Merry Xmas

A very happy and enjoyable Christmas and happy and healthy 2009 to all from Paul & Sue in North Wales.

Winter Moths

Had a Winter Moth by the outside light last night and also 1 Chestnut &1 Satellite at sugar and 1 Light Brown apple moth this evening.Just like to say thanks to everyone who has posted on this site over the year and I hope you all have a good holiday and a great new year(lets hope its a warm spring and hot summer):)
Brian leesey recorded,2 Satellites,1 Red Green Carpet and 1 Ypsolopha ustella,

Caterpilla for id.?

Chris found this caterpillar down at Cromwell Bottom earlier today, any idea what it might be.

Cheers
Chris

December Moth

Anyone recorded this in Calderdale yet ? I never recorded it in Calderdale despite living and looking in what appeared to be the perfect habitat, yet here in Edern I see it regularly at light around the caravan despite the habitat seeming to be less likely to hold a population.

I assume from the lack of posts in recent times Calderdale is in its usual South Pennines " grey grot" time of year weather wise and nothing much is around ? We still get the odd Hoverfly and Bumblebee around on sunny days and moths are around most mild nights but we are also hoping for a good start to the new year with some more settled warmer weather and a much improved summer in 2009.

Free Book

Hi all
I hav just found a copy of The Flora of the Parish of Halifax by Frank Murgatroyd of the Halifax Sci Soc. This list the locations of many plant species in Calderdale so is useful for finding food plants. First come first served can have the copy free of charge, I just need a postal address.

BBc i- player

http://www.bbc. co.uk/iplayer/ episode/b00fy3yk /Natures_ Top_40_Episode_ 2/

Brookfoot Moths

Cresent

Green Silver lines

Beautiful China Mark
A few from Brighouse this year,Thanks to Mike and Kath

Quiz

Any one like to take a guess at this one.Taken at light Brookfoot Brighouse 3rd July 2008.

RE.Dart species 13 August 2008(NCD)

Hi all,I've just completed my first Gen Det on the Dart species found by Nick Dawtry on the 8th August this year.Its not easy with five thumbs on each hand and two small pins,caustic soda and a micro wave to get used to.But with a good deal of patience I have identified it as a Whie -line Dart Euxoa tritici.an excellent find

Moth for ID

Just going through some old photos and came across this moth. I found it down at Cromwell Bottom on 17th June 2007. Can anyone help me ID it?

Angle Shades

My son shouted ...Dad theres a moth on the wall...... I was suprised to see one of these.......the garden was well frozen this morning. ... as it turns out my latest by 2 weeks.

Caterpilla for id.?

Any one got any ideas on this found today on the outside wall,Speckled Wood/Yellow Shell.?

Silence of the Lambs moth find a mystery

South Yorkshire daily Star November 1st 2008
By Staff Copy,via Yorkshire Moths and my Dad
AN EXOTIC visitor from far, far away is providing a perplexing puzzle for staff at Sheffield's Botanical Gardens.
Gardeners have found a rare Death's Head Hawk Moth – a giant of its kind famous for featuring in the blockbuster chiller The Silence Of The Lambs.
The seven centimetre moth – which can boast a wingspan of up to 13 cms when fully grown and is the largest species ever seen in the UK – was found dead in the glass pavilions.
It was taken to moth enthusiast Ed Kelly, who owns the Gatehouse Gift Shop at the gardens, for identification.
Ed called in Sheffield University etymology expert Richard Naylor, who was equally baffled by the exotic immigrant.
The sinister-looking creature's natural habitat is in southern Europe, and how one ended up in Sheffield is a mystery.

Ed said: "To see a moth like this is an incredibly rare event.

"Richard said they are sometimes blown here across the Channel but only a few arrive each year and they never breed here."

Specimens making it into the UK are sometimes found in southern England, but hardly ever make it north.

Ed added: "Richard wondered if it had been transported here in one of our plants or in the soil, but we've had no recent deliveries like that.

"It looks like it has just emerged from its chrysalis but has died perhaps because it is too cold.

"It is a bit gruesome – it has the distinctive skull marking on its back."

The moth will be on display in Ed's shop for the next few days and will then be donated to the university.

Sugaring Caution

Hi all
Not meant to be scaremongering but please be very, very careful should you decide to boil up your own sugaring mix. As you have to dissolve sugar and the mix turns into the equivalent of runny jam its very very hot when boiling (like jam it boils at a higher temp than water)and it tends to boil over if not watched and it tends to spit and splash out of the pan. If it lands on bare skin in the hot state it sticks like napalm and burns just as badly. Its got a wonderful appetising scent like sweet toffee and is irresistible to kids and pets so must never be left unattended until its cool for obvious reasons.

