Sharing the results from my latest Moth Trap Session. I have written posts about setting up a moth trap and on collecting the results if you want some more background info on how and why I use a Moth Trap
Date: 7th May 2023
Weather:
Well, its been a lovely day here, sunshine, blue skies and actually warm in the sun! I was working the garden earlier (mowing and weeding etc), and with highs of 20C it was actually a bit too warm out there. Made a nice change!
With it being another Bank Holiday tomorrow (thanks to Charles's new hat) I thought it was well worth trapping tonight. The clear skies later on mean that the temperatures will drop quite sharply, but night time temperatures will be still be reasonable at 12-13C
Pic below, as proof of aforementioned lovely conditions :-)
After the previous 2 sessions being quite poor (just 3 species seen each time) I'm hopeful of doing better tonight. Speaking to other 'moth trappers' on a local facebook group, the general consensus is that the year has got of to a bad start, with numbers down for both species counts and for total numbers seen. Its been quite a cool and wet Spring, so that may factor into it. Hopefully this evening is a sign of better times to come...
Anyhow, enough waffling... here we go!
Results: 16 moths of 8 species
Summary of Results:
And it was a great start, in the late afternoon sun (while setting up my Moth Trap) I spotted the first moth of the evening - a Mint Moth, seen here feeding on Forget-me-nots...
Mint Moth - Pyrausta aurata
So with the first moth added to the records before darkness had fallen, I was in high hopes of a decent session...
After the sun had set, I quickly spotted 2 more moths Agonopterix arenella, and then a Twenty-plume Moth. There was then a lull of about 30 minutes, so I started to look on the plants nearby. While the white sheet helps attract moths and other invertebrates, I can often find individuals resting on nearby leaves, or even the fence panel behind the trap..
Large Yellow Underwing Caterpillar - Noctua pronuba
It was while doing this that I found this chunky caterpillar feeding on the leaves of the nearby White-dead Nettles. Caterpillars are hard to ID most of the time, but the time of year, the size and those markings point to one of the Noctuid Moths, most likely Noctua pronuba - the Large Yellow Underwing
I actually found another 2 further down. I decided this was worthy of a photo, so I dashed inside to grab a camera. Rather annoyingly, after I took the shot, I stepped back up and noticed a large moth fluttering around the trap, before disappearing over the fence.
What it was, I don't know. At a guess it could be an Early Thorn, or a Scalloped Hazel. All I could do was hope it would return later on.
As the evening passed by, a few more moths drifted in. A couple of Shuttle-shaped Darts, a few Pugs... it was a much better session than the previous one, but still I feel the numbers are down on what I would expect.
Bonus Wildlife
While sat in the garden in the afternoon, I saw loads of cool stuff. Spiders, Bugs, Beetles, Bee's... all sorts! Here are some pictures of some of what I saw:
Plant Bug - Rhopalus subrufus
Green Tortoise Beetle - Cassida viridis
Nursery Web Spider - Pisaura mirabilis
So, there you go a nice selection of moths, and also lots of other little creatures to admire. The weather was the best we had for the year so far, and that showed in the number of moths seen.
I've been Moth Trapping for several years now, AND I have been intermittently recording these sessions on HIVE for the last 3 years. This means I now have something to compare to.
Last years post on the 7th May 2002 featured just 8 moths of 6 species:
Whereas the post from 2 years ago on the 30th April 2001 featured a more productive 19 moths of 10 species:
I know the sample size is small, and that there is going to be variation in terms of the weather on the day of the session, along with the differences of the general trend of the season (whether its warmer or wetter than usual). I can see that the results from last night are actually pretty standard for this time of year. Is interesting to see which species appear each time though, some are regular visitors, others only appear once.
I'll have to try to remember this throughout the year, and compare current results to past sessions to see if there are any interesting comparison in the numbers/species seen.
Anyway, thanks for reading. It was a longer post than normal lol, well done if you made it to the end! Once again I hope to trap again next weekend, weather permitting so feel free to join me next time as I see what I can find...
Notes on Pictures: Since I started moth trapping 5 years ago, I have been slowly building up collection of Library Images. The idea being that once I have taken a picture of a particular species of Moth, I don't need another picture of the same species a year later. It’s a waste of time and energy. I only take pictures of new species, or of moths that are difficult to ID, so I can get the records verified.
While in my care, all individuals are looked after, and after Photographs have been taken, they are all released safely outside.
All names confirmed and checked via Wikispieces
Further Research from UK Moths and NatureSpot
If you have any thoughts or opinions on this article then I'd love to see your comments.
And if you really like the content then maybe you would like to upvote or re-hive it.
Check out my website for more of my work.
thanks for sharing
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You made me LOL. "Charles's new hat"! 😆
So stealing that. With due credit of course!
That's an interesting hobby. Thanks for the update.
And it's nice to see a bit of your world. Your garden looks warm and peaceful.
Sending warmth from a rainy cold South.
Help yourself lol... it's all a load of fuss and palaver over an archaic relic (I am of course referring to the monarchy, but I suppose it also fits the 'King' as well!)
can you tell I'm not a fan? 🤣
Thanks, its just one way of looking at the world. I often describe it as being similar to trainspotting, but much more interesting! And I like the idea of recording what I see, and then that info gets passed on to higher people who use the data collected to build a picture of the state of our wildlife...
spoiler: its not looking good...
