27th May 2012

A fairly quiet night was a disappontment but there were still a handful of year firsts. Platyedra subcinerea was the second garden record (first recorded in 2008) and I believe also the second county record.

26th May 2012

With another warm night forecast I put out both MV and actinic traps for the first time this year. 40 moths of 26 species in the MV; just 13 of 8 in the actinic! A handful of species new for the year but thestar was this beautiful Lime Hawkmoth, a species absent from the garden last year.

After photos of captive adults, wild adults, mating adults and resulting eggs here's a photo of a 1st instar larva - I currently have several dozen eating me out of house and hawthorn. Hopefully further pictures to follow.

24th May 2012

Still warm but a strong wind overnight kept moth numbers right down. A few first appearance of the year but the biggest surprise was the second garden record of Grey Pine Carpet, last trapped here in 2008.
Update: on checking photos of the 2008 record I'm fairly certain I mis-identified a poorly marked Spruce Carpet - this record is therefore promoted to a garden first!

23rd May 2012

The weather has improved dramatically and moth numbers have increased with a few micros beginning to appear. Syndemis musculana is fairly uncommon in my garden and I've never managed a particularly good photo so I was delighted when this very fresh individual.

16th May 2012

My final female Emperor moth emerged a couple of days ago and despite time and weather conditions being far from ideal (late afternoon, windy and cool) I put her outside in the hope of attracting a wild male. The brush structure protruding from the abdomen (1st picture) showed she was 'displaying' and around 45 minutes later a male finally appeared. It bumbled around in the garden for 15 minutes before I lost patience, netted him and placed him next to the female - mating started immediately (2nd picture). The result is in the 3rd picture!

 

30th April 2012

At last a reasonable night for trapping - if you ignore the heavy rain. Most of the moths were new for the year but the highlight was a very early Silver Y, all the more remarkable as I recorded only a handful of this species during the entire of last year. Scarce Tissue was also very welcome after being absent last year. I'm confident that the pug (picture below) is Golden-Rod but would welcome any comments. Caloptilia stigmatella was the highlight amongst a small number of micros.