File:Moths - Braughing Farmland - 07-07-16 (27986242790).jpg

Moth Trapping down on the farm part 3 - Rarities abound!

My third session on the farm was last Thursday, and I decided to run 4 traps, 2 on each site (he North and South). The plan was to stay with the traps until around 1am then leave them running until 4.30am whilst I got a bit of kip. The day had been a really warm and muggy one with highs of 24 degrees but threats of rain continued, but luckily it wasn't too bad overnight and the main deluge came just at dawn whilst going through the traps..not ideal I can tell you! The main problem wasn't the precipitation threat but the wind! A constant 15mph with gusts of around 20mph did not do the night any favours but it was worth seeing how things fared despite the breezy conditions. Overall it went ok, with numbers slightly down on what I would expect, but a healthy amount of species were there to be recorded. Some really local and rare moths made it all worthwhile.

For starter's I recorded a joint County 2nd Anarsia lineatella, the Peach Twig-borer moth. Graeme Smith not 6 miles away as the crow flies recorded one on the same night in his garden in Bishop's Stortford! Anarsia lineatella is a fairly recent colonist from warmer shores, these could be spreading from their stronghold in Essex or may be primary immigrants. Care should be taken though as there is another Gelechid that looks very similar, Gelechia senticetella.

Other moths of note were my first Herts record of Cream-bordered Green-pea a Ruddy Carpet and Waved Black. There were also stunning forms of Cloaked Minor and Riband Wave.

Two moths are still outstanding for identification. The list stands at 163 species in total minus the two unidentified species.

Catch Report - 07/07/16 - Famland - Braughing Friars - 2x 125w MV Robinson Trap 1x 160w MBT Robinson Trap & 1x 40w Actinic/26w BLB Trap

Macro Moths - 78 Species

Barred Straw 10 Barred Yellow 2 Blood-vein 2 Blue-bordered Carpet 2 Bright-line Brown-eye 2 Brimstone Moth 2 Brown Rustic 1 Brown-line Bright-eye 5 Buff Arches 2 Burnished Brass 2 Cinnabar 4 Clay 8 Cloaked Minor 4 Clouded Border 4 Clouded Silver 12 Common Emerald 3 Common Footman 10 Common Rustic 2 Common Wainscot 3 Cream-bordered Green-pea Dark Arches 14 Dot Moth 5 Double Square-spot 6 Dwarf Cream Wave 2 Eyed Hawk-moth 1 Fan-foot 2 Figure of Eighty 1 Flame 4 Flame Shoulder 2 Foxglove Pug 1 Ghost Moth 1 Green Pug 2 Green Silver-lines 1 Grey Dagger 1 Heart & Club 7 Heart & Dart 10 July Highflyer 1 Large Twin-spot Carpet 5 Large Yellow Underwing 10 Least Carpet 1 Light Emerald 2 Marbled Minor 3 Mottled Beauty 3 Mottled Pug 1 Mottled Rustic 8 Orange Footman 1 Pale Prominent 1 Poplar Hawk-moth 1 Privet Hawk-moth 3 Riband Wave Ruddy Carpet Rustic 6 Scalloped Oak 1 Scarce Footman 3 Scorched Carpet 1 Scorched Wing 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character 5 Shoulder-striped Wainscot 1 Silver-Y 2 Single-dotted Wave 1 Small Blood-vein 1 Small Fan-foot 2 Small Fan-footed Wave 1 Small Yellow Wave 1 Smoky Wainscot 3 Snout 4 Spectacle 2 Straw Dot 1 Swallow-tailed Moth 2 Tawny Marbled Minor 1 Turnip Moth 1 Uncertain 10 V-Pug 2 Waved Black 1 Willow Beauty 3 Wood Carpet 1 Wormwood Pug 2 Yellow Shell 5

Micro Moths - 85 Species

Acentria ephemerella 10 Acleris schalleriana 1 Aethes rubigana 2 Aethes tesserana 1 Agapeta hamana 10+ Aleimma loeflingiana 1 Anania crocealis 1 Anania hortulata 2 Anania perlucidalis 1 Anarsia lineatella 1 [NEW!] Aphelia paleana 1 Aphomia sociella 2 Archips podana 2 Archips xylosteana 2 Argyresthia albistria 1 Argyresthia goedartella 2 Blastobasis lacticolella 2 Blastodacna hellerella 1 Brachmia blandella 2 Bryotropha senectella 2 Bryotropha terrella 5 Calamotropha paludella 1 Carpatolechia fugitivella pos 1 Catoptria falsella 4 Catoptria pinella 5 Celypha lacunana 8 Celypha striana 2 Chrysoteuchia culmella 10+ Clepsis consimilana 2 Cnephasia sp 5 Cochylis hybridella 10 Cochylis molliculana 1 Coleophora mayrella Coleophora sp (White) Crambus lathoniellus 4 Crambus perlella 1 Crassa unitella 4 Cydia fagiglandana 1 Ditula angustiorana 1 Elophila nymphaeata 1 Endothenia gentianaena 1 Ephestia sp 3 Epiblema foenella 3 Epiphyas postvittana 1 Eucosma cana 20+ Eucosma obumbratana 1 Eudonia lacustrata 15+ Eudonia mercurella 1 Eudonia pallida 4 Eulamprotes atrella 1 Galleria mellonella 1 Gypsonoma dealbana 2 Hedya nubiferana 2 Hedya pruniana 2 Hedya salicella 1 Helcyostogramma rufescens 1 Hofmannophila pseudospretella 3 Homoeosoma sinuella 2 Hypsopygia glaucinalis 1 Lobesia abscisana 1 Metzneria metzneriella 1 Mompha ochraceella 20+ Monochroa palustrellus 1 Myelois circumvoluta 6 Notocelia uddmanniana 1 Pandemis cerasana 2 Pandemis corylana 1 Paraswammerdamia nebulella 1 Phycita roborella 3 Phycitodes binaevella 2 Piniphila bifasciana 2 Pleuroptya ruralis 1 Plutella xylostella 2 Prays frraxinella 2 Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 2 Pterophorus pentadactyla 15 Scoaparia basistrigalis 1 Scoparia ambigualis 4 Scoparia pyralella 2 Scoparia subfusca 14 Spatalistis bifasciana 1 Spilonota ocellana 1 Tortrix viridana 2 Udea olivalis 2