Coed Pendugwm trapping

A couple of nights ago I took a trip to MWT's Coed Pendugwm reserve in the north of the county. The site has never had any trapping done so I had no idea what to expect. Having recce'd the site earlier in the year, I suspected there could be one or two good species lurking there. It's woodland site - lots of humongous oaks and beeches as well as a good spread of other broadleaved trees.

The temperature didn't drop below 11c so the six traps I took along were pretty busy. Recorded exactly 130 species - at one point I was writing down the species so furiously my pen disintegrated! As well as the moths, the whole site seemed to be very alive; there was constant rustling and twigs breaking in the thick vegetation all around me. It's a good job I'm not scared of the dark!

Some of the better macros included several Clouded Magpie, several Scallop Shell, lots of Brussels Lace, quite a few Beautiful Carpet, Satin Beauty, Lilac Beauty, Clay Triple Lines, Northern Spinach, Beautiful Snout and Pinion-streaked Snout.

The real highlight of the night was the discovery of a colony of Waved Carpet. This is really quite a scarce species and is known from very few sites in north Wales. Seven were seen across the traps, indicating the species breeds on site.

Micros. Two species associated with beech were recorded: Cydia fagiglandana and Strophedra weirana. Both new county records.

Some other new county records were Argyresthia sorbiella, Pseudatemelia josephinae, Epinotia nanana and a couple of Coleophora glaucicolella. Pictures here:

Coed Pendugwm - 25/06/14

The MMG will be running a public event at the site in September.