Canary-shouldered Thorn - the most popular species trapped last night - 3 in total.
I ran the old moth trap with a great crowd of DWT members at Bystock reserve last night. With clear skies and cool temperatures the catch was low but some super-looking moths made up for that. The most common species attracted to the light was Square-spot Rustic but I forgot to keep one to photograph. The most unusual species was the fairly localised Horse Chestnut but it's hardly the most impressive-looking. A Tawny-barred Angle escaped before I had a chance to photograph it. We also managed to trap a bloody huge Hornet and a Water-boatman (?) 'dry-paddled' around on the white sheet at the base of the trap!
A thoroughly enjoyable evening with thanks to all those involved, especially Derek for getting it all organised.
Light Emerald
Brimstone
Purple-bar
Flounced Rustic
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Horse Chestnut
I ran an actinic light off a battery in a wood just north of Tiverton last week and Hornets kept coming in all the while which made me right nervous!
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew - that's interesting, I've never had one in trap before though I have seen wasps. The water boatman was very odd - do they fly or have I seen something else and mis-identified it?
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
Matt
Hi Matt, It is normal to get Water Boatmen in moth traps. I suppose the closer to water you are the more you will get. I get one or two during warmer weather in our garden trap. Usually they are the smaller ones and yes, they do fly.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Andrew.
Thank you Matt for a great night. Learnt a bit more, just need to retain the new info! Clare
ReplyDelete