Garden Moths 2012

littlebug

Mothman wrote: »

That is a Beauty...Satin to be exact.

Usually darker with not much detail visible and in its typical resting posture with hind wings covered.

Thanks. I had looked at that one and discounted it..not sure why:rolleyes: if I had looked at it again on the ukmoths site I might have got it as the pic there looks more like mine.

I trapped last night instead of tonight as I won't have time in the morning.

597 Elachtista ? not sure, need to look at it again.
970 Barred Fruit Tree Tortix.. maybe.. pic below.
1002 Lozotaenia Forsterana
1388 Udea Lutealis
1713 Riband Wave x2
1837 Grey Pug
1922 Swallow Tailed Moth
1940 Satin Beauty
2008 Coxcomb Prominent
2038 Muslin Footman
2089 Heart and Dart x 3
2107 Large Yellow Underwing
2118 True Lovers Knot
2160 Bright Line Brown Eye x2
2321 Dark Arches x 2
2434 Burnished Brass

Which fruit tree tortrix is this one? I'm really struggling to differentiate.


Coxcomb prominent (just because I like the pic:))


See "Interesting Bugs" thread for my other interesting bug of the day.:)

Mothman

littlebug wrote: »

Which fruit tree tortrix is this one? I'm really struggling to differentiate.

I get mixed up with the English names This one is 970 P. cerasana

I highlighted the feature to look for in your previous one which was 972 P. heparana.
Its the projection on crossline. Cerasana doesn't have it.



Once you start getting bigger ones, they may be 969 P. corylana. I haven't had one yet this year.

Mothman

A chilly night, in fact 2nd coldest in July in my 13 year record with a min of 5C.
It didn't take long to go through the trap contents. 21 species vs 70 last week.

0014 Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli) 1
1713 Riband Wave [non-banded form] (Idaea aversata ab. remutata) 1
1758 Barred Straw (Eulithis pyraliata) 1
1765 Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata) 1
1906 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) 1
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 3
1921 Scalloped Oak (Crocallis elinguaria) 2
1931 Peppered Moth (Biston betularia) 1
1955 Common White Wave (Cabera pusaria) 1
1961 Light Emerald (Campaea margaritata) 2
1981 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi) 2
2006 Lesser Swallow Prominent (Pheosia gnoma) 2
2069 Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae) 1
2089 Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) 1
2107 Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) 2
2130 Dotted Clay (Xestia baja) 2
2193 Clay (Mythimna ferrago) 1
2198 Smoky Wainscot (Mythimna impura) 2
2381 Uncertain (Hoplodrina alsines) 4
2382 Rustic (Hoplodrina blanda) 1
2434 Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis) 2

Half-cocked

18 species here, temp dipped to 8.1 deg C. First Dun-bar and Grey Dagger of the year.

jmkennedyie

I gave it another go last night too...
1937 Willow Beauty x 2
2060 White Ermine x 1
2128 Double Square-spot x 1
2321 Dark Arches x 5
2489 Fan-foot x 2

The three pics I would like to run by yee if I may...
Uncertain?

Uncertain?

And a mystery to me...closest I can come up with is "pretty much invisible line possibly brownish eye" ...


PS MapMate ordered so will supply records in that format in time.

Half-cocked

I'll stick my neck out and say you are right with the ID's, including the faded Bright-line Brown -eye.

fred funk }{

Saw this in my garden today. Is it a Poplar Hawk Moth?

Half-cocked

Yes, it is. I feel confident IDing this one!

Half-cocked

45+ species last night, still have to ID some of the micros. There were some very distinctive ones I haven't seen before. Temp was 18 deg C. I have to admit to getting fooled by our first ever Chinese Character - it was sitting on the perspex cover and I had put it to one side. My wife spotted it, I wonder if I have discarded many before?:eek: In my defence, it was sitting among some real bird droppings. Also caught our first Yellow-tail in 3 years. Unfortunately a carpet type moth I have never seen before flew off before I could get a pic, I'm really annoyed, it looked quite intersting.

Chinese Character:




Yellow-tail:

Half-cocked

Some micros caught last night, hope the ID's are OK.

Scoparia ambigularis:


Agriphila geniculea:


Pammene regiana:


Acleris forsskaleana:


Bramble Shoot Moth:

Half-cocked

I think this is a Small Rivulet - not recorded in this area before. Can some one (MM) confirm please?

littlebug

Two garden tigers. Considerable size difference which surprised me. Is it a male/ female difference?



