Gypsy Moth recorded at Commins Coch

Last night (21-09-13) my trap attracted a very rare migrant species to it, a Gypsy Moth. As of writting, this is only the second welsh record (the other was recorded ten days ago in south Wales). This species is not only rare to Wales, but the whole of the UK and to date only 40 or so records have been trapped, mostley in the south-eastern corner of England - since 2000 (apart from the welsh record) less than 20 have been recorded, all from coastal counties of south-east England.

Peter.

MMG next event is this Saturday, 7 September, at the Hafren Forest

Hello Everyone,

Below are the details of MMG’s (Montgomeryshire Moth Group) forthcoming mothing event, which is this coming Saturday, 7 September at the Hafren Forest. This area of Montgomeryshire is very under recorded, so we’re very hopeful of catching some good species, in an area which is not far from the source of the River Severn. So please come along and join us at this wonderful woodland site, for a great night’s mothing.

Full event details are:-

Venue: Hafren Forest.

Event Date: 7 September 2013.

Event time: 7:00 onwards, at the car park.

Directions: from the A470 take the B4518 towards Staylittle, as you enter the village you will see a signpost on the right for the Hafren Forest and the car park is 4.7 miles along this road on the right hand side.

Grid Reference: SN857869.

Montgomeryshire Moth Group (MMG) is an independent voluntary group of people interested in moths. All ages are welcome to attend events whether experts or beginners.

This year all the events are light trapping events. We set up the light traps at dusk to attract moths and then release them after identification.

You are welcome to join us for as much of the evening that suits you, we are likely to stay for several hours. However, in case of cancellation, due to poor weather or unforeseen circumstances, always ring or e-mail to check the event is on before joining us. Please bring a touch and suitable clothing.

Please note that some sites are not easy to find, so please make sure you know where the venue is before you set off.

Peter.

Llanymynech Rocks photos

I had been unable to attend the MMG events at Llanymynech Rocks in previous years and had read the reports with envy - so many species that I'd not yet encountered.  So I made a determined effort this year to go, and I certainly wasn't to be disappointed.  By now you should have read Peter's full report of the event, so here I've put some of my photos to complement that report, firstly some of the macros:



Annulet



Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Chinese Character

Gold Spot

Lychnis

Magpie

Pretty Chalk Carpet

Shaded Broad-bar

Small Waved Umber

Swallow Prominent

And now for a few of the many micro-moth species recorded.  No apologies for the first one (Agapeta zoegana) which I also featured in my Dolforwyn Woods photo blog last month: this one is a much better picture, I think.

Agapete zoegana

Catoptria pinella

Eulamprotes atrella

Pleuroptya ruralis (Mother of Pearl)

Pyrausta cingulata

Pyrausta despicata

Pyrausta purpuralis

Stenoptilia pterodactyla (Brown Plume)

Yponomeuta evonymella (Bird-cherry Ermine)

And finally I couldn't resist including this photo of a Common Green Grasshopper nymph - just shows that you never know what might be attracted to the trap lights!


Common Green Grasshopper (nymph)

Hopefully you might also be tempted to go along to Llanymynech Rocks next year - I'm sure you'll find it worthwhile.
Peter B.

Llanymynech Rocks - 10/08/13

The event report and species list for our recent MMG event at Llanymynech Rocks can be viewed here.

Watch out for those migrant species on these mild nights

During this mild spell there have been quite e few reports of migrant activity in the county. During the last week or so there have been reports of Rush Veneer, Vestal, Dark Sword-grass, Udea furrugalis, Silver Y and on the 14 Aug I recorded this splendid pyralid species, Palpita vitrealis. This is only the second county record of this species, it was first recorded at the same site in 2006.

So come on, get those traps up and running, as you may well record something special.

Peter.

Palpita vitrealis, Commins Coch, 14-08-13



'Moth Night' event at Llanymynech Rocks on the 10 August

Hello Everyone

Below are the details of MMG’s (Montgomeryshire Moth Group) forthcoming mothing event which is this coming Saturday, 10 August at Llanymynech Rocks. The event is being jointly hosted by the MMG and Shropshire Wildlife Trust. We have a target species for this event - the Mouse Moth a species which has eluded us for many years, so we’re hopeful of trapping it this time. So please come along and join us at this fantastic site, the only place in Montgomeryshire where you can find limestone loving species.