Second point and this request has been made many times in other forums. Please do not spread the mixture on trees with mosses and lichens on the bark as it kills the moss and lichen and thus spoils the biodiversity of the tree and spoils it for other people who prefer mosses and lichens to moths as a hobby.

Hints on Sugaring

This is taken from the excellent 'Practical Hints for the field Lepidopterist'by J.W. Tutt,a good x-mas present to yourself and can be got from Pennine Books(link on the right of screen) run by P.Talbot.Also the new edition of Skinner is out soon.
Sugaring should be attempted side by side with sallowing. It sometimes happens that when sallows are unattractive moths may be taken at sugar, and vice versa. We are indebted to Alderson for some excellent notes on "sugaring" (Ent. Rec., i., p. 140). He states that he always uses coarse brown sugar, when procurable, but has found old black treacle quite as effective. Blackberries, gathered when ripe, and boiled down with sugar, form an excellent substitute, and is especially attractive to the Xanthiids. When laying the sugar on, it is advisable to add a little rum (methylated spirit, jargonelle, and other substitutes are also used by various collectors), every dozen trees or so, rather than to mix the whole previous to starting. It is also desirable to commence in sufficient time to allow finishing the last tree on the round before dusk, the first hour being as a rule the most productive. A long thin line (the width of the brush) almost to the foot of the tree is better than a small patch, one advantage of the former method being that the insects are not clustered so closely, and fewer escape, especially if one commences by throwing the light first at the bottom of the tree. On a windy night the majority of the moths are frequently on the lowest part of the sugar, the upper portion being almost deserted, whilst those Noctuids that fly nearest the ground are much more likely to be attracted. It is also always worth while to sugar a quantity of small-limbed trees, as these frequently pay well when the bare trunks of large trees are little patronised. It is advisable, too, to shake the brush over low-growing shrubs, and also to carefully let a drop of sugar fall on the centre of thistle and other composite flowers, or to sprinkle a little over the flower-heads of Eupatoriur. Be careful also to keep at work on the same ground, the moths appear to congregate more on a round that is continually worked, and the trees kept constantly sugared. Changing ground does not usually prove particularly productive, especially for the first few nights, besides, the fact that more sugar is required on a new round is important, an old round wanting very little to freshen it up. Boxes should always be ready when renewing old sugar, as many species, early on the wing, will be found already at the bait, and, the spirit having evaporated from the latter, these early-comers are usually exceedingly wary.

RECORDS PLEASE

Hi all,If any one has there records ready for this year(2008) could they please send them to me at my e-mail adress Thanks to those who have allready sent them in .Andy

Red sword Grass

2 Red Sword Grass recorded at sugar last night in Todmorden from a new site also 8satellites,Chestnut and yellow line Quaker,from a new recorder called Marolyn.

BBC i player

http://www.bbc. co.uk/iplayer/ episode/b00fj265 /Inside_Out_ South_West_ 121
A small bit on a moth trapping session on i-player,if this link does'nt work you will av t cut and paste

News from todmorden over the weekend

1 Feathered Thorn
9 Red Green carpet
1 Juniper Carpet
10 Chestnut
14 Satellites
3 Brick
1 angle Shades
2 Yellow Lined Quaker
6 Light Brown apple Moth
Again Brian proves there still out there in good numbers.!
I had 1 Chestnut and 2 Light Brown apple moth up here but I think Wenesday looks ok this week.

Only House wood/Northowram

Just about manage to sugar a few trees this evening before it got too dark ,-
1 Red Green carpet
3 Chestnut
1 Satellite(orange spots)

Last nights moths

Another productive night at Mv light in Todmorden with Brians first Scarce Umber of the year,he also recorded Winter moth ,Mottled umber,Common Marbled carpet,Red Sword grass in Northowram I recorded 30 moths of 8 species with my first 'white spotted' Satellite,despite the wind it was a good night.

Red Sword Grass?

