Ten Years of Moth Records in our Garden
David Baker of the Butterfly Conservation, Yorkshire Branch first joined us in 2012 to trap moths to show to our visitors at our inaugural Wildlife Day. Since then he has returned regularly to record the moths that visit the garden, recording 110 micro species and 245 macros, some of them quite rare. The word “trap” alarms some people who associate the word with killing etc. However, no moths are harmed in these sessions and all are released after counting. On Wildlife Days the catches are displayed to interested parties during the day prior to release. You can read David’s full reports of trapping session here. He was accompanied on all the visits, unless noted otherwise, by David Laughlin.
This page gives you the full report of moth trapping in 2022, we are pleased that new species, highlighted in bold, are still being recorded, with one new micro species and 6 new macro species. The full list of moths trapped in the garden since 2012 can be read here.
Night 2022/1
The season was commenced on Saturday/Sunday 19/20 March and after our home trapping counts we were surprised by the numbers of moths within the traps on a cold Sunday morning. In many ways they were the “usual suspects” but still welcomed.
70.255 Agriopis marginaria Dotted Border 1
73.069 Xylocampa areola Early Grey 3
73.242 Orthosia incerta Clouded Drab 11
73.244 Orthosia cerasi Common Quaker 13
73.245 Orthosia cruda Small Quaker 20
73.249 Orthosia gothica Hebrew Character 15
73.250 Anorthoa munda Twin-spotted Quaker 2
Night 2022/2
Streamer
Back again on Sunday 17th April after a relatively mild night at home but with not much to report in our home traps. Vanessa and Hattie welcomed us as we were opening the traps. We were pleasantly surprised by the 3 Geometer species, particularly the newcomer, The Streamer.
63.115 Acentria ephemerella Water Veneer 1
70.066 Earophila badiata Shoulder Stripe 2
70.067 Anticlea derivata Streamer 1
70.239 Selenia tetralunaria Purple Thorn 1
73.069 Xylocampa areola Early Grey 1
73.242 Orthosia incerta Clouded Drab 1
73.244 Orthosia cerasi Common Quaker 1
73.249 Orthosia gothica Hebrew Character 4
Night 2022/3
Our next visit was on 14th May and catches were much the same as at home excepting that 2 new species were recorded for the site. Low numbers but good quality!
Early Tooth-striped
Golden-rod pug
Night 2022/4
Records at home were very poor at this time, 4th June, and we were surprised by the good results we obtained with a good variety of macros including 2 new species for the site.
Clouded-bordered brindle
Shears
49.031 Aphelia paleana Timothy Tortrix 1
49.156 Hedya nubiferana Marbled Orchard Tortrix 1
03.002 Korscheltellus lupulina Common Swift 1
69.003 Laothoe populi Poplar Hawk-moth 2
70.053 Xanthorhoe designata Flame Carpet 4
70.054 Xanthorhoe montanata Silver-ground Carpet 1
70.079 Thera britannica Spruce Carpet 3
70.222 Petrophora chlorosata Brown Silver-line 1
70.224 Plagodis dolabraria Scorched Wing 1
72.015 Calliteara pudibunda Pale Tussock 2
72.019 Spilosoma lutea Buff Ermine 2
72.020 Spilosoma lubricipeda White Ermine 8
73.155 Apamea epomidion Clouded Brindle 1
73.173x Oligia strigilis agg. Marbled Minor agg. 2
73.176 Oligia fasciuncula Middle-barred Minor 1
73.267 Lacanobia oleracea Bright-line Brown-eye 2
73.273 Hada plebeja Shears 1
73.301 Leucania comma Shoulder-striped Wainscot 1
73.317 Agrotis exclamationis Heart and Dart 1
73.328 Axylia putris Flame 1
73.333 Diarsia mendica Ingrailed Clay 1
73.334 Diarsia rubi Small Square-spot 5
73.359 Xestia c-nigrum Setaceous Hebrew Character 5
Night 2022/5
Although we were not attending the Wildlife Day which Vanessa was running on the Sunday 26th June we agreed to run the traps on the Saturday evening the 25th June and leave samples of the catch to be shown to Sunday visitors. Unfortunately the evening was not very acceptable to the moth fraternity and we had a very poor turnout, as listed below.
63.025 Anania hortulata Small Magpie 1
70.207 Lomaspilis marginata Clouded Border 2
70.258 Peribatodes rhomboidaria Willow Beauty 3
70.265 Alcis repandata Mottled Beauty 2
71.025 Phalera bucephala Buff-tip 2
72.019 Spilosoma lutea Buff Ermine 1
72.045 Eilema lurideola Common Footman 4
73.096x Hoplodrina octogenaria/blanda Uncertain/Rustic agg. 5
73.099 Hoplodrina ambigua Vine’s Rustic 1
73.255 Anarta trifolii Nutmeg 1
73.291 Mythimna pallens Common Wainscot 1
73.317 Agrotis exclamationis Heart and Dart 2
73.342 Noctua pronuba Large Yellow Underwing 1
Night 2022/6
Our next visit on 16th July coincided with the few days when Great Britain was suffering it’s highest ever temperatures and we did have almost 100 specimens on the Sunday morning. Only 2 species were new to the site as highlighted below.
