Thursday 18 December 2014

The first of next year's moths...

As we had an unseasonably mild night last night and because woodland is the best place to see large numbers of moths at this time of year (even if only from a handful of species), I took a single MV trap to Bernwood Forest, Bucks for a few hours to get my December 'fix' of moths.  As expected I ended up with another 100+ catch:  Plutella xylostella (1), Acleris ferrugana/notana (10), December Moth (39), Winter Moth (21), Feathered Thorn (2), Pale Brindled Beauty (1), Mottled Umber (31) & Chestnut (2).  Although not entirely unexpected, the Pale Brindled Beauty was a little early.  Dave Wilton

Pale Brindled Beauty, Bernwood Forest 17th December
     

4 comments:

  1. Well, that puts my little collection of 3 moths in its place! But I guess that woodland will always out-moth gardens at this time of year.

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  2. That'll be the case for the next three months, unfortunately. If it makes you feel better, I should mention that I ran my garden trap overnight last night and got a small ground beetle and a couple of winter midges but no moths at all!

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  3. A nice number of winter moths for one mild night, Dave - I just can't seem to drag myself out of my armchair and head to the woods on these winter nights at the moment!

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