Abercregan last night.

                       Mottled grey (7)

                       Mottled umber (3)
                       Also 2 Red-green carpet and a Diamond back moth.
                       Ran the MV from 8-12PM on a still night at 7 degrees.

Finally a December Moth in Bridgend

It was well worth putting the moth trap out last night for the 60th and final time this year. The only moth caught was a lovely December moth. A new one for me and a garden tick. We finish the year on 230 species (150 macro / 80 micro). The garden list now stands at 442 species (282/160) at the end of our 15th consecutive year.

Gorseinon

Nothing exceptional to write home about on what was an exceptionally mild November night. A darkish example of Pseudaryrotoza conwagana is a week later than the previous latest Glamorgan record and a Dark Arches just missed the latest record for that species by one day, Veronica Shenston having recorded one at Cwm Ivy on the 16th Nov 2001. Migrants limited to just a few Silver Ys and a Diamond Back Moth. A Cypress Carpet two days ago was just the 5th garden record of what has been an annual visitor since 2015.

Postscript: Just found this on the bottom of the trap when tapping out (8th garden record)... 

Abercregan last night.

               December moth

              December moth

              Scarce umber.
              9 species to the MV last night up to midnight. 22 December moth,
              8 Feathered thorn, 8 Yellow line quaker and 4 November moth agg
              on a damp but warmish 10 degrees evening.

Late Vapourer

There was a male Vapourer flying in the Alun Valley this morning. A few years ago I saw one in Barry in early November but this is the latest I've seen one. Also a Red Admiral flying in the warm(ish) sunshine.

Dotted Chestnut - Creigiau 2013

Having just read Barry's post re Dotted Chestnut, I had a look on Aderyn to see if my 2013 garden record was there and was surprised to find it wasn't! The only record for ST08 is a 'historic' 1857 record in Llantrisant.

I was new to trapping moths and used to post images on a website called 'Back Garden Moths' for help with identification. The site is no more but I have 2 garden records for Dotted Chestnut, 09 & 12 April 2013 (images below). I only grabbed images of the first one, and as it was so distinctive I obviously didn't make the effort for the second.

Later that year I started submitting records to Dave at SEWBReC, sending spreadsheets of all my records to date but this one doesn't seem to have made it through to Aderyn which is a shame as it would add a modern record to the mix.

Dotted Chestnut at Cwm Ivy

Veronica Shenston caught this first for Gower last night. There are ten 21st Century records from the east of the county, but I believe this is the first modern record for the west of the county, the only other being an 1887 record by Vivian at Port Talbot.

Red-Green Carpet in Bridgend

We only had 5 moths last night, but among them this one was a cracker - only our third record of Red-green Carpet.

Abercregan 10/10/18

                      Scarce bordered straw

                      Merveille du jour.
                      10 species in total inc my first November moth of the year.

Dunraven last night 10/10/18.

                          
                            Figure of eight

                          L-album wainscot

                         Acleris sparsana

                        Caloptilia rufipennella.
                        I was hoping for a lengthy session trapping for migrants in the
                        SE winds, but torrential rain stopped play at 10.20pm. I did
                        get one of my target moths, Figure of eight, but no migrants.
                        15 sp in all with Barred sallow (6) being the most numerous.
                       

Port Eynon garden

A quick visit from my usual home in Buckinghamshire. Best of the catch was Feathered Ranunculus (not a species I get at home), L-Album Wainscot (same, although there seem to have been some inland catches of late over my way), Autumnal Rustic and a pristine Silver Y.

Also has a Painted Lady butterfly in the garden yesterday afternoon (my first this year).

Dave Morris

Abercregan last night, Oleander hawkmoth!

                                Trapped my usual Thursday night venue last night and was
                                hoping for a migrant or two in the warm southerly breeze.
                                I only got one migrant, sitting beside the trap at 10.45pm,
                                but i'm not complaining!

Bridgend

A much better catch than of late in warmer, but damp conditions, with 24 moths of 11 species. The highlights were Eudonia angustea, Barred Sallow and Pale Mottled Willow all new for the year. This made it our best ever year for the garden with 223 species to date beating the very good year of 2006 (222). Apart from the usual suspects, other species caught were Large Ranunculus and Blair's Shoulder-knot.

Gorseinon

With the arrival of a few migrants in the country and the remotest of possibilities that an Oleander Hawk might turn up, I dusted of the trap ... Sadly, there was no Oleander, but a reasonable catch of 25 species including a  Pearly Underwing, Turnip Moth and few Silver Y's showed there were a few migrants buzzing around . A late Riband Wave, Pine Carpet, Merveille du Jour and 18 Black Rustics were the pick of the residents.

