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Field Trip - 09/06/16 - Roughdown Common - Hemel Hempstead

The Herts Moth Group assembled at Roughdown Common for their third official outing of the year.

Roughdown Common is an exceedingly important site for wildlife on the doorstep of the hustle and bustle of sub-urban Hemel Hempstead. Predominantly chalk grassland with an intersecting wooded section and split right down the middle by the A41, Roughdown Common is an outstanding site for a variety of moth species.

We arrived at 7.30pm, early enough to have a walk around with a net and pots and we quickly added 17 species to kick-start our list, amongst the swarms of Diamond-back moths for which we netted 2/3rds of the time there was plenty of other species to keep us interested. Species such as Eupoecilia angustana, Micropterix aruncella and Cauchas fibulella were absolutely stunning to observe. By 8.30pm the rest of the team had arrived...we would need the extra hands to set up the 11 traps!

We decided to cover all areas of the reserve with traps out in the open field, some along the border of the A41 and then running through the wood and over-looking the Dell. Conditions were pretty much perfect, no wind, warm at 22 degrees and with a smattering of thin cloud which would hopefully be just enough to lock the warmth in and it was, with a comfortable 13 degrees when I left at 2am. The variety of moths was pretty astounding and despite quite possibly the slowest Spring on record things are beginning to pick up. Highlights from the traps were Small Angle Shades, Dark Sword-grass, Puss Moth, Figure of Eighty and Alabonia geoffrella, the latter typically being a day-flying moth but both of my records have been to light!

I think we were a little bit early for the typical chalkland species such as Pretty Chalk Carpet and Royal Mantle, the vegetation being about 2 weeks behind he norm would suggest so.

Final list is pending- 142 species so far

Numbers below are approximate as it really was hard trying to count them all!

Catch Report - 09/06/16 - Roughdown Common - 5x 125w MV Robinson Trap 1x 125w MV + Sheet 1x 26w BLB Robinson Trap 1x 80w Actinic Suitcase Trap 1x 40w Actinic and 2 Actinic Bucket Traps

Macro Moths - 90 Species

2x Angle Shades 1x Beautiful Golden-Y 3x Brimstone Moth 4x Broken-barred Carpet 5x Brown Rustic 1x Buff Ermine 2x Buff-tip 1x Cinnabar 2x Clouded Border 1x Clouded-bordered Brindle 1x Clouded Brindle 1x Common Carpet 10x Common Marbled Carpet 5x Common Pug 30x Clouded Silver 15+ Common Swift 2x Common Wainscot 2x Common White Wave 1x Coronet 1x Dark Arches 1x Dark Sword-grass 2x Double Square-spot 1x Dwarf Cream Wave 1x Elephant Hawk-moth 1x Figure of Eighty 2x Flame 1x Flame Carpet 4x Flame Shoulder 2x Foxglove Pug 1x Garden Carpet 10+ Green Carpet 2x Green Pug 5x Grey Pug 1x Haworth's Pug 10x Heart & Dart 3x Ingrailed Clay 5x Large Nutmeg 1x Large Yellow Underwing 1x Least Black Arches 5x Light Brocade 2x Light Emerald 1x Lime Hawk-moth 1x Maiden's Blush 10x Marbled Minor 1x Marbled White-spot 1x Middle-barred Minor 1x Miller 3x Mottled Pug 2x Mottled Rustic 5x Orange Footman 1x Pale Oak Beauty 1x Pale Prominent 3x Pale Tussock 1x Peach Blossom 1x Pebble Prominent 2x Peppered Moth 1x Poplar Hawk-moth 1x Privet Hawk-moth 2x Purple Bar 1x Puss Moth 10x Rustic Shoulder-knot 1x Scorched Carpet 2x Scorched Wing 6x Setaceous Hebrew Character 3x Shears 1x Shoulder-striped Wainscot 2x Shuttle-shaped Dart 4x Silver-Y 2x Silver-ground Carpet 1x Small Angle Shades 1x Small Clouded Brindle 1x Small Dusty Wave 2x Small Elephant Hawk-moth 1x Small Rivulet 2x Small Square-spot 1x Snout 1x Spectacle 2x Straw Dot 1x Swallow Prominent 1x Treble Brown Spot 2x Tawny Marbled Minor 1x Toadflax Brocade 10+ Treble Lines 1x Vine's Rustic 3x White Ermine 1x White-pinion Spotted 1x White-spotted Pug 2x Willow Beauty 2x Yellow Shell 1x Yellow-barred Brindle

Micro Moths - 52 Species

1x Tinea trinotella 2x Endothenia gentianaeana 2x Dichrorampha sp - TBC 3x Eupoecilia angustana 1x Dichrorampha alpinana/flavidorsana - TBC 3x Micropterix aruncella 4x Nemophora degeerella 1x Eudonia angustea 2x Cnephasia sp 10+ Hedya pruniana Lots+ Plutella xylostella 8x Celypha lacunana 10+ Crambus lathoniellus 1x Chrysoteuchia culmella 1x Cauchas fibulella 1x Bryotropha terrella 5x Cochylimorpha straminea 1x Eucosma cana 2x Agonopterix arenella 1x Aphelia paleana 3x Agapeta hamana 2x Agapeta zoegana 1x Cydia pomonella 1x Notocelia uddmanniana 2x Notocelia trimaculana 1x Notocelia cynosbatella 3x Metzneria metzneriella 10+ Scoparia ambigualis 4x Scoparia pyralella 2x Epiphyas postvittana 1x Epiblema costipunctana 4x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 1x Coptotriche marginea 1x Pseudatemelia flavifrontella/josephinae - TBC 2x Eulamprotes unicolorella/Monochroa tenebrella - TBC 1x Eudonia pallida 1x Eudonia lacustrata 1x Alabonia geoffrella 1x Cryptoblabes bistriga 2x Aphomia sociella 1x Udea olivalis 1x Endrosis sarcitrella 8x Teleiodes luculella 4x Pandemis cerasana 2x Epinotia bilunana 1x Archips podana 1x Parornix sp 1x Eudonia mercurella 2x Mompha raschkiella 1x Triaxomera parasitella 1x Nematopogon swammerdamella