Spring Moths...

What a winter this has been, we are well shot of it! After the 2015 Garden Moth Survey ended in November, I volunteered to continue through the winter for that survey too.

Well, no sooner did I do that than the weather turned. We had 10 storms, all with nice English human names such as Frank and Gertrude that covered the vast majority of the 12 week period. Even between the gales and torrential El Nino driven rain, we had cold clear nights that were useless for moths, so I decided to throw the towel in after week two and save some electricity.

March has been a great improvement with a few nice evenings to tempt out the typical early spring species. Long may it continue...

Oak Beauty, the first here since 2012.

Satellite

Dotted Border

Early Grey

In line with Tom's new thinking on Agonopetrix heracliana / ciliella, I have lumped them together below. They are unidentifiable without dissection. He has sampled some recently and found gen detted heracliana with 5 lines in the hindwing cillia, supposedly a ciliella feature?

Back to the drawing board...

6 degree min.

Taxa

  Agonopterix species (Agonopterix sp.)  4

1775  Mottled Grey (Colostygia multistrigaria)  2 NFY

1934  Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria)  2 NFY

2139  Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa)  2

2179  Pine Beauty (Panolis flammea)  2

2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  15

2188  Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)  1

2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  21

2243  Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)  7

2258  Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)  1

57 Moths of 10sp

Mottled Grey

Dotted Border