Moth night at Andrew Logan Museum, Berriew. Friday 1st August 2025 .

Hi all,

Just posting advance details for an upcoming moth group event in Berriew.  It is being run in conjunction with the renowned Andrew Logan Museum who will be running moth related crafts and activities during the daytime on the Saturday/Sunday after the event.

This is a "ticketed" event as demand can be high for activities associated with the museum and for safety reasons have to be limited. The event is free but with a suggested donation. Tickets are available now.

The museum car park will be the base for the event with a white sheet and there will be traps favourably located nearby, within the village churchyard, river bank, woodland walk, recreation ground and near the canal. A good mix of habitats with plenty of mixed mature trees should ensure plentiful and diverse moths.

Tickets and further details for the event, should you wish to join us, can be booked HERE.

If you feel you would like to be involved in helping run the event, please contact me via email moths.phil374@gmail.com

As usual, appropriate clothing for a night event and a hand/head-torch are essential. Insect repellent would be advisable as a precaution.

If the event is cancelled, it will be notified here on the blog and MMG facebook page so please check before setting out.

The Andrew Logan Museum is in Berriew just off the A483, 5 1/2 miles south of 

Y Trallwng/Welshpool. OS NGR SJ187006.     w3w//recorders.flows.excellent.

Many thanks,

Phil.

 

Lunar Hornet Moth at Cultivate , Newtown. Saturday 14th June 2025. Report by Phil McGregor.

 An invite from Cultivate https://www.cultivate.uk.com/ to help run a novel, moth focussed "Father's and their children" morning turned out to be quite the event!

Cultivate gardens. P McGregor

Based in the new activity shelter at the back of the site, a mixed group of 11 parents and children learnt about moths through viewing and even drawing them. 

The new activity shelter. P McGregor

One of the new actinic loan traps from the moth group was left on overnight at the site with the hope of catching some moths. Thanks to the torrential rain on the Friday evening potentially reducing the flight window, I decided to trap some moths at home just in case I needed a top-up for attendees to view. Some moths were also trapped and lent by Simon Spencer which I collected on my way down to Newtown in the morning.

Arriving at the site, I found the actinic trap to contain only seven species of moths so the contingencies proved worthwhile.

Being a horticultural site with a good patch of currant bushes, I decided to bring some pheromone traps and lures for Currant Clearwing which I was confident would be there. At the back of the site there are a few mature willow trees, by the pond area. I had Lunar Hornet Moth lures in the freezer too so I decided to take some along just as a long-shot curiosity, not having seen the species before. "If you don't try....."

Around 11.45am, one of the children in the group mentioned there was a "sort of bee in the tree trap". Immediately hoping for the improbable, we all went straight over to the trap which was not 5 metres away and there, to much excitement, inside it was a Lunar Hornet Moth!

Lunar Hornet Moth inside the pheromone trap. P McGregor

Lunar Hornet Moth "potted up". P McGregor

Later verified by Peter Williams, it is the sixth county record and the earliest record by one week.

Ironically, no Currant Clearwing were recorded!

The actinic trap species recorded were:

• Cinnibar
• Beautiful Golden Y
• Riband Wave
• Heart & Dart
• Burnished Brass
• Hedya pruniana
• Lozotaenia forsterana

Many thanks to all the enthusiastic families who attended and to Cultivate staff for their part in the event, providing engagement support and a fab lunch.

Phil.

Lunar Hornet Moth drawn by one of the group.

Moth night at Severn Farm Pond, Welshpool 06/06/2025. In association with Butterfly Conservation.

Another moth recording session was held last Friday night at the reserve in conjunction with the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust Wild Skills Wild Spaces (WSWS) group, headed by Nik Cain.

The diversity and infrastructure of the site is maintained and increased by the efforts of the WSWS members. It is a predominantly scrub wetland site edged mainly with broadleaf trees. There is also a "growing" area for pollinators.

View from the shelter into the reserve. P McGregor

Once again, the excellent, large shelter was used as "HQ". This was particularly useful as rain was forecast from around midnight onwards.

Reserve shelter. P McGregor

However, for the most part, the weather remained overcast, calm and mild, the most important requirements for moths to emerge!