Full event details are:-

Venue: Llanymynech Rocks – Target Species: The Mouse Moth.

Event Date: 10 August 2013.

Event time: 8:45 at the reserve car park.

Directions: The reserve is found between Llanymynech and Pant, and is signposted from main road (A483). Heading out of Llanymynech turn left just before the Cross Guns Pub where the speed limit changes from 30 to 40 mph.

Grid Reference: SJ267218.

Montgomeryshire Moth Group (MMG) is an independent voluntary group of people interested in moths. All ages are welcome to attend events whether experts or beginners.

This year all the events are light trapping events. We set up the light traps at dusk to attract moths and then release them after identification.

You are welcome to join us for as much of the evening that suits you, we are likely to stay for several hours. However, in case of cancellation, due to poor weather or unforeseen circumstances, always ring or e-mail to check the event is on before joining us. Please bring a touch and suitable clothing.

Please note that some sites are not easy to find, so please make sure you know where the venue is before you set off.

All the best,

Peter.

Dolforwyn Woods photos

Regular readers may recall that at the start of this year I announced my withdrawal from mothing activities at Morben Isaf; I can now reveal that I have defected over the county border to VC48 (Merionethshire) at our new caravan park at Bala.  However I still try to get to as many MMG events as I can, so when Peter W told me that his back problems wouldn't let him run the Dolforwyn Woods event and asked if I could help out (with Douglas as the main man), I was only too pleased to oblige.

As Douglas has summarised in his event report, we had a very good evening with well over 100 species noted including Lilac Beauty, Blomer's Rivulet and Beautiful Snout, none of which I'd seen before; and what was nice for me was to see such a high proportion of micro-moths amongst the catch - about 25% - including the colourful Agapeta zoegana, Aethes rubigana, Alabonia geofrella, Archips xylosteana (Variegated Golden Tortrix)  and Tortrix viridana (Green Oak Tortrix), all of which were new to me.

So here are a selection of photos from that evening, firstly some macro-moths:





Barred Yellow

Beautiful Snout

 

Blomer's Rivulet

Clouded Magpie

Lilac Beauty

Coronet  (fresh olive-green colouration)

 
 And now some of the more interesting micro-moths:



Aethes rubigana

Agapeta zoegana



Alabonia geoffrella

Apotomis turbidana



Archips xylosteana (Variegated Golden Tortrix)

Eucosma hohenwartiana

Tortrix viridana (Green Oak Tortrix)

 


 

 

 

Dolforwyn Woods MMG event

The species list and event report from Dolforwyn Woods have been uploaded to the events section of the website. You can view them here.

Mothing and bat event at Dolforwyn Woods, Saturday 13 July

H

Hello Everyone,

Below are the details of MMG’s (Montgomeryshire Moth Group) forthcoming mothing event which is this Saturday at Dolforwyn Woods near Newtown. The event is being jointly hosted by the MMG, who will be running several moth traps throughout the evening and the MWT who will be doing a bat walk at dusk. So please come along and enjoy a great natural history evening of bats and moths.  

Full event details are:-

Venue: Dolforwyn Woods

Event Date: 13 July 2013

Event time: 8:30 onwards.

Directions: Going north on the A483 from Newtown to Welshpool you will see two signposts for Abermule on the right hand side of the road. Directly after the second signpost take the first left turn, signposted for Dolforwyn Castle. Dolforwyn Hotel is visible as you turn up this lane. Go straight on and follow the lane as it curves right for about 300yds. The reserve track is on the right. Follow the track for about 400yds until you reach a parking

Grid Reference: SO158956.

Montgomeryshire Moth Group (MMG) is an independent voluntary group of people interested in moths. All ages are welcome to attend events whether experts or beginners.

This year all the events are light trapping events. We set up the light traps at dusk to attract moths and then release them after identification.

You are welcome to join us for as much of the evening that suits you, we are likely to stay for several hours. However, in case of cancellation, due to poor weather or unforeseen circumstances, always ring or e-mail to check the event is on before joining us. Please bring a touch and suitable clothing.

Please note that some sites are not easy to find, so please make sure you know where the venue is before you set off.

All the best,

Peter.

CAT event report

The event report and species list for last Saturday's (16/5/13) MMG event have now been uploaded to the website. View them here.