Gypsonoma dealbana
Larch pug
16.001 Yponomeuta evonymella Bird-cherry Ermine 2
17.003 Ypsolopha dentella Honeysuckle Moth 1
28.014 Crassa unitella 2
41.002 Blastobasis adustella 1
49.025 Pandemis cerasana Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix 1
49.026 Pandemis heparana Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix 1
49.038 Clepsis consimilana 1
49.061 Acleris holmiana 1
49.062 Acleris forsskaleana 2
49.279 Gypsonoma dealbana 1
62.035 Acrobasis advenella 2
62.077 Endotricha flammealis 1
63.064 Scoparia ambigualis 1
63.080 Chrysoteuchia culmella Garden Grass-veneer 3
65.001 Falcaria lacertinaria Scalloped Hook-tip 1
66.010 Euthrix potatoria Drinker 1
69.003 Laothoe populi Poplar Hawk-moth 1
69.016 Deilephila elpenor Elephant Hawk-moth 1
70.011 Idaea dimidiata Single-dotted Wave 1
70.016 Idaea aversata ab. remutata Riband Wave [non-banded form] 2
70.074 Hydriomena furcata July Highflyer 1
70.151 Eupithecia pulchellata Foxglove Pug 1
70.163 Eupithecia lariciata Larch Pug 1
70.207 Lomaspilis marginata Clouded Border 2
70.258 Peribatodes rhomboidaria Willow Beauty 1
70.265 Alcis repandata Mottled Beauty 3
70.270x Ectropis bistortata Engrailed/Small Engrailed 3
72.019 Spilosoma lutea Buff Ermine 1
72.044 Eilema griseola Dingy Footman 6
72.045 Eilema lurideola Common Footman 9
72.046 Eilema complana Scarce Footman 1
73.045 Acronicta rumicis Knot Grass 1
73.096x Hoplodrina octogenaria/blanda Uncertain/Rustic agg. 7
73.120 Eremobia ochroleuca Dusky Sallow 1
73.160 Apamea scolopacina Slender Brindle 1
73.162 Apamea monoglypha Dark Arches 1
73.169x Mesapamea secalis agg. Common Rustic agg. 1
73.173x Oligia strigilis agg. Marbled Minor agg. 2
73.270 Melanchra persicariae Dot Moth 1
73.293 Mythimna impura Smoky Wainscot 3
73.317 Agrotis exclamationis Heart and Dart 2
73.325 Agrotis puta puta Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
73.342 Noctua pronuba Large Yellow Underwing 7
73.361 Xestia triangulum Double Square-spot 7
Night 2022/7
We met with a very despondent Vanessa on Sunday morning, 7th August. The evening temperature had been quite low and the trap boxes were looking extremely empty. Not a great catch as shown below. Better luck in a couple of weeks or so??
16.001 Yponomeuta evonymella Bird-cherry Ermine 1
41.002 Blastobasis adustella 1
49.039 Epiphyas postvittana Light Brown Apple Moth 2
49.166 Celypha lacunana 1
62.035 Acrobasis advenella 2
62.048 Euzophera pinguis 1
63.089 Agriphila tristella 1
03.001 Triodia sylvina Orange Swift 1
70.173 Eupithecia centaureata Lime-speck Pug 2
70.235 Ennomos fuscantaria Dusky Thorn 1
71.017 Pheosia tremula Swallow Prominent 1
72.044 Eilema griseola Dingy Footman 1
72.045 Eilema lurideola Common Footman 1
73.062 Amphipyra pyramidea agg. Copper Underwing agg. 1
73.162 Apamea monoglypha Dark Arches 1
73.169x Mesapamea secalis agg. Common Rustic agg. 1
73.329 Ochropleura plecta Flame Shoulder 4
73.334 Diarsia rubi Small Square-spot 2
73.342 Noctua pronuba Large Yellow Underwing 4
73.359 Xestia c-nigrum Setaceous Hebrew Character 13
Well, those couple of weeks passed by and unfortunately I was caught by the Covid Virus. After a few days with the sniffles I developed a sore throat and took a Covid test which showed a slight trace, confirmed by the Doctor as being positive. The worsening throat troubles meant, therefore, that our prospective date of 28 August was postponed.
The troubles persisted and on Saturday 24 September I decided that we should terminate our 2022 trapping at Stillingfleet. When collating our results I find that we had one new micro species and six new macros, making our totals now 110 micro species and 245 macros over the 10 years trapping.
Let’s hope that 2023 will be kinder to us. D Baker 24 September 2022