Gower cliffs

It was such a beautiful day that another trip to the cliffs at Port Eynon was essential! I've been trying to catch up with Agdistis meridionalis for years, including there but without success, until yesterday!
Quite a lot of searching finally produced this single individual, tucked amongst the vegetation around its foodplant Rock Sea Lavendar. I took lots of photos but it wasn't til I got home that I spotted the pupal case so presumably it must have just hatched. The case was actually attached to a succulent but I can't seem to identify it.

Agdistis meridionalis with pupal case

The same moth, head on

Habitat shot with the moth and pupal case just visible

I also spotted at least 3 of these very worn torts flying around a large clump of Thrift but the photos do not correspond with any thrift feeders. Any thoughts anyone?

Dunraven last night.

                                 Orange sallow, at least 6 seen. Only six post 1980
                                 records in TMOG, all singletons.

                               Barred sallow. at least 6 of these too.

                              Northern rustic, 2.

                            L-album wainscot, 2.

                          Willow beauty, 2 very small late brood specimens seen.
                          They were so small I initially mistook them for Brussels lace.
                          18 sp in all, inc Large ranunculus, 2 second brood Small fan
                          footed waves, Mecyna asinalis and Dark swordgrass.
                         

Llandaff - Garden - 17th September

A very warm and humid evening, although very blustery.

I think someone has to have purchased some Box hedging plants locally as another two of the normal form of Cydalima perspectalis, were in the trap. Among the usual underwings were four Large Ranunculus, two Sallow and a couple of Dark Sword Grass.

Sallow

Cydalima perspectalis

 

Bridgend Large Ranunculus

52 moths of 14 species last night, our first Large Ranunculus of the autumn, of interest another Dusky Thorn in among the Large Yellow Underwings and Square-spot Rustics. Also locally my daughter found hundreds of Horse Chestnut Leaf-miners in the trees at Sunnyside in Bridgend.

Llandaff - Garden - 14th September

A mild night but very humid with a fair bit of drizzle for most of the night.

I've started to get some nice Autumnal moths over the last week. Friday night produced two Sallows, a couple of Large Ranunculus and another Red Underwing.

The start of some migrant activity with a Dark Sword Grass, Rush Veneer and the highlight being a very nice Cydalima perspectalis (Dark form). Most likely an immigrant on potted Box.

Red Underwing

Cydalima perspectalis

Micro moths.

                 Scrobipalpa instabilella. Gen det by Stephen Palmer. From
                 Dunraven on 21st august. 2nd county record I think.

                 Prays ruficeps. 2 in the garden trap at Nantyffyllon last night.
                 This is moth species No 700 for my home KM square - SS8592.

Phaulernis fulvigutella.

                  Great find by Martyn Hnatiuk. He had 5 there on 4th sep and I saw
                  3 there yesterday. Top end of Craig yr aber, Llangynwyd.

L-album Wainscot in Bridgend

We're glad we took the effort to drag out and set the trap last night after a long day. This L-album Wainscot was the highlight of an otherwise uninspiring catch of 40 moths of 10 species.

Llandaff - Garden - 31st August

A very warm and humid evening here in Llandaff, although yet another clear sky.

The trap was filled with Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing and Square-spot Rustic. A few other regulars Light Emerald, Angle Shades, Copper Underwing, Yellow-barred Brindle and also a rather monochromatic looking Small Ranunculus? I think. At first I thought it was a Broad-barred White, as of no yellow/orange colouring. Flight time is a bit late also. Any thoughts welcome.
The best of the evening were three nice Tortrix moths. Some help needed but I think I may have them correct.

Cochylis molliculana?

Cochylis atricapitana?

Clavigesta purdeyi?

Small Ranunculus?

Nantyffyllon.

                Phyllonorycter strigulatella in the garden trap on sat morning.

Stigmella myrtillella

Last year, Sam and Nick posted on the Gwent blog about finding this leafminer on Bilberry in VC35, and since then I've been keeping an eye out for it in Glamorgan. Chris Jones and I had a quick search at Seven Sisters on Friday and found two vacated mines.

 

This seems to be the first VC41 record, though it is doubtless under-recorded as it needs to be specifically looked for and this usually means a hands-and-knees search. The mines we found are probably first generation mines, so there should be a new crop of mines from the second generation over the next few weeks. These should be visible until the Bilberry leaves drop in October/November.