Yep, the garden may be small and pokey, and often overgrown, but it is ours (barring the 20 year mortgage around our neck), and I know we are lucky to have this little green space to call our own
Hope you're well Nicky (apart from the rain of course)
!LUV
Hah!
I already used it yesterday but I think I may have offended an Englishman :/
I hope not. My grandpa was British, and they colonised my grandmother's country, so I feel as though I'm allowed to have an opinion.
I think micro focusing in a chaotic world is very beneficial to staying calm as fuck 👍🏻 And nature is the best medicine. It's cool that you guys have your own piece of paradise :)
The state of the world is not looking good. No. I had a date with a lesbian who worked on gathering data, for government, on global warming. Yeah...
I hope the insects win, quite frankly :D
All good down here, thanks! The rain abated and the sun's been shining. But the wind picked up and now I know the locals weren't being dramatic.
Well... they were a bit because it's still gorgeous and if you wrap up its worth wandering around anyway.
I won't ask how the injury is in case you think I'm nagging 😅
Sending warmth from a pretty cold Western Cape 🪷
[sorry, I did see this, and then while working out what I was going to say, I then got distracted by something shiny, oops]
pfft, you're totally allowed to have an opinion, if someone got 'offended' with that then screw 'em!
I do like a bit of Eddie Izzard, not heard that clip before but totally get it. I've never been a fan of the old patriotism thing. I'm all for feeling like you belong to a group (or groups), but using that to put down or control others as they chose to have is unnecessary.
The problem is, if the insects lose, everything loses, and the ecosystem will collapse. We need them to win, otherwise we're all flammin' screwed! 😀
Ah ok... I knew you were based in South Africa, but I didn't know where... Western Cape huh? I checked the weather forecast, looks like you get very similar weather/climate to what we get in the UK although we may be a bit more variable. And hey at least the weather ain't boring... rain, wind, hail, drizzle and a bit of sun in between, its all good.
The injury is doing well thanks, I spoke to the physio 3 days ago, who confirmed I was mostly correct with my self-diagnosis, gave me a deep massage on the leg which was absolute agony but totally worth it. And then he gave me a couple of exercise to work on. If in a weeks time I can do those exercise without any pain etc, then I have a green light to start running (taking it slowly obvs)
Ah... good news! The leg, I mean.
No! I lived in the UK for (almost) a year. I did not make it through winter. I ran on around the 18th Jan! Yikes!!!
We have really good weather here mostly. Today is a clear blue skies and sunshine winter's day. I should be out there 🤫
I found this...
Teaser - this wasn't supposed to be shared yet. But it's very like (in my experience). We MUST walk solo for a time to really become "free".
We all go on about personal sovereignty and then band together and do the "us and them" thing again. I've now removed myself from all affiliations with love. I love all the communities and support all of them. so walking it. If that means I'm less supported then... this is exactly why I'm doing it! :D I mean the "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" thing. That's the problem with the world. Largely. Right there.
And it's (literally) making us sick - or killing some of us now. So one we go! 👣
@nickydee, @dannewton(1/5) sent you LUV. | tools | discord | community |
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Excellent post mate, I love this time of year as nature seems to wake up, I've been admiring all the wildlife in the garden and looking forwards to a good macro session, sadly I don't know names of the different flies bees and bugs etc like yourself, but it is a fascinating world to watch.
Cheers mate, same here lots of stuff to see as it warms up!
The names is just practice, and a couple of decent reference books or websites. I thoroughly recommend https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species_library as a starting point, although you do need a bit of an idea of where to begin with them. I've spent the last 10 years looking at names, and some of it is starting to stick!
Loved the photo of the Mint Moth. Cool to see the other insects you found. I do like reading about your trap!
Thank you! I do think Spring is my fave season, as everything slowly comes to life.
And I'm glad to see you enjoy them, I think you are one of my biggest fan's for these types of posts ❤️
Fantastic info and photos. Moth trapping is new to me and quite fascinating!
!hiqvote
Thank you! There's a world of wonder that exists under the cover of darkness, that we humans rarely see unless we actively go looking for it.
It's a fascinating hobby if you have the time for it. A bright light source pointed at a white sheet during the summer will be an easy way to see some species of moths and other invertebrates :-)
I will try it to see what I can find here in the woods!
Well this is fascinating! I so appreciate that you have time for the teeny little critters. Some great shots of very unique bugs
Thank you :-) I ALWAYS have time for the 'little guys' they can be just as amazing and interesting and beautiful as any other species of Animal on this planet.
Indeed!
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Hello @dannewton
Reading your post my Ist reaction is thank god someone can identify the moths and is taking a note of their activities.
Being in sync with nature and aware of our surroundings is the first step to preserve it.
Great work indeed hope more people follow in the footsteps.
I do wish to bring leo threads a new micro blogging platform like twitter on our hive blockchain.
Currently there is a onboarding campaign underway.
I invite you to join the $10000 Leo threads quest that is a big opportunity for all hive users .
You can join it here
Once you join think about what all you could be doing with the extra $10000
You can read about the steps involved to join the quest here
Do let me know in case you need any assistance in this regard
Keep up the good work @dannewton
It is a thankless job but we need more good people like you.
Take care :)