Daytime temperature bis up to 20 Celsius, but the nights are clear and still quite cold at night, even a touch of frost some mornings. It’s also nearly full moon, so there are not too many moths flying yet. These though are a pretty trio, and harbinger of more to come as Spring draws on.
After some warmer days, this was the first outing in 2025 for my moth trap, catching some typical moths for mid-March. All of these moths fly for a couple of months in a single generation in the early Spring.
Moths are getting a bit thin on the ground, but normally I’s expect more than just a single Light Brown Apple Moth by the trap in the morning. There were a lot of gnats attracted to the light thpough, including Winter Gnats and a Sylvicola species, which I believe is Window Gnat. The latter turns out to be a new species for the garden, as previously I only noticed Clear-tipped Window Gnat (Sylvicola punctatus), whereas last night’s has grey wing-tips if you look close enough. This is a common species though, that can be found all year round.
Back from a short trip to Frejus in the South of France, where I came across this magnificent caterpillar in the garden. Oleander Hawk-moth (Daphnis nerii) caterpillars start out green, then morph to this orange/black form, before pupating, then turning into a particularly spectacular hawk moth. There is a ton of Oleander (Laurier Rose) in the garden and this was disturbed by pruning. The leaves of Oleander are poisonous, but these caterpillars can consume it okay. Adult Oleander Hawk-moths are rare Autumn vagrants to the UK and the larvae are not recorded here. The French name for the moth is Le Sphinx du Laurier-rose.
As we had a nice dry night on Friday, I was able to put out the moth trap. I caught nine species, including this trio - all of them fairly typical for the time of year. Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago) flies during Aug-Sept, it’s larvae live inside the stems of thistle plants. Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri) is found around Cypress trees and flies a bit later - Oct-Nov. It is a non-native species first recorded in UK in 1951, but now widespread in gardens across most of England. Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis) flies from July-September; its larvae are found on grain of cereal crops, including those that have been harvested.
These moths rest with their wings rolled up so they look at first glance like craneflies/ Disturbed while I was gardening at the weekend, this is a Common Plume. They can be found all year round, but Autumn seems when they are most plentiful. The larval food-plant for this species is Bindweed.
Out of 38 moths this morning, 19 were Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) - fairly typical for the season. These are common Autumn moths, colloquially known as “blunderwings” as they fly off clumsily when disturbed from their daytime resting spots. The sandy-coloured Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata) is a similar size also with a yellow hind-wing, but this time with a broader black band around the margin. Of the other moths in and around the moth trap nine were Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum).
These are from last weekend - it’s been a busy week. Quite a varied catch of fairly typical late summer moths. Elbow-striped Grass Veneer or Chevron Grass-moth as it seems to be called too, is a grassland species I don’t catch every year. A shiny Burnished Brass and a couple of Nutmegs were nice seasonal catches.
This nicely marked Angle Shades moth was resting up in the greenhouse. Angle Shades moths fly throughout the summer from May-October, with the population supplemented by migrants from the continent. The caterpillars eat a variety of plants including nettles, docks and brambles.
Here’s a mixed bag of other moths and insects caught last week. At this time there is a large variety of creatures on the wing at night.
I’m still catching new species in my moth trap; here’s three from 19 July which I’ve just finally got time to post. Leptocerus tineiformis is a small caddisfly with very long antennae that is found around ponds. Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina) is usually rather greener than this individual; it flies in June-July and its food-plants are bilberry, honeysuckle and knot grass. Brown Moss Moth (Bryotropha terrella) is also single-brooded frequenting grassy areas and flying throughout the summer.
Three exotic-looking moths from the other day… it’s always a thrill to find beautiful creatures like these when you check the light trap in the morning.
I had a good haul of moths in and around the moth trap yesterday morning - the biggest catch of the year so far - which included these three new species.
The Sycamore is similar to the Poplar Grey, which seems more common round here - but prefers Sycamore and Field Maple trees, rather than Poplars and Aspens.
The Marsh Pearl or Fenland Pearl (Anania perlucidalis), told from the similar Mother of Pearl moth by the two dark dots on the wings, seems not that common in Gloucestershire, away from its main range in East Anglia.
Gold Triangle (Hypsopygia costalis) and yesterday’s other new moth, Double-striped Tabby (Hypsopygia glaucinalis), are closely related species both of whose larvae live in dry, dead vegetable matter, such as straw or birds nests. Given this, I suspect that they might originate from my neighbour’s thatched roof. Both species fly in July-August and are mostly found in Southern England.
This morning I achieved my “1000 species” goal from when I started this project back on 1st June 2018, with a brace of new moths. The first of these was a Large Emerald, which with a wingspan of 50-60 mm is our biggest UK all-green Emerald moth. It is a woodland species associated with birch and hazel with a single flight period peaking in July.
#1000 Large Emerald (Geometra papilionaria)
Here’s a few more moths from the other night: my first Riband Waves of the season and this nicely green Green Pug. There are more micros now too, including my first grass moths and these two fruit tree species: Bramble Shoot Moth and Codling Moth - the former as you might guess eats bramble leaves, while the larvae of the latter grow inside the cores of apples and other hard fruit like quinces & pears.
This pretty, pea-green moth is a fairly common woodland species flying in May-July. With a preference for Oaks, though it will also lay eggs in other deciduous trees, its caterpillars feed from within a rolled up leaf. It can be a pest, sometimes completely defoliating trees. A new species for my garden it brings my total to 999.
Not in the garden, I snapped this Yellow-banded Longhorn moth on Hogweed while walking in a local wood. It’s the male that has these insanely long antennae. This moth is quite common in woodland where it’s larvae live in leaf-litter.
A dry and still night, but too cold for many moths unfortunately. These three are species I didn’t post previously. The two Small Magpies I caught were the first of the season for this macro-sized micro moth. Small Magpie has a long flight season through to September, its food-plants are nettled & woundwort. Buff Ermine is another common moth (four in the trap this morning) flying from May-July; food-plant nettles, but also a variety of other herbaceous plants including birch & honeysuckle. Vine’s Rustic has 2 generations, one now and a larger one in the late summer when it is for a period one of the most numerous macros. It’s caterpillars eat plantains and docks.
Three handsome, but quite different moths. Cinnabar Moth is very distinctive species, whose yellow & black striped caterpillars are found (often in numbers) on ragwort plants. Green Pug is a summer species which lays eggs in the blossom of fruit trees such as apple or pear, while Light emerald is a woodland moth found on various trees and hedgerow plants with two generations in Spring & Summer.
Passionate about nature, based in Gloucestershire UK; this site is about creating a wildlife friendly family garden and exploring the diversity of animal & plant species that share it with us.
As a nature lover and wildlife gardener I started wondering about the biodiversity in my backyard and just how many species from plants to insects to birds to mammals might live in or visit it.
Much of the wildlife in my small, village garden has been present right under my nose for years without my really appreciating it, so on the way I am learning a lot about different species and how to make a wildlife-friendly environment for them; also getting engaged more in conservation activities around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
My garden species tally started from zero on June 1st 2018, the target was 1000 species, which I eventually hit in June 2024. But there’s still plenty to see and learn about.
I'm very interested in your comments & advice: whether it's about the blog, some help with identification or just how to make my own little Eden better for wildlife. So please leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel like it!
Graham Tompsett
microedenproject@gmail.com
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