Summer has arrived

The moth count has suddenly jumped, which means it must be summer. 

Last night's catch included a good splash of colour. 

Full Moon

Full moon is never a good time to catch moths. Last night I caught one, lonely, Hebrew Character. It was shivering in the corner feeling rather sorry for itself. 

I will admit I'm a bit envious of some of the other moths I see others are catching further south in the country, and even the county. So here's a request to the Lepidoptera gods out there: please send moths to north Bedfordshire! 

I'm going to be in Australia for two weeks. Hopefully there will be more moths on the wing when I get back. 

Nice try

Well, last night's effort to try trapping in a different location didn't really attract anything new. It was essentially more of the same.

Four Hebrew Characters, one Common Quaker and one mystery. No idea what the smaller moth is in this picture, it's too warn to tell.  Fortunately my Beds Moths FB support group suggested that it is a Small Quaker. Sounds about right, so I'll go with that even though it isn't a great specimen.

Common Quaker and a suspected Small Quaker

Caught 7 April 2016

It's always good to check your trap before you go to bed. Last night I discovered one of the crocodile clamps had jumped off the battery terminal, so there was no light. I managed to correct that before calling it a night. 

Change of scenery

I've been a bit disappointed with the lack of variety and biodiversity in the moths flying at my trap location lately. So I've moved my trap from the back garden to the front garden. I haven't tried the front this year yet and I prefer not to trap two nights in a row at the same place because I probably re-catch a lot of what was caught before. So a change in location is one way for me to ensure I don't catch the same moths. Our house is part of a terrace and this presents a formidable barrier, which I think is sufficient to shield the two locations to make them unique for all but the high flying moths. 

Tonight I'm running in mobile mode, using my 12V battery system. 

Cold and Windy

Last night was a clear sky but it was cold and windy. I didn't think there was much chance of catching anything but considering all the interesting moths I've seen others are catching I thought it would be worth a try.

This morning as I was pulling out one empty egg box after another I started thinking: 'oh no, another zero catch'. Then I found a Hebrew Character, and in the end there were three of them. They are quite common and I don't get excited by them anymore, but something is better than nothing on a night like last night. 

Hebrew Character

Caught evening 6 April 2016.

A Common Theme

Last night I put the moth trap out but under a patio shelter against a wall and in a slightly obscure position that I knew wasn't going to be good to attract moths. However, until I build my rain shelter this is about the best I can do when it's wet. 

I caught two moths but unfortunately they were worn and relatively poor quality. So it was a bit too challenging for me to identify them. Looking at the candidates: Clouded Drab, Lead Drab, Common Quaker; I'll admit that I find it difficult to distinguish between them. This is a common problem with 'new' moths (new to my eyes and experience) especially when they look similar. Ironically, this is one of the reasons I was attracted to moths in the first place: the fact that they are not always easy to identify and that they present a bit of a challenge. 

I do have a few good field guides and I should spend more time reading them rather than just looking at the pictures. There are many things competing for my time, but this is never an acceptable excuse. 

I resorted to my trusty online support group and one of the County Recorders' opinion was that they were both Common Quakers. 

Common Quakers

Caught 5 April 2016

I will admit that the specimens above look a bit different to the one caught earlier in the year (see this post on 1 April 2016). So I am not entirely convince that I have the ID correct on these. 

What's that Caterpillar?

My daughter found a caterpillar and we were wondering what it might be. It's green with very little distinguishing features, so my guess was that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for an amateur like me to identify.

Suspected Angle Shades Larva

Spotted 2 April 2016

However, looking through some images on the internet it appears that I may have found it. 

It was the colour with a slight change in colour of the head and the line running down the back leg that made me think it must an Angle Shades. 

I know we have Angle Shades in the garden because I caught a few in the moth trap late last year.

Here are some images of one of them.

Angle Shades

Caught 8 September 2015

Definitely one of my favourite moths in the UK!

Early Spring - New Sightings

Last night was a clear sky and it was cold. I wasn't expecting to catch much but was pleasantly surprised. Two new sightings and a few old friends.

A new first sighting for me:

Oak Beauty

 Caught 31 March 2016

In this image it is playing 'dead' but certainly isn't!

Another new sighting a Clouded Drab. However, I'm not 100% sure, considering that I haven't seen one before, so I have asked my friends (including the County Recorder) on the Beds Moths Facebook page to confirm whether I have got this correctly identified. I often turn to them for support and they are great!

Clouded Drab

Caught 31 March 2016

The others I have seen before: one Common Quaker and two Hebrew Characters:

Common Quaker

Caught 31 March 2016

Hebrew Character

Caught 31 March 2016

It all started with this moth

This is the moth that I spotted in South Africa in 2009 and I was amazed and enthralled with it. I had never seen such a beautiful specimen and my perception of moths changed. No longer did I think of them as drab grey, brown or tawny creatures of little interest.  However, it took another two or three years to rediscover my interest in them. At the time I didn't know the name of this moth, but have subsequently discovered that it is called a Sundowner Moth or Sphingomorpha chlorea in 'polite, educated company'.

Sundowner Moth

Evening 20 Feb 2016, Midrand, Johannesburg

When I was back in South Africa in Feb 2016 I once again saw one of these moths at the same venue I had seen it before. I was running a moth trap hoping to catch it and members of its family but it was not attracted to the light. Instead, I discovered it is more attached to sugar, beer, and other things with aroma. This link at African Moths gives more information. It was a delightful rediscovery and most rewarding to close the circle on where the journey began.