Apologies for the poor photo but is this a Red Sword Grass? found in Midgley tonight

News from todmorden

Brian recorded the following at his Mv125 last night in Todmorden
13 Red Green carpet
1 autumn Green Carpet
1 red sword Grass
1 feathered thorn
1 blairs Shoulder Knot
1 yellow line Quaker
1 Light Brown apple Moth
and 2 Torts to id

Last Night's 3 visitors

1 Common Marbled Carpet

1 Rather worn (poss yellow) Quaker

and this male Mottled Umber which shows no sign of a central spot on the forewing

Mondays moffing

Not a bad day for November all in all,started with a daytime Winter Moth flying around the local wood.Then had 8 Chestnut,1 agonoptrix arnella,1 Satellite(orange spots) and this Feathered Thorn at sugar and Angle Shades and Acleris sparsarana at the outside light.

Horse Chestnut Leaf - Miner

Derek Parkinson recorded 366a Horse Chestnut Leaf-miner Cameraria ohridella at Norwood Green over the weekend,this is the first record of this species in Calderdale.Many thanks to Derek for this information.This pasage below and Photo are taken from the excellent UKmoths site ......-

This species was discovered near Macedonia in 1985, and since then has spread rapidly to other countries in Europe. It was first discovered in Britain at Wimbledon in south-west London in 2002, but possibly had arrived the previous year, as it was quite plentiful. It is thought that the species may be expanding partially due to accidental transportation by man, either by road or rail. It has now been found quite extensively in the south-east of England.
The larva mines the leaves of horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) causing noticeable brown blotches, often many to one leaf. There is however, a similar-looking fungus which can cause confusion.
The adult moths resemble other Gracillariidae, although are quite distinctively dark reddish-brown with a noticeable white frons. It is thought that three generations exist.
Many thanks to UKmoths and Derek for this info.

Sugaring at Gorpley Clough(sunday eve)

Rain,high winds and clearing skies didn't make us feel very optimistic as we sugared the trees at Gorpley Clough ,but as the light faded we were soon recording moths..
15 Chestnut
11 Brick
4 Satellite
2 Winter Moths
2 Yellow Line Quaker
1 Angle Shades
1 Red Sword Grass
A real cracking evening and well worth the effort,good to see Brian and photo's to follow from Charlie

Baffled Butterflies

'click on text above to read'
Another interesting article from the latest BCYB by H.Frost, Argus no 55 showing another reason for population crashes in Butterfly populations.It was a poor year for most species in Calderdale except the Browns with the best ever year for Ringlet and good numbers of Meadow Brown,Speckled wood and the ever increasing Gatekeeper.This was mirrored in the rest of Yorkshire.I think I only saw 4 Painted Ladys in the whole year.?Many thanks for all the new photos in the gallery its looking quite a good reference source now.

Parasitica

Following on from Charlie's superb series of photos of the parasites on the LBAM larva I thought I would make a plea for others to post any images they record and keep both the remains of the larva and an adult of whatever parasite emerges. I have the contact address of Dr Mark Shaw at Edinburgh University who is one of the foremost experts on parasitica in the UK. Mark is always grateful for any specimens with data that you can collect for him. He will often be able to name the parasite and let you know details about it. He also uses the specimens sent as voucher material in the university collection, so you will be contributing to our long term knowledge of the parasitica collected. I obviously do not want to post Marks details on the web, but you can contact me via the blog or email for the details

As an example of how useful specimens from Calderdale can be; I used to pot up any adult parasitica I found in my moth trap and pop em in the freezer to store them. Once a month I would put all the parasitica collected into a specimen pot of a alcohol and send them off to Mark. He used all the specimens he could ID as voucher specimens in the uni collection for others to study. The specimens from Calderdale were even more useful in the fact that they came from a more northerly aspect of the UK than most specimens in the collection which in the main came from the SE of England. Several differences where noted between the Calderdale and the other specimens in terms of size and other minor details that had not been noted before in descriptions. In fact one species (whose name escapes me at the moment) was in fact THREE time larger than any other specimen of this species that Mark had seen and he had no idea thay could grow to this size. Several of the specimens I sent had not been recorded from Yorkshire before, so they also contributed to the known distribution. For those who might interested in knowing more about the parasitica Mark has written a small inexpensive book for the AES about them.

