Hello All.
All the results for the 2015 January
challenge are now in and have been collated into the charts below.
This years’ challenge was particularly
difficult due to the very adverse weather conditions we had throughout the
month, which was, as a whole, cold, wet and generally quite windy, a
combination not favourable to moth trapping at all, but in the face of all
these adverse conditions10 stalwarts braved the elements and between us we did
manage to get a few moths, so well done to everyone who had a go.
Now let’s have a look at the data its self
– 13 species of macro moth and 4 species of micro moth were recorded (17 in
all), a big reduction from the 25 species which were recorded during 2014. Only
one person managed to achieve the 10 species for macro, which was Douglas. His achievement was all the more remarkable due
to the fact that he managed to record all ten species on one night of trapping,
an amazing feat which has never been done before in this challenge. No one else
really came close to Douglas, I recorded 7
species and next best was Sue who managed 6 species. The micro part of the
challenge (5 species) wasn’t achieved by anyone; the best returns were 2
species, by Sue and myself. The number of moths recorded was also greatly
reduced this year; again, this can only be due to the inclement weather.
The comparison chart below shows the top
five species recorded in each of the four years the challenge has been going.
As usual, the Winter Moth takes top spot with another of the ‘usual suspects’
the Mottled Umber taking the runners up place. For the first time, the Mottled
Grey doesn’t make a showing in the top five. Finally, just take a look at the
number of moths recorded this year compared to previous years, 122, a drastic
reduction on past performances, but hopefully something to build on next year.
Many thanks to all of those who took part
in this years 'challenge' (and what a challenge it was too!). And please
remember, as well as being ‘fun to do’ the January trapping also gives us extra
data for those winter flying species which we wouldn't have were it not for
extra trapping done in the 'challenge'.
The final word – A special mention must be
given to Deborah who managed to trap 26 times during the month for a total
catch of ‘zero’ - now there’s dedication for you!
The full list of recorders who took part
this year is:-
JH Jeny Heard
DB Douglas
Boyes
PRW Peter
Williams
MW Maria
Wagland
DG Deborah
Griffith
PR Paul
Roughly
AT Alan
Tadman
TS Tammy
Stretton
SOS Sue
Southam
SS Simon
Spencer
I hope you all have a great mothing 2015.
Peter.
