last night. SS8496.

                                  Spoladea recurvalis

                                  Red sword grass

                                 Diurnea lipsiella.
                                 Ran the trap from 8pm - 1am. It was breezy but a
                                 decent catch ensued. The Recurvalis was the first
                                 moth in at 8:30.
                                 Spoladea recurvalis        1        1st Glam record?
                                 Rusty dot pearl              11
                                 Feathered thorn              6
                                 November moth agg      4
                                 Silver Y                         1
                                 Spruce carpet                5
                                 Brick                            2
                                 Red sword grass           1
                                 Yellow spot tortrix       1
                                 Diurnea lipsiella           1         4th Glam record
                                 Blastobasis lacticolella  1.

Parc slip, thursday.

                              Another pic of the micro from Vaughn's post.
                              Calybites phasianipennella?
                              It was smaller in comparison to Calpotilia stigmatella.

Bridgend garden overnight 30Oct14 (MV)

A small but varied catch of 14 moths of 11 species.

4 Light Brown Apple moth, 1 Common Marbled Carpet, 1 Spruce Carpet, 1 November moth (agg) which escaped before better attempt at identification,1 Feathered Thorn, 1 Dotted Chestnut (to confirm),1 Black Rustic, 1 Green-brindled Crescent, 1 Yellow-line Quaker, 1 Red-line Quaker and 1 Silver Y.

Here are some photos below including the one which we think looks like Dotted Chestnut, a little worn and there are lots of wavy lines on it which confused us a bit. Any other opinions gratefully received

Dotted Chestnut?

Red-line Quaker

Yellow-line Quaker

   
Thanks
Emma Cram

Lavernock last night

Made a last minute decision to trap at Lavernock last night, spurred on by all the interesting migrants turning up elsewhere (including Wales' first Scar Bank Gem - see the Monts Blog). In the event, the only migrants caught were common species: Rusty-dot Pearl (4), Diamondback (3), Rush Veneer and Silver Y.

The best moth was Crocidosema plebejana, which is only about the 6th VC record (all from Cardiff and the south-eastern Vale). This might have been a wanderer but could be resident down there on the coast (the larvae feed on Tree Mallow). Also new for ST16 was November Moth aggregate - I caught 13 and took a few males home for closer inspection (none of the species have been recorded in ST16 before).

Strange to be switched on before 6 and finished in time to get chips on the way home!

George

Parc Slip

18 species caught at Parc Slip last night with silver Y and rusty-dot pearl the only migrants. Other macros of interest were a dark chestnut (below - i think the wings are hooked enough?) which isn't on my list for the site, a couple of chestnuts and an angle shades.

More micros than I've had for a while included Carcina quercana, Blastobasis lacticolella, light brown apple moth, Caloptilia stigmatella and the two below:

Is it possible to id the above as one of Acleris notana or ferrugana from a photo?

Not sure about this little Gracillaridae(?) - only messing about with the photo showed up the markings but i still can't place it. Paul also took (hopefully better) photos of it so I'm not sure if he managed to i.d. it...

Gowerton 29 Oct 14

In spite of the warm night only 6 species in the garden, including  a very dark Diamond Back and one of the almost infinitely variable Acleris cristana.

Plutella xylostella enjoying some dilute maple syrup

Acleris cristana

Tanji wood, Pontrhydyfen.

                           Caught this Diurnea lipsiella on the wing
                           yesterday afternoon.

Gowerton 28th Oct 14

14 species including another migrant new for the garden last night, Palpita vitrealis. Also another irresistible Merveille du Jour.

Palpita vitrealis

Merveille du Jour

Lavernock Point

MCP & myself did some ivy blossom around the point last night and had a few species: C. quercana [1], Rusty-dot Pearl [10], C.M. Carpet [3], Red-green Carpet [3], Feathered Thorn [1], Dark Sword-grass [1], Brick [1] & Angle Shades [2]. Lights at Cosmeston: November Moth agg. [1]. Trapping in Roath produced a Cypress Carpet [singles on 27th & 28th].