When rearing larvae I find that quite a high proportion of then have been got at by some parasite or other and in many cases you have no idea until the parasites emerge from the larva or pupa. I had an ichneumon emerge from an Elephant Hawkmoth pupa once spring which frightened the hell out of me when I opened the pot expecting to see an adult Elephant Hawk only to be confronted by a bloody enormous black and white and very angry inchneumon from which I fled at a rapid rate ! I also used to get lots of a particularly nasty Tachinid fly from Northern Egger larva. The egger larvae used to feed up as normal but them just as they were moving around the tubs seemingly getting ready to pupate they would suddenly stop moving and out would wiggle dozens of small white maggots eating their way out of the by now hopefully dead larva. In about 20 mins the larva went from a seemingly happy healthy Egger to a empty bag of skin.I have some photos somewhere of these maggots munching their way out and will see if I can find them and post them on the blog

January Moths

There are a few about in January Charlie and when running the MV light at Park Road, I rarely blanked even on the worst nights. I was unusual in being just about in Park Wood with my back garden and most winter flying moths occur in woodland. My one tip would be to make sure you get the light on or get out looking before dusk as the first hour of dusk can be the only time all night that moths move if the sky is clearing and temperatures dropping. The list below is the the species list for my MV trap in January from 2000 to 2004. Spring Usher earliest date 3rd January, lastest date 26th February

Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)

Acleris ferrugana/notana

Tortricodes alternella

Ypsolopha ustella

Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)

Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria)

Mottled Umber (Erannis defoliaria)

Scarce Umber (Agriopis aurantiaria)

Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)

Chestnnut(Conistra vaccinii)

Northern Winter Moth (Operophtera fagata)

Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria)

Sunday Evening

Hi all,I am meeting with Brian Leesey at Gorpley Clough to run the trap and sugar some trees on Sunday evening.It should be dark by 5ish(clocks go back sat night).Staying for a few hours until the temp drops off.All welcome if any one wants a lift please leave a message below.

Wellholme Park

A walk around Wellholme Park this afternoon produced 1 Red Darter. I know it's not a butterfly, but I thought a few people might be interested.

Chris

Still hanging in there

One Comma today in the afternoon sunshine at Northowram

Migration and Global warming

If you click on this picture you should be able to read this very interesting article.Closer to home the number of Butterfly species in Calderdale is definitely on the increase and new moth species are also on the increase ie Light Brown Apple Moth,Blairs Shoulder Knot,Black rustic etc.But the numbers of common moths are on the decline through habitat loss and farming practises.This is why all the information/data we collect is locally very important .If any one has records for Calderdale(old or new) please could you send them to me and please include date,how many,how you saw it ie daytime obsevation,light trap or sugaring etc.Many thanks Andy

2009 National Moth Night

I see that Butterfly Conservation have given the date for National Moth Nights 2009. They will be on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 September 2009.

Do you think that it might be possible to arrange a few trapping sessions across Calderdale to see what we get.

They have no specific species or habitats that they are targetting, however the theme is migration. Andy mentioned earlier that we might like to get the LNR lists of moths and butterflies up to date. (I'm still collating the various info on the different sites, but for many it is pretty sketchy), so one option is to do some trapping on one of these sites.

We may also (as the Council) run a public moth trapping event on one of these nights and publicise it in the Wildside guided walks and events programme, if anyone would be interested in helping out, especially with the identification then please let me know.

Today's sightings

1 Red Admiral butterfly this afternoon in Cunnery Wood LNR.

Last nights moths

Wine Ropes at Hallwood Todmorden :-
42 Chestnut
1 Saterlite
1 yellow line Quaker
6 brick
Sugaring Only House Wood Northowram :-
20 Chestnut
5 Brick
1 Green Brindled Cresent
MV Northowram :-
1 Ypsolopha sequella (Rabbits ears and all)
1 Silver Y
10 Light Brown Apple Moth
2 Garden Rose Tortrix
1Common marbled Carpet

Photo Gallery

Hi all,many thanks to everyone who uploaded photos over the weekend .There are now nearly 200 species listed and we should be able to get up to 300 in the near future.And maybe 400+ by this time next year.If you click on view and then thumbnails it gies you a better view of the photos.many thanks Andy

Last nights moths

MV 125 Skinner trap in back garden
18 Light Brown apple Moth
3 Garden Rose Tortix
5 Red Green Carpet
1 Silver Y
2 Blairs Shoulder Knot
1 Autumn Green carpet
2 Spruce Carpet
3 Common Marbled Carpet
1 Barred Sallow
1 Angle Shades

Sugar in local wood
12 Chestnut
1 Angle Shades

Juniper Pug ?

I had this Pug on Friday night and think it may be a melanistic Juniper Pug - British & Irish Pug Moths state that Juniper Pug occurs until late September so it is just a little late, any ideas?

