Cors Dyfi Moth Night Event 10 July 2021

 

It was great to finally have a public event – and a fantastic location and good weather too, so everything came together for us to be able to celebrate Moth Night 2021, with the theme of wetlands, in style. 

Photo by Douglas Boyes

    We were excited to see the lovely new centre at Cors Dyfi, with a ready made terrace and benches for us to work from. 

The white sheet looked spectacular from the balcony, and indeed looked pretty good covered in moths later on in the evening.

Photo by Douglas Boyes

We were lucky enough to have Douglas Boyes join us for the evening and lead the event – many thanks to him for making the trip especially for it. Altogether 21 people attended, a mixture of members of the moth group, MWT staff & volunteers and members of the public. The first moths came in on cue as Douglas was doing his introductory talk, and answering some great questions, and kept rolling in until we turned the lights off at 2.30am. We saw impressive numbers of bats about then too....

Some of the frequent fliers of the night were Round-winged Muslin and Rosy Footman, who was an early crowd pleaser. But to be fair we had a lot to keep everyone happy – many moths that members of the group hadn't seen before. It was generally agreed that the Smoky Wave was the star of the night, but that was before the Scallop Shell (the poster moth for the Moth Night) came in, or the Gelechia sororculella (new for site and only the second record in the county since 1998) and even the Double Dart that was lurking in a trap as we packed up.

Gelechia sororculella (photo by Peter Williams)

 It was good to see the public so excited to see the glamour moths – the Elephant Hawk-moth, the Drinker, the Sallow Kitten, and Peter Williams was in his seventh heaven when the Clouded Magpie put in an appearance. One of his favourites apparently. The full list for the night available now – a very impressive total of 109 macros and 37 micros.

Clouded Magpie, photo by Mel Jones

Scallop Shells, photo by Mel Jones

Lockdown Species Challenge as of 1st. July

 Hello Moth-ers,

Moth species and numbers have certainly picked up recently and hopefully this will continue for a while to give us all chance to add some decent numbers to our yearly lists. 

The data for June in our ‘lockdown Target species challenge’ is now in and can be viewed here on our blog as well as our Facebook page. 

Please remember you can join in with this challenge whenever you like, so just let me know here, what you've recorded and I’ll add the details to the main table. 

Please note the following 'Challenge' points: 

1) That all target species will remain active in the challenge (although some may have finished their flight time), so please let me know if you record one of these at any time and I’ll update your points on the table. 

2) Also, it may well be you’ve already recorded a species before I add it to the target list, that’s fine, just let me know and I’ll add the record to the main table.

3) This challenge is open to everyone without any restrictions and you can join in whenever you like, just let me know and I'll add your name to the chart.

The target species added in July (please let me know if you’ve already have recorded one) is: -

12) Clouded Brindle - (2 points)

The target species added in previous months are (and quite a few will still be on the wing) ; -

11) Shaded broad-bar (1 point)

10) Yellow Shell (1 point)

9) Yellow-barred Brindle (1 point)

8) Tawny Pinion (2 Points)

7) Any migrant hawk moth – this might seem rather unlikely, but it does of course include the Humming-bird Hawk-moth, so everyone will have a chance to record one of these (3 points)

6) White-marked (1 point)

5) Pine Beauty (2 points)

4) Oak Nycteoline (1 point)

3) Blossom Underwing (2 points)

2) Shoulder Stripe (1 point)

1) Small Brindled Beauty (2 points)

Trial Event at Llyn Coed y Dinas 26/6/21

Well, for the first time since October 2019 a small group of us dusted off the Montgomeryshire Moth Group equipment and the events team met up at Llyn Coed y Dinas nature reserve to make sure that everything works, that we can remember how to identify moths, and that we can run a Covid-safe event. 

We chose a nice night for it - and a good location.  We ran 2 traps and the white sheet, and had a busy time of it through the night.  Rest assured that plenty of hand sanitiser was deployed. Most of the equipment worked well despite the long furlough, and we just about remembered how to work it all. Peter was in his element as the moths flowed in.

Poplar Grey

Figure of Eighty

In total we had a very creditable 28 species of macro and a surprising 21 species of micro.  At one stage we had more micros than macros.  The full list is available here.  We even managed a new County record: Archips crataegana.

