 |
Erecting the white sheet with the
help of Al - a visiting 'new moth-er'
from New Zealand
|
 |
| A view along the track |
 |
| Setting up base camp |
This event was
held on Butterfly Conservations’ “Moth Night”, which this year had the theme
of “Hawk-moths”. The rain fell steadily
throughout the day but cleared in the evening, so we were optimistic that we
might catch one or two Hawk-moth species. The event was also in conjunction
with Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, who where as usual represented by Tammy,
who brought along a plethora of electronic devices for detecting bats. As the
light faded Tammy led the 10 attendees on a walk through the woods listening
for bat calls. Common and Soprano Pipistrelle bats were both recorded.
 |
| Blomer's Rivulet |
 |
| Lime Hawk-moth |
A total of 4 moth
traps were used, with a 125W MV lamp and white sheet at ‘base camp’, 2 125W MV
Skinners along the main track, and a 9W Actinic Heath trap at the top end of
the track. The traps were switched on at 9.15pm, and it wasn’t long before the
first moths arrived. Among the early visitors to the traps were a Map-winged
Swift, a new species for this site, and then the first Hawk-moth of the
evening, a Lime Hawk-moth.
 |
| Green Arches |
 |
| 'Lights on' for the white sheet |
 |
| Ghost Moth |
With a minimum
temperature of 14C the moths were plentiful. Peter was kept very busy
identifying the moths as they were returned to base, and at one stage we were
nearly out of empty pots. Highlights were Blomer’s Rivulet, a nicely marked
Beautiful Snout, and then the second Hawk-moth of the evening, Elephant
Hawk-moth.
 |
| Clouded Magpie |
The only migrant
moth recorded was Plutella xylostella, the Diamond-back Moth, which has
made the news recently as higher numbers than normal have arrived from the
continent. As their food plant is brassicas this has led to sensational
headlines about devastation of the cabbage crop. Only 3 were recorded during
the evening, so I don’t think we need to be too concerned for the Abermule area
harvest.
 |
| Ingrailed Clay |
Around 1am the
moth activity was starting to diminish, and we began to pack up. Last checks of
the traps produced a few more species to add to the list, including Clouded
Magpie and Little Emerald, a scarce species for the County, and the first time
it has been found at Dolforwyn.
 |
| Beautiful Snout |
The Heath trap was
left overnight on site. Heavy rain fell in the early hours resulting in a very
soggy mush of egg boxes in the trap the next morning. Despite this a Poplar
Hawk Moth and a Dagger had taken refuge in there, bringing the number of
Hawk-moth species to 3, and the total number of species for the night to 54, of
which 10 were new species for the site. A full list of species can be found here.
Paul