Few other Moths so far this month include Angel Shades, Silver Y, November Moth spp, Red-green Carpet, Brick and Yellow-line Quaker, very quite,

Brick

Yellow-line Quaker


November Moth spp - either November or Pale November Moth

Silver Y

Todmorden wine Ropes

Brian Leesey reports 47 Chestnut,Red Sword grass and 2 Tawny Pinion last night at wine ropes in Hallwood .

Gallery open to post

The gallery is now open for anyone to post there photos on it ,Martyn your open on both your e-mails,just click on the green add files and away you go.The B+F numbers can be found on UKmoths in the links area.If not I will add them later.

Today's sightings

Alegar Bank Wood - Brighouse

1 Large White
1 Paletussock caterpillar (pictured)

For Charlie !

Hi Charlie

As the most active field lepidopterist in Calderdale I have set a little challange for you. I found twice only the cases of 563 Coleophora argentula on Yarrow (Achillea millefolium ) in Calderdale. I found this at Cromwell Bottom and Lowfields Business Park (before they built on it) and at that time thought I had bagged a new Yorkshire record (its slowly moving north) but Harry Beaumont beat me to it by a year :-(( I am not sure if it occurs on the garden forms of Yarrow as I never found it on any I searched, but there again I only ever found it on two clumps of Yarrow in the wild. It must occur I am sure in other parts of Calderdale but as Yarrow is not exactly abundant it might take some searching for. I have found it today here on the Llyn but as Yarrow is very abundant I was not surprised at finding it. The cases can be found right through winter but I suspect many go to ground later this month to astivate.

The reason I ask for you to look for it is that sadly BOTH patches of the plant were destroyed, built on at lowfields and buried by the countryside unit at Cromwell Bottom :-((

PHOTO: Courtesy of Ben Smart

LARVAE ON RAGWORT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Below is a wholes series of tips to find moths on Ragwort. This was given out by Ian Smith some years back on Uk Micromoths. Most of the links will no longer work but all can be found on Ian Kimbers UK Moths website, just type in the B&F number given in the link to Ians search engine. PS Charly, I expect some cracking shots of all the goodies you find to stick in my Ragwort File !


In response to your request for more tips I decided to expand on what you may find on ragwort this month. Most of the larvae feed on the flowers/seeds. Some are foliage feeders, but you are likely to get either when you beat.The exceptions are the rootstock/lower stem feeders. For these you will need to uproot plants, and, if occupied, pot them up outside over winter.I don't think anyone will object to the removal of ragwort plants, but could I suggest that lifted plants are not left where stock can reach them. I think farm animals have the sense to avoid living plants, but wilted plants might not have the same warning signs. Accidental inclusion in hay is probably the main danger. Virtually all the micros listed overwinter as diapausing larvae, so essential to keep outdoors in well drained conditions. Many of the macros overwinter as pupae, but outdoors also best. 998postvittana will probably pupate & emerge indoors in airtight container to prevent drying.Below are links to micros that feed on ragwort in September. Where the link is to images in my file 'ifs' on ukmicromoths, you should copy them if you wish (just for own use -I retain copyright) as I will eventually remove them in late October. I have included polyphages I have found on ragwort, but there may be more.964 rootstock/stemhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag964.jpg966rootstock/lower stemhttp://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=2936985http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=3559http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag985.jpg986http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag986.jpg998http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=19151187rootstockhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag1187.jpg1197http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag1197.jpghttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag1197b.jpg1377http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag1377.jpg1480http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag1480.jpg1484http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=24621485http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/rag1485.jpg1520http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=32741521H. osteodactylus(1520) is apparently replaced in SE England (Kent, Sussex, Surrey according to Eric Bradford, but perhaps Colin Hart can update us?) by H. chrysocomae(1521). I have no picture. Colin told me that as far as he knows its head is light brown, while on osteodactylus it is black or dark brown. As head colour of larvae often lightens or darkens with development, I'd be cautious about relying on it alone.I hope anyone who gets Hellinsia larvae in the SE will photograph and rear it (outdoors) - I'll be delighted to receive and photograph larvae sent to me from Kent, Sussex or Surrey. It's also reported off Solidago virgaurea and Aster (?Sea aster?).952 I have no illustration of 952Commophila aenana. Rootstock feeder. Winters about 8cm up stem which snaps off above the larva by spring. Heavy clay soils from Lincoln southwards. Scarce. BTS describes: Head brown;prothoracic plate pale yellow; abdomen yellowish or greyish white; pinacula shining greyish white; spiracles blackish brown peritreme; anal plate greyish white marked yellow.Below are Bradley numbers of macromoths which you may beat off ragwort. All are in Porter, but beware of variability of the pugs; some spp have 20 or so varieties illustrated in Buckler, with certain forms resembling those of other species.I think many need to be reared.17201728http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=27801825http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=25321830, 1833, 1834, 1837, 1839, 18401851http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=2573I think Eupethicia virgaureata can be recognised by the stylised wave patterns on its sides.2136,2305http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1474

