January Challenge - the results

Now that that the challenged is over, I've collated all the received records into the charts below. After Peter Williams asked me to run the challenge, I decided to open it to recorders in my home county of Staffordshire, and to Shropshire, our mutual neighbours.

Last year there were 12 participants, all but one from Montgomeryshire. This year there were again 12 participants: 5 from Montgomeryshire, 4 from Staffordshire, 2 from Shropshire and 1 from Northamptonshire.

The weather conditions seemed to have deterred either the recorders or the moths, or perhaps both; 21 species were recorded (12 macro and 9 micro), which is the same as last year, but there were only 126 individual macro-moths recorded this year compared to 236 the previous year, and 12 micro-moths (18 last year.

Only one person completed the macro part of the challenge, and this was Peter Williams with 11 species. Sue Southam was runner-up with 6 species. As in previous years, no one managed to record 5 micro-moth species, the best results being a tie between Peter and Sue with 3 species each.

This chart shows the collated data.

Now for a more detailed breakdown of the results:

Mottled Umber was the most numerous species recorded with 35 individuals, followed by Winter Moth (23) then Mottled Grey (16). The highest number of moths recorded was 89 by Peter Williams, down from his 170 last year; second most was by Sue Southam with 13, down from 25 last year. As to be expected, micro-moths were once again quite scarce with just 13 individuals of 9 species.

The next chart shows the top 5 moths recorded during the January challenge since 2012.

Finally, this chart is a decode to the participants.

January Challenge - your results please

It seems to have been a difficult challenge for many of us, just how difficult will be revealed in due course once I've collated the data. To that end, I'd be grateful for your results. Just a reminder of the information I require:

1. A list of species recorded throughout the month.

2. Total count for each species you've recorded.

3. Total number of nights you trapped on.

4. Your location, if you care to share this, otherwise just the county.

Please email me: peterbent55@gmail.com

Alternatively comment on this post with your results. Please don't do both, I'm a simple soul and easily confused!

Thank you. 

January Challenge - 10 days to go

The last ten days or so have been particularly challenging for moth trapping, but there is slightly milder weather in prospect so get lucky, bag those 10 macro species before the end of the month!

One of them is quite likely to be a Dotted Border.

The Llanymynech Butterfly transect. Volunteers required

 

Simon Spencer is looking for volunteers to help walk the Llanymynech Butterfly transect, which has been running for about 20 years. It takes at least 2 hours and is quite difficult walking in a few places. It is one of the best butterfly sites in Wales and Shropshire though it appears to have lost Pearl-bordered Fritillary again. There are 2 sections on the MWT reserve, 1 on the SWT reserve and 4 on footpaths on the Llanymynech Golf Course including a long section on Offas Dyke path. There has been considerable habitat restoration and scrub clearance on the Golf Course, which is part of the SSSI, funded by the Nature Network Fund with the Golf Course as the lead partner. It would be really good to see how this work affects butterfly numbers. We need some more local volunteers. We could break it up to make it easier to do or we could have more of a team. Please contact Simon Spencer cerisyi@btinternet.com or 07866428875 if you can help.

BTINTERNET.COM

btinternet.com

January Challenge

 

Hello Moth-ers,

A Happy New Year to all of you.

Tomorrow the January Moth Challenge will start. For the past several years this has been run by Peter Williams, but because he is so busy at this time of year with collating and verifying all your 2022 records, I have now taken over the reins of running the challenge. The challenge is open to anyone who wishes to take part, whether you trap in Montgomeryshire or not. And this time I have introduced some inter-county rivalry with Shropshire and Staffordshire also being invited to participate.

It is well worth having a go, as it generates many extra winter records when recording can otherwise be very sparse.

The objective of the challenge is to record 10 macro species throughout January (and 5 micro species if you record micros). As many of you have found out in the past, this is definitely not an easy challenge, but it also a bit of fun, so have a go, see how you get on, you might surprise yourselves!

 

There are just a few simple rules I would ask you to follow:-

1) The Challenge is open to anyone, whether in Montgomeryshire or not.

2) Adult moths only to be recorded.

3) Records from a single site only and from a single trap. Don’t have a trap? No problem, records such as daytime observations, moths to lit windows etc. can also count so long as they're all from the same site.

 

At the end of January all I need from you is:-

1) A list of species recorded throughout the month.

2) Total count for each species you’ve recorded.

3) Total number of nights you trapped on.

Please send your records to peterbent55@gmail.com

(And please don’t forget to submit your records to your County Recorder the way you normally do!)

If you’d like to be interactive with other recorders you can post results as you go on the Facebook group and I’ll use this information to generate interim summaries, otherwise just send me your results at the end of the challenge. Final results will appear in due course here and on the Facebook group.

