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.

10th April 2012

Finally, after 3 years of trying, I managed to attract a wild male Emperor Moth to the garden this afternoon using a captive-bred, 'displaying' female. But it was all over very quickly - the male appeared out of nowhere and landed by the container holding the female only to be seized and carried off by one of the local Robins! The photo is therefore of captive-bred moths.

30th March 2012

A second run out for the MV trap this year produced most of the usual suspects with pride of place going to a very smart Oak Beauty, just the third garden record.

23rd March 2012

The first night that I've put the MV trap out this year resulted in a nice collection of early spring species despite temperatures tumbling to below 40 degrees by 6am. Early Thorn, Red Chestnut and Small Quaker were highlights.

Early Thorn:

Red Chestnut:

Small Quaker:

The Chestnut:

12th March 2012

A few mild nights have seen the moth trap going out more regularly but so far only a few of the normal early species have appeared. Dotted Border is a frequent visitor but I have never seen the flightless female before. Last night one appeared - on the bathroom ceiling of all places.