Mythical Moths rediscovered

Just got my latest copy of Butterfly from BC and two moths have been rediscoverd after decades of absense.One in Scotland Ethmia pyrausta only recorded 4 times since 1853 and White Prominent in Ireland the first for 70 years both found at light on organised moth nights.Brindled Ochre is surley still out there in Calderdale.?

King of the Skies

Hi All

I have seen a great many large dragonflies this late Summer / Autumn, a lot more than usual. Took this pick of Aeshna cyanea (m) imm ( I think thats what it is, at least) near Yatton late September. Can anyone confirm id?

Winston

Photo Gallery

Hi all,the photo gallery has now just short of 100 species in it,If any one has any photo's of species not on the gallery please could they add to or send me there photo's.I propose to have the gallery closed on mondays(or any day) to add photo's if this is ok with everybody.? I will send an invite to anybody who has photos to add.

Historical Note on Brindled Ocre

Just been reading JW Tutt...Pratical hints for the field Lepidopterist(written in the early 1900's) and came across this in the October section..In The Halifax and Huddersfield areas Brindled Ocre is freely taken at gaslamps in the early morning and by 'dint of hard work ;on average a ton of stones(dry stone walls been favoured)must be moved to find one specimen......any one fancy a bit of dry stone walling????
There are no recent records of this species that I can find.

Monday morning Northowram

12 Speckled wood and Comma today in the local wood, aalso I've been sugaring a few trees in this wood as well and so far ive had 1 Light Brown apple Moth.

ogden

this morning
1 speckled wood
1 emperor dragonfly
1 peokcock

October Butterfly

One pristine Red Admiral today in a garden in Brighouse anyone else had an October butterfly

New Yahoo Moths

Hi all
I am currently setting up a new group on Yahoo to cover hints & tips on finding lepidoptera. The idea is to have have 12 monthly files that tips can be added to for each family of lepidoptera in the UK. I have couple of people who are helping out with hints and tips but the forum is not public yet until I get some more stuff loaded up. The group will be available for public viewing but you will have to be a member to post. This is a long term project I have been interested in for years and hopefully it will grow into a large resource giving people an idea when and how to find lepidoptera. Hopefully you guys who like to get out in the field looking for lepidoptera will wish to contribute.

September Moths

All recorded in back garden in September :-
Large Yellow Underwing 131
Common Marbled Carpet 86
Light Brown apple Moth 74
Garden Garden Tortrix 42
Lesser Yellow Underwing 38
Garden Carpet 36
Rosy Rustic 24
Silver Y 16
Angle Shades 15
Blairs Shoulder knot 15
Black Rustic 15
Acleris lat/com 11
Lunar Underwing 9
Spruce Carpet 5
Red Green carpet 5
Feathered ranunculus 4
Frosted orange 4
Willow beauty 3
Vapourer 3
Straw Dot 3
Acleris sparserana 3
Flounced rustic 2
Square spot Rustic 2
Small Square Spot 2
White Sh House moth 2
Mouse Moth 2
Barred Sallow 2
Nettle tap 2
Autumn Green Carpet 2
Dark arches 1
Small phoneix 1
Mottled beauty 1
Autumunal rustic 1
Sectaceaus Hebrew character 1
Pink Barred sallow 1
Burnished Brass 1
November moth 1

Photo Gallery

I have set up a photo gallery which was discussed earlier.On the right hand side press Photo Gallery this should open a public gallery and you should see a few old pics from this site,I intend to add all the great photo's that have been on the blogg so far and a few from field trips etc.Thanks to NigelK for his help

Lunar Underwing?

Found in the Actinic yesterday morning, is this a Lunar Underwing?

Ringstone Saturday

2 red admiral
1 Common darter
1 Brown Hawker
1 Vapourer
1 Peacock
Brian Leesey reports a Black Darter at Langfield Common yesterday

Midgely Moffer

Nick Carter reports a very quiet week at Midgley with this Brown spot Pinion and Autumunal Rustic the highlights.