Creigiau last night

Only four moths attracted to the trap last night. All different and one of those was looking more than a little worse for wear.

However, a Mottled Umber was a first for me and a Green-brindled Crescent was a 'first for the year' so once again I can't complain.

Parc Slip

Very disappointing catch in the trap yesterday morning with only 4 species (most interesting was blair's shoulder-knot) but far more to the security lights around the office this morning: feathered ranunculus (first record for the site, at least according to my records), red sword-grass, feathered thorn, small fan-footed wave, common marbled carpet, green-brindled crescent, RL quaker, lots of November agg. and Platyptilia gonodactyla.

Saturday night in Creigiau

The weather looked good for Saturday night, 16C when I put the trap out and a minimum of 14C overnight. The catch comprised 16 moths of 7 species but two of these, Blair's Shoulder-knot and Feathered  Thorn, were 'first for the year'.

There was also a Diamond-back Moth but the colouring was much warmer than the one that paid a visit in June which had an almost white diamond pattern.

Howard

Migrant in Gowerton

At last, after several days of warm southerlies, a proper migrant, and one I have not seen before either. Uresiphita gilvata comes from southern Mediterranean and tropics.  Also Udea ferrugalis plus, over the last few days, Caloptilia azaleelle, Ypsolopha ustella, Carcina quercana, Clepsis consimilana and a lovely Merveille du Jour which I only seem to see about once a year.

Uresiphita gilvata

Caloptilia azaleella

Ypsolopha ustella

Merveille du Jour

Double Line in Gowerton!

Rather surprised, to put it mildly, to find this in the trap this morning.

A very late Double Line. 15th October 2014

Butterfly Conservation South Wales Branch AGM & Members Day

If you are at a loose end on Saturday, come then how about coming down to Kenfig for the Branch AGM? Non-members welcome! http://butterfly-conservation.org/244-6137/south-wales-agmmembers-day.html

Parc Slip

Decent catch here this morning - 15 species in total with the highlights being a red sword-grass, shuttle-shaped dart, red-green carpet and merveille du jour. Any excuse for a photo of the latter...

Parc slip today.

                              Possible "helice" form of Clouded yellow, the
                              upperwings were straw coloured.

Cardiff Central Station

There was a Large Ranunculus on the wall of Platform 1 at Cardiff Central Railway Station today. I've kept an eye out for moths at the station over the last five years, over which time I've probably visited over 400 times (platforms 3/4 in the morning and 1/2 in the evening). And how many moth species have I seen? Seven! Plus one butterfly.

The reason for this poor record is probably a combination of the very urban setting, and also the fact that there are so many lights that they interfere with each other and the moths probably don't settle readily.

Here's the list - a small but select bunch.

Denisia albimaculea
Blastobasis adustella
Agriphila tristella
Small Tortoiseshell
Large Ranunculus
Angle Shades
Scarce Bordered Straw
Red Underwing

Last one of the week

I've started seeing leaf mines in my sleep so this will be my last one this week - is this Stigmella tityrella on beech at Coed y Bedw?

Two more mines

Another couple found at Parc Slip today. Apologies for the poor photos.

Stigmella anomalella on a rose sp.?

Ectoedemia septembrella on St. John's Wort?

Leaf mines...

So having tried (with varying degrees of success) leaf mine id in Carms i thought i'd keep an eye out while doing other things on reserves in Glamorgan too. Here are some i found yesterday at Cwm Colhuw (apart from the meadowsweet which was at Parc Slip):

1. Stigmella plagicolella

2. Phyllonorycter spinicolella

4. Not sure on hazel

3. S.ulmariae on meadowsweet?

5. Not sure on hornbeam (i think..)

6. Not sure on dogwood

Parc slip.

                       Red underwing on the café wall this morning.