Another debut last night, along with a great many moths. Here is an Orange Ladybird, one of a pair which were busying about when I went to inspect things this morning. The night was very warm and there were plenty of Dark Arches, Yellow Underwings et al, plus thousands of mini-flies, because I had chosen to put it in some long grass near trees. There was also an interesting reminder that you need to check the surroundings of the trap as well as the bowl and eggboxes themselves.
A lot of Emerald and Swallowtail moths are about at the moment and they showed up easily against the grass and vetch. Here are a couple, and there were ten more, plus three Brimstone Moths and a Peppered, all hiding incompetently nearby. Alas, a female blackbird took an interest in my proceedings this morning for the first time this year. Veteran readers will know what that means. Scroll back through last year to 9 August... I shall try to be careful.
5 comments:
That looks like a snow pea silhouetted against the pale yellow moth. And is the purple flower the vetch? I believe we have that along the roadways upstate. I shall check this weekend - which is, of course, the 4th of July. We have company coming and, if they are interested, they can come with me on my search for a moth attracting bulb. I may have to travel far. but then, I have to travel far up there just to buy some milk! Happy Independence Day to you all! xxs
Hi Martin
Just found the blog while searching through some mothy stuff. Nice content and interesting read well done.
Greetings from teddy oggi land(Cornwall)
Hi both! Happy Independence Day to you too, Sarah, and your moths. Good luck with the bulb - it's a mercury vapour one you need and they have to have a thing called a choke. Mind you, a nice very powerful ordinary bulb will probably interest them too. I'm not sure about snow peas; I'll try and check, but the purple is the vetch. It really thrives here and the insects love it. x for now
Thanks very much Monts - hope Cornwall and Lanner in particular is basking in the sun. Leeds has been lovely today though alas work has kept me mostly inside. Hope to be in touch again, all v best M
Actually this is Penny making a guest appearance...what an observant naturalist you are, Sarah (but we shd expect nothing less of an artist extraordinaire), and you were quite right in identifying the purple flower as a vetch -which is a great addition to our meadow but less welcome in our flowerbeds where its cunning labyrinthine roots make it a pretty permanent resident. The pod is actually part of the same plant, tho it looks edible. Are snow peas what we call mange-touts this side of the pond - from where we send warmest congrats on escaping the grip of your colonial past. Happy 4th July!
Penny, I love that you are writing under the nom de plume of your spousal unit!!
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