By 9.30pm the traps were turned on and the group were soon bringing in moths to identify. Micro moths and a lot of them! There was soon a backlog on the table for me, with many variations of Pandemis cerasana and Epiphyas postvittana to look through, Tortrix viridana (an easy one), Clepsis spectrana, Archips xylosteana and Aphomia sociella providing relief!

Tortrix viridana. P McGregor

Aphomia sociella. P McGregor

As expected for a wetland site, geometrids were many with the first macro caught being a fresh Barred Yellow,

Barred Yellow. P McGregor.

followed by Silver-ground Carpet, Brimstone Moth and Willow Beauty.

Willow Beauty. P McGregor.

At one point the Macro and Micro list were evens at 15 species each but as the night drew on a steady stream of Macro's pulled ahead. Micro's seem to be having a good year.

Notable species of the night were Currant pug and a well marked Cnephasia asseclana.

Cnephasia asseclana. P McGregor.

By 2.15am, happily with a  delay to the arrival of rain, moth activity was quiet enough that it was decided to call it a night.

48 species were recorded. 30 Macro and 18 Micro. The full species list is available HERE .

Equipment:

1 x White sheet 125wMV

1 x Skinner's 125wMV

3 x Skinner's 15w Green Phosphor

Many thanks for the help and great enthusiasm of the WSWS group. To Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust for access to the reserve. To Butterfly Conservation for provision of insurance cover and to Peter Williams, County Recorder, for verifications.

The next moth group public event is at Rainbow Trails, Pen-Y- Ffordd in the Dyfnant forest. Saturday 14th June, 9pm onwards.  

Further details available here https://montgomeryshiremoths.blogspot.com/2025/05/upcoming-public-moth-night-at-dyfnant.html

Woodland moth survey near Tylwch, 28/05/2025. Report by Phil McGregor

 A private night survey was commissioned at a young, mixed broadleaf woodland near Llanidloes.

The site, at around 298m, was originally peat bog, planted up with Sitka Spruce in the 1960's, which was then felled in the 1990's. Natural regeneration, sympathetic to enhancing diversity has resulted in a stand of mainly Birch and Rowan, with a scattered understory of Holly and Oak. 4 acres of Sitka Spruce remain. Due to the damp nature of the site there is a fine tapestry of lichens, mosses and ferns.

The woodland site.

With the promise of a mild night, albeit wet and rather windy, I had hopes of reasonable results.

Four light traps were used. Two Skinner's 125wMV and two Skinner's 15w12v green phosphor.

By 04.30am when the traps were switched off,  51 Macro and 13 Micro species were recorded. Nothing spectacular but reassuringly abundant numbers.

Macro:

Flame Shoulder

Poplar Hawk-moth

Nut-tree Tussock

Heart & Dart

Common Marbled Carpet

White Ermine

Scalloped Hazel

Pale Tussock

Peppered Moth

Large Yellow Underwing

Devon Carpet

Small Angle Shades

Beautiful Snout

Common Lutestring

Small Phoenix

Green Silver-lines

Brown Silver-line

Pebble Hook-tip

Water Carpet

Brimstone Moth

Clouded Silver

Common White Wave

Square Spot

Broken-barred Carpet

Small Fan-foot

Scalloped Hook-tip

Purple Thorn

Spruce Carpet

Lesser Swallow Prominent

Pebble Prominent

Buff Ermine

Alder Moth

Clouded Border

May Highflyer

Tawny-barred Angle

Shoulder-striped Wainscot

Pale Prominent

Beautiful Golden Y

Silver Y

Silver-ground Carpet

Common Pug

Shears

Foxglove Pug

Elephant Hawk-moth

Broom Moth

Pale-shouldered Brocade

Green Arches

Iron Prominent

Poplar Grey

Grey Birch

Dwarf Pug

Micros:

Monopis Weaverella

Eudonia Mercurella

Chrysoteuchia culmella

Agonopterix heracliana

Capua vulgana

Phylloporis bistrigella (8th county record)

Epinotia immundana

Epinotia oehlmanniella

Notocelia cynosbatella

Orthoteania undulana

Argyresthia conjugella

Epinotia tedella

Epinotia bilunana

Green Silver-lines. P McGregor.

Phylloporia bistrigella. (Silver Birch leaf miner). P McGregor

Thanks to Peter Williams, county recorder, for assistance with verifications.

Phil.