Bridgend overnight 29Sep14

Yesterday's trap was set at dusk and before we retreated for the night, a Noctule Bat was a most welcome visitor for at least its fourth night over the garden. A couple of Silver Y were feeding on Verbena.

Anyway back to moths, only 23 moths of 9 species were caught when we opened up in the morning, the highlight a Blair's Shoulder-know plus a small 2nd generation Swallow-tailed moth and a Sallow.

Parc Slip

A bit of a disappointing catch in the trap this morning despite it looking good overnight. 24 species in total with the only ones new for the year being brick, yellow-line quaker, blair's shoulder-knot and feathered thorn. A couple of late waves also made an appearance (single-dotted and small fan-footed) with the only micros being one Eudonia angustea and a light brown apple moth and a solitary silver Y the only migrant.

Lavernock last night

A three-hour session at Lavernock Point Nature Reserve last night (MV plus 6W Heath trap) produced 36 species, two thirds of which were macros. The site was chosen due to the abundance of fleabane in the meadows, with Vaughn's recent Tebenna micalis very much in mind. Sure enough, one of these little beauties turned up - the photo, taken under the MV lamp, doesn't do it justice I'm afraid!

Tebenna micalis (3rd VC41 record)

Also new for ST16 were Bordered Beauty, Pink-barred Sallow and Scrobipalpa costella. Other highlights included Barred Sallow, Brindled Green, Oak Nycteoline, Dusky Thorn, a very late Blackneck, Wax Moth, Ebulea crocealis and Epermenia falciformis.

Barred Sallow

Bordered Beauty

Oak Nycteoline

Wax moth, Galleria mellonella

George and Martin Tordoff

Gorseinon & Pwlldu

29 species in the garden trap this morning, the best being 2 Brindled Green, Turnip Moth, Acleris sparsana, 2 Autumn Rustic and second generation Swammerdamia caesiella.  

Yesterday, 14 species of leaf-mining moth were noted at Pwlldu including Ectoedemia angulifasciella on Dog-rose, some vacated and therefore only putative mines of Bucculatrix bechsteinella on Hawthorn (I’ll put a pic up later and would welcome comments), Phyllonorycter acerifoliella on Field Maple and there were plenty mines of Grapholita tenebrosana on the hips of Dog-rose. Non-leps noted included mines of Scaptomyza flava on Sea Radish and Eriophyes convolvens galls on Spindle.

Grapholita tenebrosana mines in rose hips

possible Bucculatrix bechsteinella, a short mine with gallery filled with frass leading to small blotch, plus adjacent external feeding on upper leaf 

Parc slip.

                          Vaughn's Tebenna micalis.

Parc Slip

A rather damp night meant I wasn't exactly hopeful of anything exciting this morning and while the numbers were low (32 moths) it was definitely worth setting for the Tebenna micalis that was found in the trap. One was caught in Ceredigion over the weekend too so maybe there's a mini influx?
Mostly the usual suspects other than that - first autumnal rustics of the year and the first of the second brood of grey pine carpet with 18 species in total.

Hirwaun

Richard Wistow and myself had a good search of a field with abundant Devil's-bit Scabious today. We never found any Marsh Fritillaries but did see 17 Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla, which is more than I can remember seeing previously, though I note DRWG & MCP counted 35 at Llanilid in September 2005 - presumably another good year for second broods. Also noted were larvae of Fox Moth and the sawfly Abia sericea (below).

Botanical curiosity was provided by this rather fetching pink variety of Devil's-bit Scabious - I can see Richard has a natural flair for flower arranging!