Dolforwyn Woods Event - Saturday 22 October

Well, we were greeted with heavy rain when the events team arrived at Dolforwyn Woods, but undefeated we waited a while and set up anyway - making sure to put up the gazebo first.  There is a snazzy new compost toilet at the top of the track, which proved ideal for hanging the white sheet (thanks to Phil again for lending us his equipment).  The toilet even had a canopy overhanging to keep the electrics dry.  No key though, so the toilet function couldn't be deployed.

Everything was ship-shape and the lights were on by the time Peter arrived, so we could relax then.  It was actually a very mild and still night - so apart from the occasional downpour practically perfect.  Peter said anything between 10-15 species would be a good result, so that was our target.  

The first moth of the night was a Copper Underwing Agg, and probably the most common moth of the night was November Moth Agg.  Peter gave us a masterclass in differentiating the Pale November Moth, November Moth and Autumnal Moth.  It is all to do with where a tiny dot is placed on the wing.  Suffice to say that I shall probably be continuing to record them as Agg!

We had some lovely autumnal moths including the Merveille du Jour, the Green-brindled Crescent and the Satellite.  

Figure of Eight (Phil McGregor)

Merveille du Jour (Phil McGregor)

Satellite (Phil McGregor)

Red-green Carpet (Phil McGregor)

And thanks to Phil we managed to record a couple of micros as well - neither of which I had seen before: Zelleria hepariella and Exapate congelatella. 

Exapate congelatella

Zelleria hepariella

By the end of the evening we had recorded 15 macros and 2 micros, thus ensuring a satisfying record for our last event of the year.  The full list will be available here shortly.  It was great to have a full year of events in 2022 - 7 night-time events in all - and to see so many people at them all.  Our best night of the season was at Llanymynech Golf Course in July, with 56 macros and 18 micros.  Altogether the moth night events in 2022 produced 229 macro moth records and 46 micro records.  Unfortunately, we had to cancel the daytime event we had planned due to bad weather, but hopefully we'll get that back in the diary next year.  I'll be starting to think about next year's programme soon, so do contact me if you have any ideas.  Finally, many thanks to all in the events team for all their hard work & enthusiasm: Phil McGregor, Paul Roughley, Mark Thomas, Daisy Dunn and her father Tony, and to Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust for working with us.  And of course, huge thanks to Peter Williams for turning out in all weathers across the county to lead the events. There aren't many county recorders that work as hard as he does for us all.  See you next year!

White gate Pools event on 24-09-22

This was the first time we have held an event at this small nature reserve (and surrounding area), so we had no idea of what might turn up – it was a case of fire up the traps and see. The nature reserve is very closed in and protected by many species of shrubs and trees from all sides, just the right sort of site for an early autumn event.

During the day we had some showers, but these were fading away, so we looked forwards to a dry, if cool evening, but actually, early on we had some good cloud cover which held the temperatures up and this proved very good for us with many moth species on the wing.

We set out 5 Skinner type traps and the white sheet, all of which were using 125w mv bulbs, the traps were fired up at 7:30pm and it wasn’t too long before the first species came to the table, a Small Dusty Wave, which is actually quite an uncommon species in the county with a status of ‘C’, this was quickly followed by a Beaded Chestnut and the very common Large Yellow Underwing.

Small Dusty Wave

Very soon more species followed, and these included the Barred Sallow, Dusky Thorn, Pine Carpet and the Brimstone Moth.

Pine Carpet

Micro moths were quite thin on the ground with only four species being recorded; Blastobasis decolorella, Epiphyas postvittana, Acleris sparsana and Plutella porrectella which along with the Small Dusty Wave was probably the moth of the evening.

Epiphyas postvittana

Plutella porrectella

Blastobasis decolorella

As the evening moved on more new species were potted, Angle Shades, Lesser Yellow Underwing and a fabulous Black Rustic, such a smart moth.

Angle Shades

Black Rustic

Soon after 10:30pm the skies cleared and the temperature dropped, and moth activity dropped away, so we decided to call it a night and started to pack up the kit, one last species was potted, a Brindled Green. For a full species list please click here.

Thank you to all those who attended the event (16 of us), which included three new faces via Facebook (social media is good for some things!) and to the events team who organised and ran the event.

Our last event of 2022 is at Dolforwyn Woods on the Saturday 22^nd. October and I hope to see some of you there.

Peter.    

Moth & Bat Night at Camp Plas Campsite, 20/08/22

 August's moth night was held on the 20th of August at the Camp Plas Campsite in Dolanog. It was a joint event with Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, and was a rather busy night, with around 50 people in attendance including moth group members and general public. The site was comprised of several fields, including an area of longer grasses and a field bordered by a river and several hedgerows, meaning a varied range of habitats were available for different moth species.

