Stephensia brunnichella

This rather lovely little moth was caught by Elaine Wright at Merthyr-mawr on Saturday. She nearly didn't bother to show it to me thinking it was too tricky. Glad she did, since Stephensia brunnichella has only been recorded three times in Glamorgan, and not since the 1980s!

A rubbish photo as it wouldn't sit still and sadly expired during the course of the afternoon:

http://www.glamorganmoths.org.uk/moths/837

Cosmeston

Afraid I've got out of the habit of mothing for a couple of years due to other demands on my time. However I saw this Yellow Belle {Aspitates ochrearia} at Cosmeston in the W. paddock yesterday. Never seen one there before but I assume it's not particularly unusual as the habitat is OK acc to UK moths. Thanks to Mike Cram and Paul Parsons for confirming ID for me on Facebook.

Creigiau 19 May

Spotted this 'longhorn' moth when filling the bird feeders in the garden.  I think it could be Nematopogon swammerdamella.

Only ever seen one 'longhorn' before and that was on the Coast Path at Baglan on a 'bee walk' with Liam Olds last summer. That was Adela croesella so this one will be new for me … whatever it is.
Grateful for correction/confirmation.

(background grid is 2mm)

Llandaff - Garden - 20th May

It's been a rather slow start to the year with very few moths in the trap. The temps were good last night with some decent cloud cover but still no more thatn 20 moths in the trap.

I've a few large pots filled with Purple Toadflax around the garden with the hope of some more Toadflax Brocades appearing. I was in luck as one was in the trap this morning along with a Poplar Hawk, Light Emerald, White-pinion Spotted and usual Heart and Dart etc. Great to see that the Brocades are still around.

New Website

As some of you will know I have been working on a new website for the group. I figure now is as good a time as any to let it out for general consumption! The main purpose of the site is to let people see the records and maps for the species found in Glamorgan, and will be populated with photos, some of which have been collated by me from this blog and it's predecessor, others are new (and thanks to Chris in particular for many of these).

If you want to contribute or have news or events you think should be added then please let me know. I have no desire to be the sole Admin for the site so if you think you can help keep it relevant and up to date then please get in touch.

The new site can be found at www.glamorganmoths.org.uk. enjoy, and let me know if you spot any problems!

Bilberry Pug larva

Last night's Blue Ground Beetle hunt with BugLife at Pontneddfechan failed to produce any Blue Ground Beetles, but in compensation it was nice to find a larva of Bilberry Pug in a spinning on Bilberry. This was close to the footbridge near the Nedd-Pyrddin confluence, but luckily on the VC41 side of the river.

There are 18 VC41 records in my MapMate, all from NPT and Swansea, and all of which are adult records. So perhaps this is the first larval record for Glamorgan?