A favourite moth was sitting on the trap's transparent cowl this morning, unmolested by an inquisitive blackbird which was grubbing about in the long grass nearby. It's a Beautiful Hook-tip, one of ten macro moths in the UK awarded the adjective 'beautiful' in their names, all of them deservedly including the tautological-sounding Beautiful Snout. It wasn't the first moth I spotted, mind. In the grass around the trap were this Bloodvein and a Swallow Prominent (Update: sorry, Lesser Swallow Prominent; thanks Edward in Comments) clinging to a slender skyscraper of a grass blade:
The will-it-won't-it nature of our weather at the moment had me in two minds about turning on the lamp last night but I was encouraged by Edward's point in Comments yesterday that moths like warm and humid conditions because they keep their wings moist; something I never knew. So I placed it under the shelter of a large beech and this morning, all was electrically well. And there were plenty of moths.
The first, above, is a Dingy Shears, I think. If so, it is new to my list (which I must update when time permits; to my surprise, new arrivals continue to come after seven years of trapping here). Next we have a new-for-the-year, a Marbled White-spot consorting with the many Marbled Minors of all colours and patterns which are currently a staple in the eggboxes.
Talking of spots leads me on to dots and a moth whose name never fails to puzzle me. Below is the lovely little Single-dotted Wave. Why single? Was the namer's vision blurring like mine? It is one of life's mysteries which I have still to solve. Like yesterday's Treble Brown-spot, this is very much a 'Laura Ashley' moth, reminiscent of the days when young women including my wife-to-be wafted around like so many milkmaids or similar background rural characters from Jane Austen.
Small Magpies were abundant in their cruder but still appealing version of black and white, with those touches of yellow to add interest. And then we have two versions of the Silver-ground Carpet, both perching on the dark plastic bowl of the trap and one much lighter than the other.
For the micros - which actually include the Small Magpie though it is quite a big moth - here are another Variegated Golden Tortrix like yesterdays and the distinctive fellow below which I recall from previous visits but to which I shall have to return to confirm ID. Update: Nigel from Upper Thames Moths kindly nails him as Notocelia uddmanniana, also known more cosily as the Bramble-shoot Moth. I'm sure he's had predecessors but he's not on my list. So I shall add him.
And finally a coupling of Common Wainscots, just to show how different moths of the same species can be in size.
1 comment:
Hi Martin,
Because here we are miles away from any populations of marbled White Spot this is the only place in the South Westerly part of Yorkshire there is a population. I have had 4 of them this year.
The 'Swallow Prominent' is actually a Lesser, You can tell it is a Lesser by the shorter white wedge mark near the top of the moth a the end of it. On normal Swallows this would be longer.
Finally, that is a Dingy Shears, a lowland moth that is very scarce here in Calderdale on the dramatic moors.
Just as a note, where I (live) run the trap from is the pocket of ancient woodland on the left towards Booth wood and the reservoir but further back than Booth Wood.
Stay safe, Edward.
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