Marbled White

In late June the Halifax SS had an outing to Crow Nest quarry and Bruce Hoyle recorded a Marbed White butterfly which is a first for Calderdale .
The plant diversity at Crow Nest Quarry indicates lime in the soil as a result of the
tipping, so maybe the Marbled white was attracted to the vegetation. There was a
hot easterly breeze that day. Brian Cain says he associates this butterfly with wild
scabious in E. Yorkshire. The other site he can remember wild scabious in
Calderdale is Clifton Lagoons, so maybe worth looking there if the weather
conditions/ emergence times coincide again.
Many thanks to Bruce,Brian C and Steve Blacksmith for this information.

Last nights moths(GMS)

Despite this weather I put the trap on at 10 and found a good haul this morning,

873 Blastobasis adustella
1304 Agriphila straminella
1858 Chloroclystis v-ata V-Pug
2050 Eilema lurideola Common Footman
2089 Agrotis exclamationis Heart and Dart
2091 Agrotis ipsilon Dark Sword-grass
2107 Noctua pronuba Large Yellow Underwing
2284x Acronicta tridens/psi Dark / Grey Dagger
2289 Acronicta rumicis Knot Grass
2321 Apamea monoglypha Dark Arches
2322 Apamea lithoxylaea Light Arches
2441 Autographa gamma Silver Y
2477 Hypena proboscidalis Snout
and a Light emerald

Painted Lady Cats

Hi all

Has anyone found the cats of Painted Lady yet in Calderdale this year ? There are hundreds, probably thousands of them in spinnings on thistles all along the coast here on the Llyn this year. Mainly on Cirsium vulgare (Spear Thistle) but also on C.arvense (Creeping or Field Thistle).

No insects of any sort moving here today as we are battered in yet another severe westerly gale with torrential rain.....what happened to the dry hot bbq summer the met office forecast earlier this year !

Last nights moths

Another excellent night in Northowram with the MV and a good selection of macros and micros to sort through this morning .This dark Sword grass(above)Small Dusty wave and a pristine 288.Caloptiliaa Stigmatella and 1115 Ancylis achatana the pick of the bunch so far.

News from Todmorden ,15 07 09

Hummingbird Hawkmoth today feeding on red valerian, while working in garden at meadows edge in todmorden.Bri.

phyllonorycter rajella,14 07 09

Hi all,this superb p rajella emerged from alder mine this morning from mine found on 14 07 09,Charlie,you are right they are crackers.all the best Bri.

Cunnery wood ..watch out

Hi Chris ..the Puss Moth larvae pupated last night,inbetween the leaves of sallow ..keep an eye out when you are trimming the hedges.....Will try and post a better pic.

New arrival

A couple of weeks ago I found a black pupa on the underside of a nettle leaf. As we needed to clear that area of garden I put it in the butterfly house in the shed. It hatched this morning to reveal a herald moth. It looks absolutely stunning (photos to follow) and I have now let it go in the garden.

Are these moths common as I have only seen 2 before (both ironically in the garden?

Leopard Moth from last night. Sorry about the poor picture but I took it outside at 12 oclock last night rather than disturb it . Some may say lucky b......... , others , luck of the Irish .

Field trips

Latticed Heath
Hi all,I am planning a trip back to Cunnery wood this thursday the 16th July all welcome and one on the 25th( sat)July ,location to be confirmed.If any one has any ideas on where to go please leave a comment below.

Gothic

Hi All, I was tidying the garden today and a moth shout out from some branches I was clearing. Landed on a plant pot. On closer inspectionit revealed itself as 2136 The Gothic Naenia typica.

It is said to favour marshy locations, well it should be happy here. Winston

Last Night in Hebden Bridge

Hi there Mick and Kath, thats snap! Small but interesting collection of moths last night

Dark/Grey Dagger agg 1

Dun-dar 1

Currant Pug 2

Green Carpet 1

Winston

Grey Dagger

We put the trap out for 1 hour ( rain stopped play) last night and had the usual Underwing , Mercurella and Tortrix and then found this Grey Dagger on the wall. Not a rarety but just a nice clean looking moth

Alder Mine,11 07 09

Hi all,noticed this mine on small canalside alder,nearest i can come up with is 345 phyllonorycter rajella ? if anyone can shed any light on it.all the best Bri.

Cunnery Wood/Shibden.last night

Another excellent hour before the rain stopped play.very large numbers of Brimstone with aprox 50 ,Snout 15,V Pug 12,Light Emerald 10,Clouded Border 7,Green pug 3,Blue Bordered Carpet 1 and 5 Common Lustering with the one I took to photo leaving 30 eggs in the container.
Very busy at home with another40+ sp recorded highlights were Poplar Grey and a beautiful Latticed Heath(a first for the garden).

Leopard Moth

Our reward for spending a wet night in the woods, just come home to find a leopard moth sheltering behind our moth trap!

Midgley GMS

Only three moths last night, a LYU (no photo), Antler Moth (above) and what we think is a Single Dotted Wave? The top photo is of a moth we caught a couple of days ago, looks like it should be easy but we aren't sure what it is.

Cunnery Wood/Shibden..Field Trip No 10(sat night)

I will be there at 9.45 to set up.All welcome

News from Todmorden,10 07 09

Hi all,just found this argyresthia retinella,not so sure whether its typical habitat, Morrisons !! though there are some birch nearby,all the best Bri.

Cunnery Wood/Shibden.last night

Blue Bordered Carpet

July Highflyer
What a splendid hour or so we spent in Cunnery woods last night, Winston commented it was a little like been in one of those butterfly tropical green houses, with bright Brimstones / Light Emeralds,Poplar hawkmoth and Swallowtails wheeling round our heads as soon as we put the light on.It was so hectic we just let the moths fly around the light and tried to id them.Highlights included 3 Blue Bordered Carpet,Bee Moth,Straw Dot,Small fanfoot,Purple Clay,Clouded Border,Mottled Beauty,Common wave,Small Fan footed wave,Common Carpet and a Common Lustering (which we initially id as a dark July Highflyer).