1st June 2017

The first really busy night of the year produced the first new moth of the year, the long-expected Clouded-bordered Brindle. This is another of those species that appear to be quite common in Huntingdonshire just not in my bit of it.

26th May 2017

The first blog entry of the year as it's been a particularly slow start to the year with lots of cool nights and a fair amount of reluctance on my part to get up early and look into an empty trap! Still, the warm nights have now arrived and last night was pretty good for late May with 40 species. Elachista atricomella and Platytes cerussella were both second garden records and it's always nice to see Maiden's Blush which is quite uncommon here.

                                Elachista atricomella

                                Platytes cerussella

                                Maiden's Blush

August 2016

Dissections from August:

                                0445 Ocnerostoma friesei

Caught on 13th August, a garden first and 3rd for the county.

                                1738 Common Carpet

Also taken on 13th August was this unusually dark Common Carpet.

July 2016

Dissections from July:

                                1045 Acleris notana

Trapped on 7th July, a first garden record.

                                0290 Caloptilia semifascia

Trapped on 19th July, a garden first

                                2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character

From general appearance I thought this moth was a good candidate for Triple-spotted Clay. Both the CR and me were very surprised to find it was an abberant SHC.

June 2016

Several micros were retained over the year for identification/confirmation by gendet. The county recorder for VC31, Barry Dickerson, has returned the dissection results with the following identified for June 2016:

                                0397 Glyphipterix thrasonella

Trapped on 7th June, the black markings on the wings are distinctive. A garden first and the 5th county record.

                                1275 Dichrorampha flavidorsana

Caught on 11th June this was a second garden record (fourth for the county) after a rather battered individual in 2013.

                                0584 Coleophora alticolella

Trapped 21/6. The third garden record but the first since 2010.

7th October 2016

Just one micro in the traps overnight proved to be just the second garden record of Acleris sparsana - the first was back in 2005.

15th September 2016

The last in a series of very warm nights and sunny days produced the first of a number of the autumn species, the third Crombrugghia distans of the year and the first Bedellia somnulentella for 10 years.