Four of them this morning, among other things that I'll get to later.

littlebug

I left the tigers in situ because I knew I'd want to look at them again.
Wouldn't you know one has gone :rolleyes:
the three that are left are all the same size so can conclude that the other one was a lot bigger than usual?
Unco-operative little things... wouldn't line up nicely for me at all.

Half-cocked

I've only caught 1 Garden Tiger in 3 years and you get 4 in one night!!!! Here's a pic of mine, about 32mm long, which seems to be the size of the 3 in your pic, so the other must be a bit of a monster.

littlebug

Half-cocked wrote: »

I've only caught 1 Garden Tiger in 3 years and you get 4 in one night!!!!

Maybe something to do with my very nicely cultivated nettle patch :pac:

thebishop

Nice night here on Friday night.
Small Phoenix x 2
Buff Ermine x 1
White Ermine x 2
Plain Golden Y x 1
Spectacle x 1
Flame x 2
Flame Shoulder x 1
Uncertain x 1
Large Yellow-underwing x 1
Riband Wave x 1
Burnished Brass x 1
Snout x 1
Beautiful China Mark x 1
Bright -line Brown-eye x 1
Dark Arches x 1
Clouded Border Brindle x 1

Mothman

jmkennedyie wrote: »

And a mystery to me...closest I can come up with is "pretty much invisible line possibly brownish eye" ...

catching up..
This is Common Rustic agg.

The other 2 are Uncertain...for anyone reading this and not in the know, Uncertain is the name!! hence the capital

Mothman

Half-cocked wrote: »

Some micros caught last night, hope the ID's are OK.

Scoparia ambigularis:

This is Eudonia mercurella, the rest of the IDs are fine

Half-cocked wrote: »

I think this is a Small Rivulet - not recorded in this area before. Can some one (MM) confirm please?

Even got my name on the rule
It is Small Rivulet

Mothman

littlebug wrote: »

I left the tigers in situ because I knew I'd want to look at them again.
Wouldn't you know one has gone :rolleyes:
the three that are left are all the same size so can conclude that the other one was a lot bigger than usual?
Unco-operative little things... wouldn't line up nicely for me at all.

It does appear that the large one is a female, the one that disappeared. The males have slightly feathered antennae, the female doesn't.

Whether the females are typically larger, i don't know, but they are in many species. The guides do give a large size range. 28-37mm forewing length.

V_Moth

Moths in the ECNR last night:

Common Footman (1)
Lesser Swallow Prominent (3)
Smoky Wainscot (3)
Dark Arches (1)
July High (1)
Lesser BBYU (1)
Small Wainscot (2)
The Drinker (1)
Uncertain/Rustic (1)
Eudonia/Scoparia (1)

Also single Brimstone and Bee Moths in Newcastle village last night, as well as many "Grass" Moths along the paths (at least one C. culmella).

Other wildlife: Birch Sawfly, Azure Bluet?? (1 female type in the trap), Common/Ruddy Darter, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Small Copper, Grasshopper Warbler (1 heard) and a singing Yellowhammer.

[Sorry, not exactly Garden Moths but didn't want to create a new thread]

swifts need our help!

I've started trapping moths. I thought my garden that is packed with flowering plants would be coming down with moths.

Very disappointed. Only one moth which I think is a Light arches

Half-cocked

swifts need our help! wrote: »

I've started trapping moths. I thought my garden that is packed with flowering plants would be coming down with moths.

Very disappointed. Only one moth which I think is a Light arches

Keep at it - depending on what species are in your area you will get all sorts of ups and downs as the season progresses. What sort of trap are you using?

My garden has produced nearly 150 species over 3 seasons and I often get bad nights.

Just a thought - maybe your swifts ate them all!!!

swifts need our help!

I have been lent a homemade trap which consists of a plastic storage box, hole in the lid with an altered funnel and a black light.

jmkennedyie

Swifts - don't give up! Very sensitive to weather too it seems.

Last night in friends garden (housing estate back garden with mature hedgerow in a North Kildare town) some beauties:

1921 Scalloped Oak x 1
1981 Poplar Hawkmoth x 1
2089 Heart and Dart x 1
2057 Garden Tiger x 1
2107 Large Yellow Underwing x 1
2381 Uncertain x 1
2434 Burnished Brass x 1
2449 Dark Spectacle x 1

Also this little mystery...could it be Pale Mottled Willow?


forgot ruler sorry

Half-cocked

Here's one MM confirmed as a Mottled Willow - my first. While not identical , they do seem to be the same species.... Better wait for MM to confirm though...

littlebug

I only had 3 moths last night, 1 each of Large Yellow Underwing, Garden Tiger and Bright line brown eye.

