Post 448 - Many Marvellous Moths from my garden

Burnished Brass moth (Diachrysia chrysitis)

Hey everyone today's post 448 and you'll all know that I love all types of animal and plant in general, in fact all types of nature. So from that you'll know that I like moths. Well this year I was really lucky to get a moth trap (thanks again Barry) and it has been great fun to use. I love getting it all set up, placing all of the egg trays inside and then switching it on and wondering what I'll find in it in the morning.

It's not just moths I find! I caught lots of other insects
too including this Chafer Beetle.

I have caught so many things in it, just in my garden! Bearing in mind I don't yet have a mercury vapour light which apparently gives you twice the amount of moths. I think I've done quite well! In all I've recorded 95 different species of moth. I was lucky to get a lot of help confirming identifications from Jill Warwick so thanks very much for all the help Jill.

Thinking off the top of my head, I can remember I've caught a few Hawkmoths, Emerald Moths, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Snout, Shark, Blue Bordered Carpet and lots more. The full list is at the end of the blog for anyone wondering what else I've caught.

Poplar Hawk Moth (Laothoe populi) posing on Dad's finger

I thought I would also do some facts on one of my favourite Hawk Moths that I have ever seen, the Poplar Hawk Moth!

• The Poplar Hawk Moth is probably the most common of our Hawkmoths, which is why some people have nicknamed it the Popular Hawk Moth!

• You can find them across most of the UK - looking at the map of their distribution the most northerly one looks to be recorded in Fair Isle.

• They're found in a variety of habitats including gardens, woodlands, fens, moorland and heathland.

Another hawk moth from the garden
Elephant Hawk Moth (Deilephila elpenor)

• When at rest, it looks different to a lot of other moths, It rests with its wings out and its lower abdomen sticking up.

• They are one of the largest moths I've found in my garden, its wingspan is between 65-90mm.

• This moth is usually on the wing between May and July and is quite a common visitor to light and moth traps.

• It probably gets its name from the fact that larvae feed on Poplar, but they also feed on Aspen and Sallow.

The Miller (Acronicta leporina)

• If startled it can uncover and flash parts of the hindwing which are a reddy or rufous colour which can startle a predator.

• They eat very little if anything as adults, they are on a mission to find a mate and ensure they breed and lay eggs.

Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)

Recently I haven't been doing much moth trapping, but I'm going to see if it's worth doing one or two more sessions within the year to see what's usually about in Winter and see if I can get up to 100 species this year!

Blue Bordered Carpet (Plemyria rubiginata)

I also like photographing moths, but sometimes this proves to be a challenge. I have included some of my favourite pictures that I've managed to get of my garden moths here. I've seen moths in other places too whilst I've been doing my Yorkshire Reserves Challange this year and I've included photos of some of these in my calendar that I've put together and has been selling for a while. If you'd like one they're being sold through the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Shop. They're also selling at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve so if you're going on a day out there (which I highly recommend) then you can get one there. Any profits made from my calendars will be split equally with the Wildlife Trusts, with any money I get going towards my nature antics. I will probably be putting it towards a brand new lens for my camera, either macro or long distance so I can get better photos of everything.

Well, that's it for this post, I'll try and do another one in the week because I haven't posted as regularly as I'd like too.

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.

Brimstone (Opisthograptis luteolata)

My 2016 Garden Moth List:

Latin Name (Taxon)	Common Name
Abraxas grossulariata	Magpie Moth
Abrostola tripartita	Spectacle
Acleris laterana/comariana
Acleris variegana	Garden Rose Tortrix
Acronicta leporina	Miller
Agapeta hamana
Agrochola litura	Brown-spot Pinion
Agrochola lychnidis	Beaded Chestnut
Agrotis exclamationis	Heart and Dart
Alcis repandata	Mottled Beauty
Apamea monoglypha	Dark Arches
Aphomia sociella	Bee Moth
Autographa gamma	Silver Y
Axylia putris	Flame
Batia unitella
Blastobasis adustella
Cabera pusaria	Common White Wave
Catoptria falsella
Celypha lacunana
Celypha striana
Chloroclysta siterata	Red-green Carpet
Chloroclysta truncata	Common Marbled Carpet
Chrysoteuchia culmella	Garden Grass-veneer
Cidaria fulvata	Barred Yellow
Clepsis consimilana
Cosmia trapezina	Dun-bar
Crocallis elinguaria	Scalloped Oak
Cryphia domestica	Marbled Beauty
Cucullia umbratica	Shark
Cydia pomonella	Codling Moth
Deilephila elpenor	Elephant Hawk-moth
Diachrysia chrysitis	Burnished Brass
Dipleurina crataegella
Dipleurina lacustrata
Ditula angustiorana	Red-barred Tortrix
Eilema lurideola	Common Footman
Enarmonia formosana	Cherry Bark Moth
Epiphyas postvittana	Light Brown Apple Moth
Epirrhoe alternata	Common Carpet
Eudonia mercurella
Eulithis prunata	Phoenix
Eulithis pyraliata	Barred Straw
Eupithecia assimilata	Currant Pug
Eurrhypara hortulata	Small Magpie
Euzophera pinguis
Evergestis forficalis	Garden Pebble
Gymnoscelis rufifasciata	Double-striped Pug
Hedya nubiferana	Marbled Orchard Tortrix
Hepialus lupulinus	Common Swift
Hoplodrina alsines	Uncertain
Hydriomena furcata	July Highflyer
Hydriomena impluviata	May Highflyer
Hylaea fasciaria	Barred Red
Hypena proboscidalis	Snout
Idaea aversata	Riband Wave
Idaea aversata ab. remutata	Riband Wave [non-banded form]
Lycophotia porphyrea	True Lover's Knot
Melanchra persicariae	Dot Moth
Mesapamea secalis agg.	Common Rustic agg.
Mythimna ferrago	Clay
Mythimna impura	Smoky Wainscot
Mythimna pallens	Common Wainscot
Noctua janthe	Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Noctua pronuba	Large Yellow Underwing
Nola cucullatella	Short-cloaked Moth
Notodonta dromedarius	Iron Prominent
Oligia versicolor	Rufous Minor
Opisthograptis luteolata	Brimstone Moth
Orthosia cerasi	Common Quaker
Orthosia cruda	Small Quaker
Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character
Orthosia incerta	Clouded Drab
Orthosia munda	Twin-spotted Quaker
Ourapteryx sambucaria	Swallow-tailed Moth
Pandemis heparana	Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix
Peribatodes rhomboidaria	Willow Beauty
Phalera bucephala	Buff-tip
Phalonidia gilvicomana
Pheosia tremula	Swallow Prominent
Phlogophora meticulosa	Angle Shades
Phragmatobia fuliginosa	Ruby Tiger
Plemyria rubiginata	Blue-bordered Carpet
Pleuroptya ruralis	Mother of Pearl
Plutella xylostella	Diamond-back Moth
Pterostoma palpina	Pale Prominent
Ptilodon capucina	Coxcomb Prominent
Rhopobota naevana	Holly Tortrix
Selenia dentaria	Early Thorn
Spilosoma luteum	Buff Ermine
Thera britannica	Spruce Carpet
Udea olivalis
Xanthorhoe montanata	Silver-ground Carpet
Xestia c-nigrum	Setaceous Hebrew Character
Xestia sexstrigata	Six-striped Rustic
Xylocampa areola	Early Grey