August Moths

This is a selection of moths from last weekend (17/8). The Canary-shouldered Thorn is particularly cute and fluffy.

#92 Small Dusty Wave (Idaea seriata)

#700 Light Emerald (Campaea margaritata)

#663 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)

#286 Common Grass Veneer (Agriphila tristella)

#318 Elbow-stripe Grass Veneer (Agriphila geniculea)

#660 Straw Underwing (Thalpophila matura)

#671 Nutmeg (Anarta trifolii)

#966 White-point (Mythimna albipuncta)

Mottled Beauty & Least Yellow Underwing

This morning’s stars were two new moths for my garden, Least Yellow Underwing (Noctua interjecta) and Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata), among another big catch (132 moths of 44 species). As summer progresses there start to be more and more Yellow Underwings of different species, and the first Common Rustics.

#1028 Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata)

#1027 Least Yellow Underwing (Noctua interjecta)

#664 Lesser BB Yellow Underwing (Noctua janthe)

#596 Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)

#642 Common Rustic (Mesapamea secalis)

#69 Mint Moth (Pyrausta aurata)

#256 Gold Argent (Argyresthia goedartella)

#787 Scarce Footman (Manulea complana)

#675 Water Veneer (Acentria ephemerella)

4th July Moths

A few different moths today, including two new ones: Brown-line Bright-eye (Mythimna conigera, #1025), which I also caught while trapping at a neighbour’s a few days ago, and Beech Mast Piercer (Cydia fagiglandana, #1026), a micro found around Beech trees. Still plenty of moths about - 94 individuals of 27 species recorded. All four below are “summertime” moths that fly in a single generation during July-August.

#245 Yellow-tail (Euproctis similis)

#233 White Satin Moth (Leucoma salicis)

#796 Dusky Sallow (Eremobia ochroleuca)

#1026 Beech Mast Piercer (Cydia fagiglandana)

Heatwave Moths #2

The conditions are too good, so I was trapping again last night; this time at home. There were lots of great moths (134 moths of 37 species), including no less than 8 Elephant Hawk Moths and 5 Ruby Tigers. Two new species. Bordered Beauty (Epione repandaria) and Many-plumed Moth (Alucita hexadactyla), and some others that I didn’t feature yet this season are pictured below.

#1023 Bordered Beauty (Epione repandaria)

#1024 Many-plumed Moth (Alucita hexadactyla)

#804 Least Carpet (Idaea rusticata)

#880 Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina)

#930 Light Arches (Apamea lithoxylaea)

#625 Smoky Wainscot (Mythimna impura)

Heatwave Moths

Another warm night, this time trapping in the garden of some local friends. Didn’t catch as many moths as maybe I expected, but still a good variety and plenty of new ones for this year. Brown-line Bright-eye is not one that I’ve caught before.

Black Arches (Lymantria monacha)

Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis)

Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata)

Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)

Brown-line Bright-eye (Mythimna conigera)

Scalloped Oak (Crocallis elinguaria)

Ash-bark Knot-horn (Euzophera pinguis)

V-Pug (Chloroclystis v-ata)

More Midsummer Moths

As well as the hawk moths and other interesting macros, the moth trap attracted a wide supporting cast of smaller moths: pugs, grass moths, greys and other micros. Here is a selection of the 44 species I was able to identify.

Scarlet Tigers and Hawk-moths

UK’s mini-heatwave means there’s plenty of moths. There were twenty-five Scarlet Tigers in and around the moth trap this morning, and three types of hawk-moth: Elephant, Small Elephant and Poplar.

#81 Scarlet Tiger (Callimorpha dominula)

#663 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)

#600 Small Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila porcellus)

Lobster Moth & Buff Arches

A couple of new moths among a big haul of moths this morning. Lobster Moth, so named because of its very ugly crustacean-like caterpillars, is a fairly large woodland species found around beech & birch trees. Buff Aches is a very handsome moth whose caterpillars can be found on brambles. Both species fly in one generation around mid-summer.

#1019 Lobster Moth (Stauropus fagi)

#1020 Buff Arches (Habrosyne pyritoides)

11 June Moths

Taking advantage of a lovely warm, still and dry evening, I caught a good selection of moths, including my first Elephant Hank-moths of the year.

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

#132 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)

#749 Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata)

#247 Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha)

#622 Uncertain (Hoplodrina octogenaria)

#996 Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana)

1st June Moths

Not an ideal night for trapping, as it was a bit windy, but more moths again - 51 moths of 30 species, including several new ones for the year. Swallow-tailed Moth, The Miller and Common Carpet are not ones I catch very often.

#690 Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria)

#132 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)

#662 Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata)

#608 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)

#604 Vine's Rustic (Hoplodrina ambigua)

#615 Middle-barred Minor (Oligia fasciuncula)

#591 Heart & Club (Agrotis clavis)

#740 Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda)

#783 Miller (Acronicta leporina)

Bank Holiday Moths

A fairly typical selection of moths for the end of May. 17 moths of 15 species recorded, which is average for the time of year.

#219 Small Magpie (Anania hortulata)

#607 Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens)

#612 Buff Tip (Phalera bucephala)

#762 Freyer's Pug (Eupithecia intricata)

#676 Coronet (Craniophora ligustri)

#594 Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)

#605 Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus)

#752 Marbled Minor (Oligia strigilis agg)

Moths - 11 May

Been busy, so a small delay adding some photos from last week. These are fairly typical moths for May-June. plus the first Cockchafer of the year.

#687 Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)

#994 Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens)

#602 Heart & Dart (Agrotis exclamationis)

#745 Muslin Moth (Diaphora mendica)

#593 Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lutea)

#358 Common Marbled Carpet (Dysstroma truncata)

#479 Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata)

#526 Common Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha)

Quakers & Early Spring Moths

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.

#727 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)

#726 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda)

#725 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)

#723 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)

Frosted Orange, Blair's Should Knot & Pale Mottled Willow

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.

#909 Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago)

#970 Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri)

#688 Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis)

Blunderwings

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).

#594 Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)

#190 Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)

#692 Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata)

#595 Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)

#665 Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata)

Lacewing sp.

Moth trapping: End of August

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.

#336 Elbow-stripe Grass Veneer (Agriphila geniculea)

#286 Common Grass Veneer (Agriphila tristella)

#788 Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)

#625 Smoky Wainscot (Mythimna impura)

#682 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

#688 Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis)

#223 Rustic (Hoplodrina blanda)

#671 Nutmeg (Anarta trifolii)

Moth Trapping 19 July pt 2

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.

#132 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)

#292 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)

#733 Black Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus humator)

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

#781 Small Blood-vein (Scopula imitaria)

#796 Dusky Sallow (Eremobia ochroleuca)

#804 Least Carpet (Idaea rusticata)

#882 Maple Button (Acleris forsskaleana)

#950 V-Pug (Chloroclystis v-ata)

Moth Trapping 19 July

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.

#1009 Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina)

#1010 Brown Moss Moth (Bryotropha terrella)

#1011 Leptocerus tineiformis

Friday's Stars

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.

#690 Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria)

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

#872 Privet Hawkmoth (Sphinx ligustri)

1000 Species: Large Emerald (Geometra papilionaria)

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)