Last nights moths

Feathered Ranunculus and Frosted Orange from last night

Topical Tip

I spotted that large areas of Ivy are now in flower here in Edern as I walked down the track to the coast for a spot of fishing this afternoon (a nice Pollack now filleted and awaiting cooking for my tea). The ivy flowers were covered in butterflies, silver y moths, hoverflies and bees, all feeding away on the flowers. Searching Ivy by both day and night is supposed to be as good as "sallowing" in spring. To be at its best you need a decent sized patch and it not to be too tall as its hard to spot moths much above head height. I know of one excellent patch in Calderdale (I'm sure there must be hundreds more), its on the wall between the canal and river just past Red Beck on the canal. Park at Avocet and walk down to just past the bend near the Red Beck and there is a superb patch of Ivy which flowers profusely each year is never above head height, perfect for some night shots or netting and is always covered in insects as long as the weather is fine (its been a scorcher here again this afternoon)

AES Bulletins & Bug Club Mags

I have a few copies of the Amateur Entomological Society Bulletin going free to a good home, all this years issues so far. I also have some copies of the Bug Club magazine, these are aimed at younger members of the AES but are still a good read for adults or kids. Anyone want any or all of these let me know and I will pop them in the post free of charge.

Charming little critter.

My first post here. Would love to know what this is. Andy C posted this up earlier.
I found it today near Queensbury.
I'm a birdwatcher with an increasing interest in wildlife generally and very out of my depth when it comes to moths, butterflies and wriggly plant eaters to name a few. Would really appreciate your id input please. Probably nothing rare but it's attractive and it's exciting finding all sorts of critters locally.

Weekends moths

Frosted orange 1
Barred Sallow 1
Pink Barred Sallow 1
Lunar Underwing 2
Black Rustic 4
Feathered Ranunculus 1
Willow Beauty 1
Rosy Rustic 3
Garden Carpet 2
Common Marbled Carpet 6
Large YU 10
Lesser YU 1
Angle Shades 1
Light Brown Apple moth 12
Garden Rose Tortrix 9
Small Sq Spot 1
Acleris sp 4

ID help

Hi all ,any one id this ,could be a Broom Moth but not 100%.

Last nights activity

Tried the honey on the sedum, during the day had lots of bumble bees, wasps and hoverfly. Also a brief visit from a small tortoiseshell.

Set up the trap and looked at the sedum about 9pm. 1 Silver Y making use of the honey.

Trap run over night with only 2 moths, pictured, if any one can help me ID them I would be grateful.

I have found a slight problem with the honey on the sedum that brought itself to light this morning. Normally our garden is visited over night by large mammals(I'm not going to say which were the offending characters but there are 3 types), some of them had a great feast on the honey flowers and they are now in tatters on the pathway. I now have few sedum to attract anymore moths and one very annoyed girldfriend who quite like the sedum display. So be warned.

Eastwood and Ibbot Royd

Just a few butterflies yesterday
2 red admirals
2 peacocks
number of speckled woods

I tried the moth trap the other night and ended up with some very puzzled neighbours but no moths. So I'm going to try the honey technique tonight. Is it just runny honey onto the flower heads, or is there a secret formula, and would my trap be better in the open on the grass, under the willow tree or near to the sedum? Any help gratefully received.

Garden Tiger...........

Hi all following on from Martyns find of a dead Garden Tiger at his work place in Hebden(may have been an import or maybe not)Brian leesey found two larvae today in Todmorden.This is great news as they have not been seen and presumed lost for ever as a breeding species in our area many years ago.
1 Feathered Ranunculus last night and a totall of 9 Balck Rustics so far this season.I have to agree with Paul and Martyn a real beaut (not rare justa beautiful moth)

Not rare but I'm impressed!

OK so I don't think these are especially rare moths but I was very impressed with both of them in the trap today, spectacular beasts! Of course when I checked in the book there appear to be several very similar Thorn species but I think this is a Canary Shouldered? and the other an Angleshades.

Sweet Tip Udate

Hi all

Just had a quick look on the sedums with honey at 8.30pm and spotted several moths feeding. Looks like the tip works.