Archips crataegana Photo: Peter Williams

A good night was had by all.  Many thanks to Peter, Phil, Paul and Mark.  Hopefully we'll be able to arrange some public events in the near future.

 Hello Moth-ers,

June is now with us and I’m sure we’ll all hope that with the new month our mothing fortunes will change and we’ll actually record some moths.

Please remember you can join in with this challenge whenever you like, so just let me know here, what you've recorded and I’ll add the details to the main table. This month I have decided to add two fairly common species so that we can kick the challenge into action again.

The target species added in June (please let me know if you’ve already have recorded one) are: -

11) Shaded broad-bar (1 point)

10) Yellow Shell (1 point)

The target species added in previous months (which all still count in the challenge) are; -

9) Yellow-barred Brindle (1 point)

8) Tawny Pinion (2 Points)

7) Any migrant hawk moth – this might seem rather unlikely, but it does of course include the Humming-bird Hawk-moth, so everyone will have a chance to record one of these (3 points)

6) White-marked (1 point)

5) Pine Beauty (2 points)

4) Oak Nycteoline (1 point)

3) Blossom Underwing (2 points)

2) Shoulder Stripe (1 point)

1) Small Brindled Beauty (2 points)

First half of May - terrible for moth trapping

The weather during the first half of May has more or less continued where April left off, but without the frost, very variable with wet cool nights, therefore trap catches have been very poor indeed    We can only hope that things pick up soon - and here's a sobering thought - it's only just over a month away until the nights will start drawing out again!!

Updated chart attached below.

Just a reminder of the target species to look out for (below) and please remember you can join in with this challenge when ever you like, just let me know here, what you've recorded.

The target species added in May (or let me know if you’ve already have recorded one) are; -

9) Yellow-barred Brindle (1 point)

8) Tawny Pinion (2 Points)

7) Any migrant hawk moth – this might seem rather unlikely, but it does of course include the Humming-bird Hawk-moth, so everyone will have a chance to record one of these (3 points)

The target species to look out for which were added in previous months are; -

6) White-marked (1point)

5) Pine Beauty (2 points)

4) Oak Nycteoline (1 point)

3) Blossom Underwing (2 points)

2) Shoulder Stripe (1 point)

1) Small Brindled Beauty (2 points)

Peter.

What a shockingly cold April for our 'target species challenge'

 Hello Moth-ers,

The data for April in our ‘lockdown Target species challenge’ is now in  and can be viewed on our blog as well as our Facebook page. 

I think we can all agree that this April was about as bad for moth recording as it could be and one which should be consigned to history. I recorded 19 nights in the month where the temperature fell below 0c. Hopefully, May will give us some milder nights where we will once again see moths in our traps!

Please note the following 'Challenge' points: 

1) That all target species will remain active in the challenge (although some may have finished their flight time), so please let me know if you record one of these at any time and I’ll update your points on the table. 

2) Also, it may well be you’ve already recorded a species before I add it to the target list, that’s fine, just let me know and I’ll add the record to the main table.

3) This challenge is open to everyone without any restrictions and you can join in whenever you like, just let me know and I'll add your name to the chart.

The target species added for May are directly below and this time I have added a special third category (please let me know if you’ve already have recorded one); -

9) Yellow-barred Brindle (1 point)

8) Tawny Pinion (2 Points)

7) Any migrant hawk moth – this might seem rather unlikely, but it does of course include the Humming-bird Hawk-moth, so everyone will have a chance to record one of these (3 points)

The target species to look out for which were added in previous months are; -

6) White-marked (1 point)

5) Pine Beauty (2 points)

4) Oak Nycteoline (1 point)

3) Blossom Underwing (2 points)

2) Shoulder Stripe (1 point)

1) Small Brindled Beauty (2 points)

Good luck to all.

Mid-month assessment of the 'Lockdown species chalenge

Here in the west of Wales the first half of April has more than our fair share of frosty nights - 16 out of 19 nights have been below zero with the coldest night on the 11th. falling to a very cold -4.7c. So our 'lockdown target species' challenge has stalled somewhat, but hopefully things will pick up again soon.

Updated chart attached below.

Just a reminder of the target species to look out for (below) and please remember you can join in with this challenge when ever you like, just let me know here, what you've recorded.

