Forest Farm

Gareth Stamp and I ran a moth morning for Innovate Trust's Green Days Project at Forest Farm this morning. We had an excellent catch with the 3 traps left on site overnight being busy with moths this morning.

The highlight for me was the gelechiid Monochroa lucidella, which I've never seen before, though it has to be said that no-one else seemed very excited about it and much preferred the Elephant Hawks (8 of those), Poplar Hawks, Buff Arches, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Green Arches and emeralds. We also caught 4 Obscure Wainscots - this species must be breeding in the reedbeds nearby.

Obscure Wainscot

Monochroa lucidella

  And especially for Dave, here's a Common Wainscot (hindwing checked).

Common Wainscot

The attendees, all adults with learning difficulties, were really enthusiastic about the moths and seemed to get a lot out of it. They all got to handle an Elephant Hawk or two

I also took along some moths from the garden trap, which included this worn Aleimma loeflingiana new for the site.

Aleimma loeflingiana