Ashwell trap over-looking SW breeze

A belated field trip post from mid-July, apologies for not being in season! Here's my 'harking back' post for the day.

 

Ensue wall of text....

 

A fantastic night was had at my local chalk quarry just 15 minutes up the road from me.

 

The relative remotness and ease of access keep me going back here, and of the 11 trips i've done here over 2 years now i've always come away with at least one new moth for me, that's a blooming good statistic and surely testament to the incredible habitat there.

 

It is a very unusual location, miles from any substantial woodland, just arable fields as far as the eye can see, it is also fairly elevated which is probably why I do very well for migrants here.

 

4 traps were set up around the reserve and switched on just in time as the light faded under increasing cloud, it was very balmy indeed but very gusty and traps were positioned out of the wind apart from one which over-looked the breeze coming from the south, hoping to intercept a migrant or two...

 

Below where the best species of the night.

 

Dewick's Plusia was very welcome moth, and my second record this year (After finding a wing in the garden). I believe this is now the 5th record for Herts this year? (At time of going to press!) 1 in Royston (Unknown captor), 1 in my garden, 2 in Andrew Wood's garden over the past week.

 

Coleophora conspicuella, 2nd County record for Herts (After the first two nights before in my garden), a rare coastal Coleophora, both probably blown in on the wind and unexpected.

 

Agriphila selasella, not a common moth in Herts, but it's had a very good year with lots of people adding it to their garden list for the first time (Including mine with a garden first on the 03rd of August).

 

Cnephasia longana, likes open waste/grassland. My only other records are from my parents farmland, not common for me.

 

Pediasia contaminella, another good record of an uncommon grass moth.

 

Plain Pug, my first Herts record of this large distinctive Pug.

 

Sorhagenia rhamniella, a first for me and the 5th record for Herts.

 

Elachista sp, probably bisulcella... rare in Herts, dissection pending but looks good. A first for me.

 

Nymphula nitidulata, the Beautiful China-mark, a first for me again and what a stunning little moth, my photo desn't do it justice!

 

BIG thanks to Graeme Smith for providing the dissections.

 

Below is the full list.

 

94 Macro and 85 Micro species recorded.

 

Catch Report - 16/07/18 - Ashwell Quarry - 1x 250w Frosted MV Robinson Trap, 2x 125w MV Robinson Trap, 1x twin 20w Wemite Actinic

 

Macro Moths

 

Blood-vein

Bright-line Brown-eye

Brimstone Moth

Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Brown Scallop

Brown-line Bright-eye

Brown-tail

Buff Arches

Buff Ermine

Buff Footman

Buff-tip

Campion

Chinese Character

Clay

Cloaked Minor

Clouded Silver

Common Carpet

Common Emerald

Common Footman

Common Rustic

Common Wainscot

Coxcomb Prominent

Dark Arches

Dark Umber

Dewick's Plusia

Dingy Footman

Double Square-spot

Double-striped Pug

Drinker

Dun-bar

Dusky Sallow

Dwarf Cream Wave

Early Thorn

Elephant Hawk-moth

Fan Foot

Fen Wainscot

Fern

Flame

Flame Shoulder

Ghost Moth

Grey Dagger

Haworth's Pug

Heart & Club

Heart & Dart

Knot Grass

Large Twin-spot Carpet

Large Yellow Underwing

Latticed Heath

Least Carpet

Least Yellow Underwing

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Lesser Common Rustic - Gen Det (Male)

Lesser Yellow Underwing

Lesser-spotted Pinion

Light Arches

Lime-speck Pug

Lunar-spotted Pinion

Lychnis

Mouse Moth

Nutmeg

Pebble Hook-tip

Pebble Prominent

Peppered Moth

Pine Hawk-moth

Plain Pug

Poplar Hawk-moth

Red Twin-spot Carpet

Riband Wave

Ruby Tiger

Scalloped Oak

Scarce Footman

Scorched Carpet

Scorched Wing

Setaceous Hebrew Character

Shaded Broad-bar

Silver-Y

Single-dotted Wave

Slender Pug

Small Blood-vein

Small Emerald

Small Fan-footed Wave

Small Scallop

Smoky Wainscot

Snout

Southern Wainscot

Spectacle

Straw Dot

Tree-lichen Beauty

Turnip Moth

Uncertain

V-Pug

Willow Beauty

Wormwood Pug

Yellow-tail

 

Micro Moths

 

Acentria ephemerella

Acleris aspersana

Acleris forsskaleana

Acleris variegana

Acompsia cinerella

Acrobasis advenella

Aethes rubigana

Agapeta hamana

Agapeta zoegana

Agonopterix alstromeriana

Agonopterix heracliana

Agriphila selasella

Agriphila straminella

Anania coronata

Anania hortulata

Anarsia innoxiella

Ancylis achatana

Aproaerema anthyllidella

Archips podana

Archips xylosteana

Argyresthia albistria

Argyresthia goedartella

Argyresthia pruniella

Aspilapteryx tringipennella

Batia lunaris

blaatibasis adustella

Blastobasis lacticolella

Blastodacna hellerella

Borkhausenia fuscescens

Brachmia blandella

Cameraria ohridella

Carcina quercana

Celypha rosaceana

Celypha striana

Chilo phragmitella

Chrysoteuchia culmella

Coleophora conspicuella

Clepsis consimiliana

Cnephasia longana

Cnephasia sp

Cochylimorpha straminea

Cochylis atricapitana

Crambus perlella

Crassa unitella

Ditula angustiorana

Elachista bisulcella to be checked

Endotricha flammealis

Endrosis sarcitrella

Epinotia foenella

Eucosma hohenwartiana

Eucosma obumbratana

Eucsoma cana

Eudonia lacustrata

Eudonia mercurella

Eudonia pallida

Eulamprotes atrella

Euzophera pinguis

Galleria mellonella

helycystogramma rufescens

Hofmannophila pseudospretella

Hypsopygia costalis

Hypsopygia glaucinalis

Lathronympha strigana

Metzneria metzneriella

Mompha ochraceella

Monopis crocapitella

Monopis laevigella

Nemapogon cloacella

Nymphula nitidulata

Oegoconia sp

Ostrinia nubilalis

Pammene fasciana

Pammene fasciana

Pandemis heparana

Paraswammerdamia albicapitella

Parornix sp

Pediasia contaminella

Phtheochroa inopiana

Phyllonorycter leucographella

Pleuroptya ruralis

Plutella xylostella

Prays fraxinella

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana

Pyrausta aurata

Recurvaria nanella

Scrobipalpa costella

Sorhagenia rhamniella

Spilonota ocellana

Stenoptilia pterodactyla

Syncopacma sp

Teleiodes vulgella

Tinea semifulvella

Udea prunalis

Yponomeuta evonymella

Yponomeuta sp

Ypsolopha scabrella

Done