Last Nights Moths 18/9/08

Not too many moths in the trap last night due in part to the falling temperatures due to clear skies and a hot sunny day. I was well pleased when emptying the trap this morning and finding a pristine specimen of Black Rustic (shown in photos), a moth a have only ever seen as pinned museum specimens back in Yorkshire.

Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)

Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata)

Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata)

Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)

Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)

Black Rustic (Aporophyla nigra)

Flounced Chestnut (Agrochola helvola)

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)

Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

Last Nights Moths 16/9/08

As the weather seemed promising last night despite the rather wet day I decided to run the MV moth trap by the caravan. Not a large list of species of huge numbers but its always useful to run the trap every few day to sample the local moth population. I have noticed that apart from the Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana) which occurs in large numbers I seem to get very few microlepidoptera compared to my garden in Yorkshire which was in mature woodland. I had another new species for my life list last night, ironically a micro moth called Eudonia angustea, a mainly coastal species that feeds on mosses as a larvae. Still numbers of the third brood of Brimstone Moth, these are incredibly small being the size of a Common Carpet. I also had my first "migrant moth" in the area in Rush Veneer.

Photos from bottom up

Brimstone Moth

Rush Veneer

Pink Barred Sallow

Frosted Orange

Feathered Ranunculus

Setaceous Hebrew Character

LAST NIGHTS MOTHS

Parsnip Moth (Depressaria heraclei)

Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)

Eudonia angustea

Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella)

Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)

Autumnal Rustic (Eugnorisma glareosa)

Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)

Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

Feathered Ranunculus (Polymixis lichenea)

Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata)

Plain Golden Y (Autographa jota)

Out and about in the SUN !!

A glorious weekend here on the Llyn (raining again now sadly) encouraged Sue and I out with our visitor from Calderdale Edie Jolley to show her some of the wildlife and scenery of the area. Our best spot of the weekend was a young Slow worm we spotted on a track on the side of Garn Fadryn. It was busy sunning itself on the road edge and after we took its photo we removed it to safety on the verge, just in time as it happens as a car came along seconds later. Second best sighting was a large Gold Ringed Dragonfly we found munching away on a fly it had caught on a track up from the beach near Edern.

We took a trip up to view Bardsey island from the the headland at Myndd Mawr and luckily on the way down spotted some Choughs for Edie to bag on her first visit. We also had Raven and Buzzard over the weekend. We had some cracking walks around the area, saw some marvelous wildife and best of all shared some sunshine & scenery with good friends.

Last Nights Moths 11/9/08

A promising start quickly went downhill as the weather changed from warm and overcast to clear and cold. I ran my new Mercury Vapour Moth trap last night in a test run and was satisfied with the early catch but this soon tapered off as the temperatures dropped rapidly.

Species Recorded.

1038x Acleris laterana/comariana

1041 Acleris sparsana

1048 Garden Rose Tortrix (Acleris variegana)

1356 Garden Pebble (Evergestis forficalis)

1508 Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla

1719 Oblique Carpet (Orthonama vittata) new life record

1764 Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata)

1906 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)

1949 Square Spot (Paradarisa consonaria)

2102 Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)

2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)

2134 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

2306 Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)

2353 Flounced Rustic (Luperina testacea)

2441 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

2442 Beautiful Golden Y (Autographa pulchrina)

2484 Pinion-streaked Snout

Photos show Oblique Carpet and the large number of A.rufipes and Dung beetles in the trap

Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

Sue and I rescued this rather spectacular caterpillar from the road near Llaniestyn Church, fortunately Sue spotted it crossing the road and managed to avid squashing it. We rescued it as I thought it was probably looking for a site to pupate in safety. I took a few photos and placed it in a tupperware box with some soil and leaf mould and its dissapeared from sight below ground where it will make a cell for itself, moult its skin and pupate to emerge as the beautiful moth shown in the photo around May or June next year.

Amongst the rain some sun !

Despite the almost biblical downpours around the Llyn in the last week or so, we have had the occasional very warm spell which brought insects out in some numbers.A nice sighting was a several Banded Demoiselle near a small stream running out into the sea on the north coast near Edern. I only managed a quick shot of a male. We also saw huge number of the ants Lassius niger and Lassius flavus swarming at every available opportunity. Its not surprising that the Choughs are doing well in the area with the amount of their favorite food available.