The target species added in April (or let me know if you’ve already have recorded one) are; -

6) White-marked (1 point)

5) Pine Beauty (2 points)

The target species to look out for which were added in previous months are; -

4) Oak Nycteoline (1 point)

3) Blossom Underwing (2 points)

2) Shoulder Stripe (1 point)

1) Small Brindled Beauty (2 points)

Peter.

A few early micro-moth stages to be on the look out for in April

Not much in the way of leaf-mines yet; however, there are a few interesting species that can be found at this time of the year

On Quercus ilex (evergreen/holm oak).

This is not a common tree in north Wales but there are isolated individuals (see BSBI map). These are worth checking for leaf mines made by Stigmella suberivora or Ectoedemia heringella. Both species tend to be very conspicuous. Either would be new for north Wales.

Ectoedemia heringella. Image: leafmines.co.uk

On Erica/Calluna (heather & heath)

Two species of Coleophora can be found on heather at this time of year. Coleophora pyrrhulipennella constructs large, dark cases that stand out, whilst C. juncicolella cases are exceptionally well camouflaged. These are best obtained by sweeping or beating heather to dislodge the cases. Then place the resulting material in a container and wait for bits of heather to appear to start crawling up the walls!

Images of the cases can be found here: http://www.ukflymines.co.uk/Keys/CALLUNA.php

There is a 'Mine of Month' challenge currently going on the MMG Facebook group, which I'd enourage people to join if they haven't already.

Lockdown species Challenge 03-04-21

 Hello Moth-ers,

 

The data for March in our ‘lockdown Target species challenge’ is now in and can be viewed on our Facebook group page as well as here on our blog.

It was a variable month as regards weather conditions, but the last few days of the month were in general, very good for mothing and there were a lot of recorders adding species to the main table.

Please note the following points: 

1) That all target species will remain active in the challenge (although some may have finished their flight time), so please let me know if you record one of these at any time and I’ll update your points on the table.

2) Also, it may well be you’ve already recorded a species before I add it to the target list, that’s fine, just let me know and I’ll add the record to the main table.

3) This challenge is open to everyone without any restrictions and you can join in whenever you like, just let me know and I'll add your name to the chart.

The target species added in April (or let me know if you’ve already have recorded one) are; -

6) White-marked (1 point)

5) Pine Beauty (2 points)

The target species to look out for which were added in previous months are; -

4) Oak Nycteoline (1 point)

3) Blossom Underwing (2 points)

2) Shoulder Stripe (1 point)

1) Small Brindled Beauty (2 points)

Good luck to all.

 

 

 An agg.ravating issue? 

I have been meaning to get around to throwing this potential "spanner in the works" for a while now.

Below is the link to an article in The Guardian dated Friday 25th December2020 by Patrick Greenfield. Some of you may have read it already:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/25/discovery-of-cryptic-species-shows-earth-is-even-more-biologically-diverse-aoe

It discusses the increasing use of DNA barcoding technique for identifying flora and fauna species and presents surprising results with potential far reaching consequences.

Put briefly, this currently laboratory based technique, is discovering many actual genetic divergences in species where it was formerly assumed to be natural variation. Included as an example, is the caterpillar of the Two-barred Flasher butterfly and the wide variation in body stripes this species displays.

It may sound a rather dry and remote science but having read it I can not help but now wonder about the moth species we record and what this discovery may imply for our field recording in the future? 

Will a time come where DNA barcoding is the only acceptable true identification of a species? How will this shape the confidence in current field species identification records/techniques? How important, in terms of identification ethics, is this new technique? Would agg. be the new normal for general field species monitoring without DNA analysis? Could bar coding be a possible field technique for the future (Don't even begin to think about the fund raising for that)?

As usual with scientific discovery, more questions than answers!

It does cause me to wonder if even common moths we identify with "certainty" and do not attach agg. to, may no longer be the case and that they could all be agg. without establishing their individual genetic codes? I hope I am wrong!

No two moths even within current sub-species groups are identical. This could now be due to new sub-species groups, only determinable by DNA bar coding until we have a fully illustrated 5000 page field guide!?

This may all seem a bit sci-fi at the moment but I imagine there must be at least a beginning in discussion about potential effects this new arm of species identification will have on current field recording techniques and results classification?

Mercifully all theoretical for us field recorders at the moment!

Phil McGregor.