After a barbeque we all enjoyed a wonderful talk on bats by Tammy from the Wildlife Trust, followed by a walk around the site with bat detectors. The 'bat hotspots' were next to the barn (with bats possibly catching moths and other bugs attracted to the light!) and down by the on-site river. Common and Soprano Pippistrelle were identified, as well as Daubenton's bats (of which we had a wonderful sighting as they swooped over the water) and Myotis species.

Centre Barred Sallow

Six moth traps were switched on for the event, as well as a mercury vapour bulb shining on a white sheet. Despite the night having begun with fairly dry conditions, the weather worsened later on and we had some heavy rain showers- leading to a few technical difficulties as the power flickered on and off! This led to a rather early finish at 11.15pm. Nevertheless, we record 29 moth species, comprising 5 micro-moth species and 24 macro-moth species- not too bad considering the weather!

Small Wainscot, with a pound coin for size reference!

It was fantastic as always to see these species identified by the group experts and learn more about them and their identifying features.

Bulrush Wainscot

One particularly exciting moth for the night was this Bulrush Wainscot, a rare 'C' grade species in Montgomeryshire with only 48 records so far. This was the only rare moth for the night, though we recorded some very attractive species, including Lesser Swallow Prominent and Dusky Thorn. 

Lesser Swallow Prominent

Dusky Thorn

Black Arches

For a full list of the species recorded, please follow the link below:

https://1drv.ms/x/s!AmtpvP57pyJFhUxki-0JCpz5TL99

Thank you to all the organisers of the event for a wonderful (if wet) night of moth catching! The next event will be held on Saturday the 24th of September at White Gate Pool nature reserve in Montgomery, starting at 8pm.

Late Night in Llanymynech 23 July 2022

Back in July Montgomeryshire Moth Group held an event at Llanymynech Golf Course.  Although I believe the group has trapped in the area before this venue was new to us, and set up with thanks to Simon Spencer & the manager of the golf course.  It didn't seem a very promising evening when we arrived, as it was very windy and looking like rain too.  However, we found some fairly sheltered spots to put the traps, and Peter got excited about a rocky outcrop so we managed to get a trap there too.  

Peter hard at work

Fortunately the group was able to make its headquarters for the night in the driving range shed, which was just as well as it did rain quite a bit through the evening.  And a hardy number of moth group members made it out, so it was just a question of whether the moths would too. We set up Phil's new white sheet in the shelter behind the shed - thanks Phil!

And surprisingly the moths came!  First in was a micro, Agriphila straminella and the first macro was a Brimstone Moth.    Peter got most excited about the Pretty Chalk Carpet, and it was a real beauty.  

Pretty Chalk Carpet by Meurig Garbutt

Mark got excited about the Yellow Tail that he thought was a White Satin Moth, but we persuaded him it didn't have the black & white stripey legs.  However, right at the end of the evening we did get an actual White Satin Moth, and very smart it was too.  

 White Satin Moth by Phil McGregor
(note the stripey legs - the moth, not Phil)

Confusing moth of the night for me was the Brown-Line Bright-Eye, as I was recording and kept wanting it to be Bright-Line Brown-Eye which we get at home.  What were they thinking with those 2 names??

Brown-Line Bright-Eye by Meurig Garbutt

Clouded Border by Meurig Garbutt

In the end we recorded 18 micros and 56 macros, and a good range of moths too.  The full list can be found on the website. 

Lime-Speck Pug by Phil McGregor

Scarce Footman by Meurig Garbutt

To be (included), or not, to be (included)?

 A friend recently showed me a photograph of a Box Tree Moth larvae, one of an "adventive" population that decimated a Box Tree hedge at a garden he works just over the border in Oswestry, Shropshire.

Box Tree Moth, Cydalima perspectalis.
Seb Stewart.

Purely out of curiosity, I looked on the MMG species list to see if it had been recorded in Montgomeryshire. It is not listed (yet). I noted that the Gypsy Moth (regarded as another adventive species) has one record in Montgomeryshire, so we do record adventive species.

North Wales Lepidoptera's site has three records since 2018, all near the north-east coast of Wales.

So it occurred to me that in all the time I have been with MMG I, for one, have not been present at a talk, formal or otherwise, where adventive moth species have been discussed.

Ethics of controlling populations before and after cataloguing, "semi-naturalisation" acceptance thresholds and at what point official cataloguing and inclusion of these species to UK listing is conducted, are some of the ponderings in my head.

If anybody out there can contribute to this query/conversation, I would be most grateful.

Phil.

n.b. Before rushing out in panic to check beloved Box Trees (if you live in the Oswestry area), my friend informed me that all the caterpillar's "appeared" to have died........but DID they all die????😟