A Red Admiral was in the trap this morning, presumably it was on night migration. This is my third butterfly record for the moth trap at Llandaff North, the others being Large White and Speckled Wood - both in 2008.
The previous night I had Silver Y and a Diamond-back. Nothing much else of note...still getting decent numbers of Common Marbled Carpet and Lesser Yellow Underwing, plus a few Angle Shades. The latter seems to be one of the few species that's had a good year in 2012.
Likewise here George with the Angle Shades,I have seen more this year than either of the previous two. Also now seeing lots of Feathered Ranunculus but very few Large Ranunculus.
ReplyDeleteI read something the other day that suggested the weather in the summer of 2011 had suppressed grass growth and favoured rosette forming species (like Ragwort) which have subsequently had very favourable conditions this year with all the rain. I wonder if these kind of effects have changed the moth population too?
Regarding ragwort, I've had more Cinnabar in the moth trap this year than in any previous year, but strangely very few larvae. On the other hand, Cochylis atricapitana (another ragwort feeder) has had a really bad year here.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the weather effects on the foodplants have an influence, but probably less important than the direct impacts of the weather on the moths and their larvae.