Moth trap

by Ian Bushell

These are the results from Tuesday (03.09.21) evening’s moth trapping with lepidopterist Hugo Brooke.

Having got permission from the Countryside Team to carry out moth trapping in the reserve, Hugo and I met up at 8 pm last Tuesday and went to Village Green where we set up the lamp and sheet. During the course of the evening the set-up attracted 78 moths covering some 30 species: 23 Macros [these are the larger moths] and 7 Micros [the much smaller moths] – not a bad evening’s trapping.

Out of this number there were 12 that were new records for the reserve:

Jersey Tiger [spectacular, previously unusual but now regularly reported in our area],
Ruby Tiger,
Satellite Moth,
Shaded Broad Bar,
Green Carpet,

Flame Carpet,
Small Wainscot,
Strawberry Tortrix,
Willow Ermine,
Light-brown Apple,
Viburnum Button
Oak Lutestring [probably the rarest of the evening’s haul]

[1] Jersey Tiger [2] Ruby Tiger [3] Green Carpet [4] Oak Lutestring

We have been doing moth trappings sporadically since 2013 and have built up quite a good recorded base. While it is exciting to find species new to the reserve, it is good to see the familiar species that have “previous”: sound evidence of our biodiversity. Here is the full list with the new species in bold.

Macros: Ruby Tiger [4]; Square-spot Rustic [8]; Spectacle [2]; Common White Wave [2]; Shaded Broad-bar [4]; Brimstone moth [8]; Green Carpet [2]; Jersey Tiger [3]; Large Yellow Underwing [6]; Satellite [1]; Setaceous Hebrew Character [3]; Copper Underwing [2]; Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [4]; Straw Dot [3]; Flame Shoulder [6]; Dingy Footman [1]; Riband Wave [1]; Flame Carpet [1]; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [2]; Small Square-spot [1]; Oak Lutestring [1]; Small Wainscot [1]; Heart & Dart [1]

Micros: Mother of Pearl [5]; Strawberry Tortrix [1]; Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix [1]; Willow Ermine [1]; Light-brown Apple Moth [1]; Cydia splendana [1]; Viburum Button [1].