Gerddi Bro Dyfi Gardens

 Gerddi Bro Dyfi Gardens

The event at Gerddi Bro Dyfi Gardens was held on the 7th of July. With the Bioblitz event being held the following day at the same venue, we hoped to catch some interesting moths, which would be kept to show people at the Bioblitz event. A bat walk was also held on the same night, which looked well attended, and it was nice to see a few new people come over to look at the moths. Some kind of sports party event was also going on, which gave us some background music, though none of the party goers came over to look at the moths!

The weather was good, being dry and quite mild, without many clouds. Four traps were set up, and well as the white sheet (which had to be hung on the gazebo this time as there was nowhere else to put it!).

It was a bright evening and we had to wait a while for the moths to appear, but they came in good numbers after that, with a nice range of species.

Some of the more frequent micro-moth visitors were two common Agriphila species, Agriphila straminella and Agriphila inquinatella, both of which were found regularly in the traps and on the white sheet. A good number of Anania hortulata were also found in the traps- a very common moth.

Other common micro-moth species included Argyresthia brockeella, Celypha lacunana, and the slightly less common Celypha striana, as well as the common but slightly odd-looking Agapeta hamana.

Agapeta hamana

There were also several more unusual micro-moth species. One of these was Anania satchydalis, a nationally scarce species found only in small numbers in the county. Another was Endotricha flammealis- this was only the 17th record of the species for the county, with the species being found at only 2 sites in Montgomeryshire. Adaina microdactyla was another good record- only the second county record for the species.

Endotricha flammealis

Pammene regiana was also recorded- a quite attractive 'C' species moth and only the 22nd record for Montgomeryshire.

Many of the macro-moths recorded were of more common varieties. Heart & Dart moths were abundant, as were the common Yellow Underwing varieties- Lesser Yellow Underwing, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, and Large Yellow Underwing were all found regularly in the traps. A good number of Small Phoenix and Brimstone moths were also seen.

The V-Pug- a common species in the county.

Other common but attractive macro-moths included the Rosy Footman, Beautiful Golden Y, Garden Tiger, and both the Poplar and Elephant Hawk-moths.

Rosy Footman

More unusual species included the Double Line- a local species in Montgomeryshire and a Nationally Scare B species. The Four-spotted Footman was also recorded, this being the 11th record for the county- the event being ideally situated to record it, with most previous records being on the North-Western side of the county.

Four-spotted Footman

The Triple-spotted Pug was another 'C' species recorded at the event, as was the Currant Pug- both uncommon species with sparse records scattered throughout the county.

A Scallop Shell was also recorded- a relatively uncommon 'B' species.

The total species count for the night was 95 species, with 23 micro-moth species and 72 macro moth species. A full list of the species recorded can be found using the following link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13d8GyV9bvxUVMQbkm6AcpdhqPolF7pXZ/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=101747765505889778962&rtpof=true&sd=true

The next moth night event will be held at Glaslyn Lake on Saturday 26th August, starting at 9pm.