Garden Moths update – July.
Throughout July, I have continued to put various pheromone lures out in the garden when conditions seemed suitable (which hasn't been that often here) and have had some more success, although I have so far failed to attract a Six-belted Clearwing here.
I have had a few more Lunar Hornet Moths to the LUN lure, all arriving before midday and in all sorts of conditions including quite thick overcast.
- Lunar Hornet Moth - Coverdale 16.07.2020
The most successful day was on the 17th which was warm and sunny all day. I deployed the LUN lure down the bottom of the garden in the morning and had a couple more Lunar Hornet Moths to it.
In the afternoon I brought the LUN lure in and put the VES lure out and had no less than 5 Yellow-legged Clearwings. The first two arrived mid afternoon and I potted them so as not to count them again and later in the afternoon had another three in the trap together.
- Yellow-legged Clearwing - Coverdale 17.07.2020
- Yellow-legged Clearwing - Coverdale 17.07.2020
The conditions for running the normal trap this month have continued to be very unsettled with wild swings between clear and cold, and cloudier nights which were usually milder although often a bit breezy. We have also had a lot of rain here with some torrential downpours, both during the day and at night.
Total numbers of moths to the trap continue to be on the low side for the time of year although species numbers are still holding up pretty well with a total to date of 202 (124 macro and 78 micro species).
A selection below of some my favourites from this month,
- Swallow-tailed Moth - Coverdale 12.07.2020
- Scalloped Oak - Coverdale 12.07.2020
- Scalloped Oak - Head on view of the one above
- Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing - Coverdale 16.07.2020
- White Satin - Coverdale 21.07.2020
- Ruby Tiger - Coverdale 21.07.2020
A Poplar Hawk Moth on the night of the 21st would be a second generation with these being increasingly double brooded as far north as Scotland.
- Poplar Hawk Moth - Coverdale 21.07.2020
I had a September Thorn on the night of 23rd which was quite worn and looked like it had already been around for a while. This species has an unfortunate name really as it actually flies from July to early October, as does the very similar August Thorn, a fact which often leads to confusion between the two species.
- September Thorn - Coverdale 21.07.2020
Some nights I get loads of 'grass moths' of the family Crambidae and have previously identified 8 different species in my garden, although the vast majority are made up of 2 or 3 species depending on the time of year. Just to prove that it can pay to look a bit more closely at these, on the night of 15th July I had a beautiful example of
Catoptria pinella which was a new one for the garden.
- Catoptria pinella - Coverdale 21.07.2020
All in all, I am seeing a good variety in my garden this year with 8 new species of macro and 9 new micros so far, although with total numbers of moths still on the low side as mentioned above, it is definitely a case of quality over quantity.
Bye for now and stay safe,
Neil.
I love it when they catch the light like that 
Looks like I was a bit pessimistic about the weather - better that an it turn out better than the other way round 
Fingers crossed 
It's one I've missed some how down here, also the Small Heath, strange really when they're being seen every where else. Goldie 
Perhaps they're just being modest?