2016 'January Moth Challenge'

Hello Moth-ers,

With another New Year approaching I am once again doing our January moth challenge.  The challenge is to record ‘10 macro and or 5 micro species (adults) during January’. As many of you have found out in the past it’s definitely not an easy challenge, but it’s well worth having a go at as it generates many extra winter records for the county when recording is often very sparse. It’s also a bit of fun, have a go, see how you get on, you might surprise yourselves. So go on, dust those traps off and get recording!

The rules are very straightforward.

1) Only adult moths can be accepted.
2) The list of species recorded must all come from one trapping site only (not from multiple sites), although you can send in separate lists from additional sites.
3) Anyone is welcome to have a go at this, whether they are a resident trapper within Montgomeryshire or live/trap from another county.


I’ll ask you all for your results at the end of January (please send your results even if you don’t record ten macro or five micro species, as it all goes towards building the bigger picture), then I’ll post the results on the blog (found in our website, link below) early in February.

All the best and a Happy New year to you all,

Peter.

Mild spell still producing 'out of season' species.

As this mild spell in December continues there are still a few 'out of season species' coming to the traps. On the 15th. I recorded a very early Pale Brindled Beauty and this beautifully fresh latest ever in the year for the county of  Larch Pug, pictured below.

Peter.

'Out of Season' Species

Hello all,

During this (and any other) mild spell there is always the possibility of recording an ‘out of season’ species, so it is well worth keeping your traps switched on, as you never know what might turn up.

Pictured below is a Dotted Border which I recorded last night which is well outside its normal flight period, beating the previous earliest Montgomeryshire record of this species by six days.

It is also worth mentioning at this point that should any ‘in county’ moth-er record ‘out of season’ species, that they should contact me with a photo of the moth in question. I already allow a few weeks grace either side of normal flight periods, but should a record fall outside these parameters it may not be accepted as a record unless verified with me first. Check the flight graphs on any species page to see whether a record is early or late, thanks.

Peter.