Still have a few from Wednesday night I'm not sure of. Typically more interesting than GMS night.

A prominent? but which one?



Wormwood Pug?


Dark Brocade?

Mothman

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Also this little mystery...could it be Pale Mottled Willow?


forgot ruler sorry

Half-cocked wrote: »

Here's one MM confirmed as a Mottled Willow - my first. While not identical , they do seem to be the same species.... Better wait for MM to confirm though...

Yes it is
The 3 to 4 dots along wing edge is a good indicator.

Mothman

littlebug wrote: »

A prominent? but which one?

Coxcomb

Wormwood Pug?

I think so

Dark Brocade?

Dark Arches!
One here is similarish to yours

littlebug

Catching up with myself.
List from last Wednesday


1344 Eudonia Mercurella
1713 Riband Wave
1830 Wormwood Pug
1981 Poplar Hawk Moth
2008 Coxcomb prominent
2057 Garden Tiger x 4
2107 Large Yellow Underwing x 2
2198 Smoky Wainscot
2321 Dark Arches x 3
2322 Light Arches
2434 Burnished Brass
2443 Plain Golden Y

Half-cocked

19 species on GMS night, 10 deg C. One new one for us - a raggedy Gothic:

Mothman

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Spider almost caught this guy sneaking under my front door - Lunar Yellow Underwing - books say late June-Sept but don't seem to be recorded this early before...he fluttered away after cleaning himself up...

http://www.mothsireland.com/species/2270.htm

This is a Large Yellow Underwing.
Lunar Yellow Underwing is not known in Ireland,
what you linked to is Lunar Underwing, sometimes, the english names are confusing!

jmkennedyie

yep you beat me to it...just realised it was a male LYU and deleted the post. Sorry about that.

Mothman

jmkennedyie wrote: »

yep you beat me to it...just realised it was a male LYU and deleted the post. Sorry about that.

No worries, been there done that

Now as for LYU
do you mean :P
Least Yellow Underwing
Langmaid's Yellow Underwing
Lunar Yellow Underwing
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Large Yellow Underwing

It is true that for most of us that do mothing, it does refer to last one, but I still urge caution in its use

V_Moth

jmkennedyie wrote: »

yep you beat me to it...just realised it was a male LYU and deleted the post. Sorry about that.

That's a pity, it was a nice picture of a Large YU. Moths from the garden last night:

Common/Dark Marbled Carpet (1)
Bright-line Brown Eye (1)
Willow Beauty (2)
Lesser Broad-bordered YU (1)
Common Rustic agg (2)
Scoparia/Eudonia spec (1)
Other Micro (2)

thebishop

Friday nights catch.Not alot.
Dark Arches x 2
Flame x 1
Uncertain x 1
Spectacle x 1
Large Yellow-underwing x 2
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow-underwing x 1
Clouded Border-brindle x 1
Common Carpet x 1
Light Brown Apple-moth
The Campion x 1 (Might be Lychnis)

littlebug

2 micros I'm having trouble with.

Half-cocked

Pretty poor catch last night. 11.5 deg C, dry.

2 x Riband Wave
1 x Square Spot Rustic
2 x Willow Beauty
3 x Burnished Brass
2 x Large Yellow UW
1 x Common Rustic agg

littlebug

The life and times of a Six Spot Burnet...

jmkennedyie

Still practising. Small catch last night
1921 Scalloped Oak x1
1937 Willow Beauty x3
2107 Large Yellow Underwing x1
2321 Dark Arches x1
2343x Common Rustic agg. x2

and perhaps someone could doublecheck what I believe are
1708 Single-dotted Wave x1


1794 Sharp-angled Carpet x1


Also, from a night early July a Silver-ground Carpet?


Here was the Large Yellow Underwing pic from last week I deleted ... followed by what I have convinced myself to be the same species from last night, orangey underwing when fluttering and the forewing 25mm giving me some confidence ...famous last words...!!




ps actually wing folding right over left also matches the guide book - can that be used as identification characteristic? Thanks.

V_Moth

I think you are right on the SD Wave and the SA Carpet. Could the third one be a Garden Carpet by any chance?

The last one is so worn it will be difficult to get a certain ID, but Large Y Underwing looks like a good bet.

jmkennedyie

V_Moth wrote: »

Could the third one be a Garden Carpet by any chance?