Sweet Tip

I was reading some old lepidoptera articles last night and one suggested that sugaring grass heads and the like was as useful as sugaring trunks & posts in attracting moths. As I do not have a sugar solution ready mixed I decided to try out "runny" honey on some just about gone over heads of Sedum spectablis (butterfly plant) to test the theory during daylight hours. As you can see from the photo it was immediately successful in attracting Silver Y Moths. So far this morning I have had Bumblebees, various hoverflies sp, Silver Y Moths and Red Admiral feeding away happily. I think its safe to say Lidl Forest Honey (shown) at £1.69 a bottle is going to get some use in my moth expeditions in future ! Yesterday was scorching here and today is also starting to get very hot. Yesterday the sedum were being ignored in the main as its starting to seed,today they have been full of feeding insects all day. Another benifit of this attractant is that once the insects are feeding they rarely fly away so you can get up real close for some photos. Someone like Charly or Martyn should be able to get some cracking shots

Not Calderdale but

I had my first ever Black Rustic (Aporophyla nigra) last night. I only wish Charly or Martyn were here to take some decent photos for me ! I have it sitting in fridge so that I can hopefully get a natural looking shot later but for now this is all I have. The photo does not do justice to the moth which is jet black in colour with brown flecks and has pearly underwings, its really is quite spectacular to look at. I have only ever seen pinned museum specimens in Yorkshire so was thrilled to trap this last night.

Twice on the Trot

Apologies for posting from nearly 3 miles out of area but this is a topical shot, being yet another species I have not seen before. Taken at Chellow Dene, Allerton, this lunchtime. I'm not even going to hazard any guesses, I'll leave it up to you experts.

Butterflies and a couple of Dragons

There seems to have been a massive influx of Red Admirals over the last couple of days ,with at least 30 + seen at differnt sites(ringstone, soil hill,Ogden,Barkisland and Northowram).There were 300 in off at Spurn on Monday.Also a lot of Speckle woods and Peacocks.
2 very large Brown Hawkers at Ringstone yeasterday and 4/5 Common Darters(i think?) at soil Hill this morning.

Soil Hill Fritillary

Does it make sense that I saw a Dark Green Fritillary on Soil Hill this lunchtime? It was flying in an area of mixed heather, rough grass and rushes and when settled did so with open wings. The only chance I got to take a photograph timewise, was offset by the dangerous terrain (if you overbalance here, you stand a good chance of being maimed). I've had a look at the other contenders and the habitat appears suitable only for this species. This stood out because the only others around were Red Admirals.

Withens Clough Car park

Hawoth's Minor
Not a bad night with 2 of the target species(pic above) recorded and a very late Clouded Bordered Brindle.(latest record on Yorkshire database is 18th August come on Paul Im sure you must have had a later one)Full list
Haworth's Minor 2
Common marbled Carpet 4
Garden Carpet 3
Lesser YU 3
Large YU 2
Angle Shades 2
Mouse Moth 4
Pink Barred sallow 1
Grey Pine Carpet 1
Clouded Borederd Brindle 1

Cromwell Bottom LNR

Went out mammal trapping (or should that be releasing) this morning.
Lots of speckled wood
1 red admiral

I was speaking to a guy who was walking round and he had taken a few photos, amongst which was a red underwing on the Bailey bridge. I tried to find it but it had flown off.

Also
Brown hawker
Common blue damselfly

Have finally got the bulbs for my moth trap so will be trying out in the gardenover the next few days.

Withens Clough Car park

Monday night(weather looks ok?) 8 -11 if any one is interested.Trying for Haworth's Minor.?

Proposed Photo Gallery

Re the posting dated 05/09/08 on proposals of a photo gallery to this blog. AC mentions the existing gallery on Birdbrain http://queensburybirder.blogspot.com/ which is a link to a Windows Skydrive account giving 5GB of drive space. In order to create the gallery, the blog owner and other users have to first create Windows Live accounts, normally by using their existing Email addresses and passwords. The owner then gives levels of permissions to users enabling them to only read, or edit and delete the pictures posted on the gallery.

Once the messy bit above is sorted out, it works well in my opinion, but I have to say the fall off of posting by other users on Birdbrain has been dramatic. This means I tend to post pictures myself - not a problem because I have oodles of time. I think it raises the question though of is it worth the effort and time Andy, as you are the blog editor. Of course, I am willing to give all the help I can, but rather than flood this blog with postings, I suggest you Email me on my usual address.

Last night

I had a decent night last yesterday with a good variety of Moths, the numbers may be down now but the quality is great

Straw Dot

Black Rustic

Red-green Carpet

also

Garden Carpet 11
Common Marbled Carpet 6
Svensonn's Copper Underwing 4
Large Yellow Underwing 6
Lesser Yellow Underwing 3
Pink Barred Sallow
Silver Y
Garden Dart