A morning with Moths

Leaders: Margaret Tomsett and Andy Swan (HNHS members)

Conditions were near-ideal for moths in the first half of the night, but there was a lot of rain in the early hours of the morning. Nevertheless, there were plenty of moths to see, despite puddles in the bottoms of some of the traps.

The variety was impressive, in terms of colour, shape and size. The smallest (Bucculatrix ulmella) was only about 3.5mm long, whilst the largest (Poplar Hawkmoth) had a wingspan of about 80mm. The pink and green Elephant Hawkmoth and the boldly marked Black Arches are always popular, and the beauty of the Rosy Footman and Ruby Tiger was appreciated. In addition to the Rosy, other Footmans on the list were Scarce, Dingy and Buff.

The cultural history of moths has produced some imaginative English names: our list for the day included Maiden’s Blush, True Lovers’ Knot, Coronet, Small Phoenix and Satin Lutestring. In addition to Satin Lutestring, the less common larger moths also included Dusky Sallow and Gypsy Moth, but there were no serious rarities.

Micro-moths were present in good numbers. Possibly the least common was Dichomeris alacella, and the striking Ancylis badiana was another good record. The intricately dappled Digitivalva pulicariae was new to us – its larvae are leaf miners of Common Fleabane.

The total number of species was 76, which was probably the longest list we have had at this type of event.