Yes, I think you are right. There were 2 other Garden Carpet that night but saw some silver-ground pics today somewhere that looked quite similar and got me rethinking. However silver-ground doesn't seem to have as equally dark a band on wings near the base (shoulders) as this example does. Thanks.

Half-cocked

19 species last night including my first Lesser Broad-bordered Underwings of the season. Found this Carcina quercana on the sitting room carpet:



And this on the side of the shed, I think the alternata variant of Common Carpet?

V_Moth

Half-cocked wrote: »

And this on the side of the shed, I think the alternata variant of Common Carpet?

This is an odd one all right. Could it be a Marbled Carpet? The closest picture I could find online that resembles this are the two moths on the top row of this collage:

http://www.irishmoths.net/images/moths/m-1764a4.jpg

Half-cocked

Hmmmm. My wife is in favour of Common Marbled Carpet too. I shall wait for MM's opinion!

Mothman

thebishop wrote: »

The Campion x 1 (Might be Lychnis)

It is campion. Lychnis never has a purple hue which is obvious in Fresh Campion and can just be seen in this one.

littlebug wrote: »

2 micros I'm having trouble with.

The plain one is quite worn. I think 1111 Bactra lancealana is likely.
The black & white one is 1197 Eucosma campoliliana

jmkennedyie wrote: »

1708 Single-dotted Wave x1
1794 Sharp-angled Carpet x1
Also, from a night early July a Silver-ground Carpet?


Here was the Large Yellow Underwing pic from last week I deleted ... followed by what I have convinced myself to be the same species from last night, orangey underwing when fluttering and the forewing 25mm giving me some confidence ...famous last words...!!

V_Moth is right with Garden Carpet:)

ps actually wing folding right over left also matches the guide book - can that be used as identification characteristic? Thanks.

No! The same moth can fold them either way.

V_Moth wrote: »

This is an odd one all right. Could it be a Marbled Carpet? The closest picture I could find online that resembles this are the two moths on the top row of this collage:

http://www.irishmoths.net/images/moths/m-1764a4.jpg

Half-cocked wrote: »

Hmmmm. My wife is in favour of Common Marbled Carpet too. I shall wait for MM's opinion!

Way off the money. Size hasn't been mentioned, but if it was small, like smaller than a usual Marbled Carpet, then it is Barred Rivulet. If it was too large for this, then its back to drawing board.

Speaking of Marbled carpet, it is now the season of Dark Marbled carpet. Look up guide book to separate DMC and CMC. Some CMC can look like DMC by upper wing markings!

Half-cocked

Mothman wrote: »

Size hasn't been mentioned, but if it was small, like smaller than a usual Marbled Carpet, then it is Barred Rivulet. If it was too large for this, then its back to drawing board.

It was quite small, maybe FW 10-12mm

V_Moth

Mothman wrote: »

Way off the money. Size hasn't been mentioned, but if it was small, like smaller than a usual Marbled Carpet, then it is Barred Rivulet. If it was too large for this, then its back to drawing board.

Speaking of Marbled carpet, it is now the season of Dark Marbled carpet. Look up guide book to separate DMC and CMC. Some CMC can look like DMC by upper wing markings!

Looking at HC's picture, I knew there were a couple of features that didn't quite match for Marbled Carpet or Garden Carpet (eg the three dark brown cross lines half way along the wing), but despite looking through the field guide several times, I didn't consider Barred Rivulet.

Looking at it now it's a feeling of "Oh, well of course".

Last nights catch in the garden:

-Lesser BBYU (1)
-Mottled Beauty (3)
-Large Yellow Underwing (1)
-Common Rustic agg (1)
-Dun-bar (1)

Half-cocked

V_Moth wrote: »

Looking at it now it's a feeling of "Oh, well of course".

Me too. Must look more carefully and not get distracted by colour. My one was quite brown compared to the field guide illustration.

thebishop

There were a few Moths about on Friday night despite the full Moon and thunder showers.Even managed to hold onto a few micros.
Poplar Hawk-moth x 2
Little Emerald x 2
Spectacle x 1
Small Phoenix x 1
Large Yellow-underwing x 3
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow-underwing x 2
Uncertain x 1
Common Rustic x 1
Light Brown Apple moth x 1
Canary- Shuldered Thorn x 1
Campion x 2
Willow Beauty x 1
Epagoge Grotiana x 1
Celypha Lacunana x 1
Pleurota Bicostella x 1.

Half-cocked

Help! Can't ID this one, FW about 14mm.