The Moth Lady

My recent after-dark activities in the garden seem to be attracting quite a lot of interest from my neighbours and village friends so it's probably just as well I've been doing nothing more unusual than trapping moths.

Several of my neighbours have popped in to see the moths I've trapped and one village friend actually came and sat with me in the garden for two hours on the only balmy, breezeless night there's been in the valley in the last two weeks. The morning after, I had a call from an acquaintance in a nearby village to tell me she had found a moth in her garden: "Do you want me to keep it for you?" she asked. Her description suggested it was a female Garden Tiger (Arctia caja) so I happily agreed. It was certainly worth the ride ...


Amongst the last catch were ten new species; of these, only one was caught in the trap. I am still trying to understand why some go into the trap while others cling to it or settle on the surrounding grass, the fence or the door of the garden shed. With care, I was able to pot and later observe these 'reluctants' although photographing most of them proved more difficult that I would have preferred.

I was pleased with this Light Emerald (Campaea mararitata) ...


... and this attractive little Foxglove Pug (Eupithecia pulchellata pulchellata) ...


The eight other new species were a micro moth, Udea olivalis, a Small Angled Shades (Euplexia lucipara), a Pale-shouldered Brocade (Lacanobia thalassina), a Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata), a Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata), a Middle-barred Minor (Oligia fasciuncula), a Marbled Minor (Oligia strigilis), and a Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata). I am grateful to Tom Tams, our County moth recorder, for identifying the last three of these.

At 11.45pm the following evening, while I was releasing the moths, I photographed this Silver Y (Autographa gamma) feeding on a patch of Crane's Bill in the garden ...


The following afternoon, as I was cutting the grass, this male Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) flew up from the cover of the same plant and settled on the wall of the house ...

Garden Moths (2)

There was another interesting selection of moths in my garden last night. They included a Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita), a Clouded Bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata), a Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina), a Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis), a Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata) and three Brimstone (Opisthograptis luteolata), all pictured in earlier garden moth pieces.

Moths new to the garden, or at least new to the trap, were ...

Swallow Prominent (Pheosia temula)
Peppered Moth (Biston betularia)
Clouded Border (Lomaspilis Marginata)
Bordered White (Bupalus piniaria)
Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)
Dusky Brocade (Apamea remissa)
Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea)
There was also this slightly damaged Silver Ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) and two others, Pugs I think, which I've yet to identify ...

A Visitor in Ermine

Moth trapping and the weather this week seemed not to mix, so I was pleased yesterday that the forecast promised a dry night. Dry yes, but it was also surprisingly cold and the moths were in short supply, with only three visitors in the three hours the trap was active. I was particularly delighted with one, a White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda), which was one of my wish-list species ...



This Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata), pictured below in its holding pot, was quite a challenge to identify. At first sight it seems rather plain but when examined more closely, its subdued colouring disguises some interesting highlights ...


The third moth was another dark-form Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina) ...


On reflection, at a time when my study of moths is new and my confidence in handling them is still growing, it was good to have a quiet evening with the trap.

Garden Moths (1)

Here are some of the other moths collected during my first night's trapping. Firstly two Daggers ...

Grey Dagger (Acronicta psi)
Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis)
This little beauty, a Small Magpie (Euprhypara hortulata), flew away as soon as it was released but, after a very short flight, settled conveniently on the wall beside my front door, allowing me a brief opportunity to take its picture ...


One of two Luna Thorns (Selenia lunularia) found in the trap, resting here in a typical posture, wings open and half raised with the forewings slightly curved ...


Next, two Prominants, the first a Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina), a dark form I think, the second a Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac), annoyingly tucking its forehead under the leaf just before it was pictured ...



This tiny Sallow Kitten (Furcula furcula) had a lot of attitude but managed to stay still for a moment in this wings-open pose. I understand this species is scarce in Northumberland.


Finally, an unidentified moth which I hope someone will be able to name. It was longer than the two daggers above. Thanks are due to Stewart Sexton who has identified this as a Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata) ...

Moth Trapping in my Redesdale Garden

It's a great pleasure to report on my first night's moth trapping in my garden here at Curlew Corner in Redesdale.

I've thought long and hard about buying a moth trap and, in the end, the decision was taken entirely out of my hands thanks to the limitless generosity of my dear friend Harold Dobson who, when he read about the trap, offered to buy it for me as a joint birthday and Christmas present this year. It's certainly a precious and much appreciated gift.

The trap is a Gladiator made by Paul Batty of Sheffield (whose contact details are included in the link). I can thoroughly recommend Paul to you if you are thinking of buying a trap. His advice and customer support is second to none and the Gladiator is a small miracle of simplicity and inventive design. Here it is working in my garden last night, complete with its rain guard ...


And before I move on to the moths, one other person needs to be thanked. Stewart Sexton, the Boulmer Birder, has received and responded to all of my questions and concerns about moth trapping with great patience and his excellent advice and encouragement helped me decide to go ahead with this new interest.

The slogan for moth trappers could well be build it and they will come (with apologies to the writers of Field of Dreams for substituting 'He' with 'they'). That's all I had to do: plug the trap into a timer and leave it to switch itself off at 3.30am while I was asleep and dreaming about moths ... at least I should have been asleep but the child-like excitement of having already captured an Elephant Hawkmoth before I went to bed rather kept me awake. This was one of my wish-list species so you might imagine how excited I was ...

Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor)
Altogether I trapped about thirty different species, many of which were micro moths, or certainly very small macro moths, which I've not been able to identify. Here are three more of the macro moths trapped; more in the next post ...

Buff Ermine (Spilosoma luteum)
Brimstone (Opisthograptis luteolaria)
Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)

The Chimney Sweeper Moth

In my 1933 edition of Moths of the British Isles, the author Richard South says that the Chimney Sweeper moth is "very constant except that some specimens, after being on the wing for a day or two, become sooty brown. It is the fringe at the tip of the forewings rather than the tip itself that is white, and this sometimes extends for a short distance along the fringe of the outer margin. The moth is also known as The Looping Chimney Sweeper, in reference to its caterpillar, or The Chimney Sweeper's Boy. The caterpillar feeds in spring on flowers of the earth-nut (Conopodium denudatum). The moth is a sun lover and flits about flowers growing among or near its food plant in June and July. The species is widely distributed and frequents moist fields, borders of woods and even waysides".

The picture was taken during a third visit to the hay meadows at Barrowburn, Upper Coquetdale. It was a breezy day again with lots of movement in the grasses and flowers.

Chimney Sweeper Moth (Odezia atrata)

Barrowburn Hay Meadows (3)

Although it was hot and sunny during my second visit to the hay meadows at Barrowburn, it was also quite breezy. I had travelled in hope of photographing some of the insects that visit the meadows, particularly the Chimney Sweeper moth pictured below, and the bumble bees. And from reading the SSSI description, I had tagged the grasses present on site in my field guide and planned to try photographing them too. However, as there were not as many of the moths and bees about and the steady breeze kept the grasses on the move, both these objectives were made difficult if not impossible to fulfil. So, as well as having a very nice lunch at the Barrowburn Farm tea room, I spent the afternoon happily sauntering the hay meadow paths and photographing the flowers again.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) on the meadow edge
Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis)
Wood Crane's Bill (Geranium sylvaticum)
Chimney Sweeper Moth (Odezia atrata)