More New Moth Species

There were some nice new moths in the trap on Saturday morning.

I was really pleased to find a Single Dotted Wave which is a new species for the garden. It was only when I cropped the photo that I realised it was a female moth and she was in the process of laying eggs. At times like this I must admit to feeling guilty about moth trapping - she should have been flying free laying her eggs on cow parsley not languishing in a moth pot in my fridge for a few hours. I'll keep an eye on the eggs and if they hatch release the larvae on cow parsley which is one of the food plants and now I've let her go hopefully she'll have some eggs left to lay in the wild.

Single Dotted Wave



The next photo is of an Old Lady - a very large moth so named because the markings are believed to resemble an old lady's shawl. Another new species for the year.




My first Antler of the year



Straw Dot - again new for year



And yet another new species for the year - Flounced Rustic



Garden Carpet I think this is new for year and possibly garden too. I need to stop blogging and find the time to update my moth records which are weeks behind!



And a mystery moth - still working on this one but haven't been able to identify so far.



There were a couple of non-moth species in the trap.

This is an ichneumon wasp (I think it may be yellow ophion - a species where the female lays her eggs inside moth caterpillars)



And a Hawthorn Shield Bug



As always if I have got any of the id's wrong please feel free to correct me and any help with id of mystery moth would be more than welcome!


Summary of Moths trapped Friday, 19th August

9.00 until dawn
Minimum temperature - 13 degrees centigrade
15w Actinic Skinner Trap

Large Yellow Underwing x 3
Flounced Rustic x 4 (New for Year)
Orange Swift x 3
Old Lady x 1 (New for Year)
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x 4
Straw Underwing x 6
Common Rustic x 1
Straw Dot x 1 (New for Year)
Rustic x 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character x 1
Antler x 1 (New for Year)
Garden Carpet x 1 (New for year)
Single Dotted Wave x 1 (New for Year and Garden)

Unidentified macro in photo above

Micros

Brown House Moth x 1 (New for Garden though sadly not new for house :D)
Garden Grass-veneer x 1

There were several other micros I am not at all confident about identifying - mainly Agriphila spp, and a possible Crambus pascuella.

I am thinking of going on a moth course this autumn to try and improve my id skills! Emily has offered to treat me as an early birthday/Christmas present.


Getting away from moths I went a ride round the lanes last week - there were lots of red-legged partridges and juvenile pheasants in the hedgerows and running across the road. I found a good stretch of hedgerow full of berries (hawthorn, sloes, blackthorn, elderberry, rowan) which was full of blackbirds and tits feasting on the berry harvest. I may try and revisit to see if I can see any warblers feeding up for their migration. Stopped off at Shustoke Reservoir briefly and saw my first dabchick of the year!!! Can't believe I haven't seen this species before this year. There were dozens of pied wagtails at the water edges flying over the water chasing insects. Several times I saw swallows gathering on telephone wires - a sign that they will soon be leaving us and a reminder that autumn is not far away.