Hawk Moth Heaven - Cullaloe, 19/05/2014

Cullaloe LNR, Heath Trap, 21:30-4:45, Willow/Birch Carr

Mild night to start but cooling and with some mist.

The star of the show was undoubtedly this Poplar Hawk Moth, which will be one of the highlights of my Cullaloe year, mothing or otherwise

Another new one for me was Brown Silverline, of which there were 2

There were two others, both Noctuids, and one of which seems to be Pale-shouldered Brocade, but I know there are other similar species so I am posting them here without ID for the moment (ID now confirmed/established)

Pale-Shouldered Brocade

Knot Grass

The complete list
1722 Flame Carpet (3)
1750 Water Carpet (1)
1759 Small Phoenix (1)
1902 Brown Silver-line (2)
1958 Clouded Silver (1)
1981 Poplar Hawk-moth (1)
2158 Pale-shouldered Brocade (1)
2289 Knot Grass (1)

ID notes: Knot grass: " this moth usually shows a curved white mark near the rear edge of the forewing, even in melanic specimens"

Hill of Beath, Heath Trap, 18/05/2014

Mild evening, overcast but didn't rain.

Since I didn't catch much of anything on the previous outing I didn't feel it would be too disruptive to put the trap out again. Fortunately I decided to get up before sunrise to check the trap as I suspect I would have lost one of the darpets which was resting on the top. I recorded my biggest crop of Hebrew Chars by far, and when I woke up for the second time at about 7 they had all dispersed somewhere in my shed! Lesson learned there. I'll have to open the shed door and hope some of them might leave tonight. I also found my first back garden diving beetle. I would have put it in the pond, only I don't have a pond! Wonder where it was going from/to.

2190 Hebrew Character (6)
1759 Small Phoenix (1)
1728 Garden Carpet (1)

Small Phoenix

Garden Carpet

Diving Beetle

Cullaloe LNR - Syndemis musculana

Picked up during an afternoon visit to Cullaloe, in an attempt to find some micros in a far corner of the reserve. There wasn't much action though. Also scoping it out for leaving trap there. Could work out OK but it will be a pain getting it in.

Hill of Beath, Heath Trap, 17/05/2014

2190 Hebrew Character (1)
2158 Pale-shouldered Brocade (1)

Might take a more experienced eye to differentiate the two species. I was fairly convinced it was a Lychnis but it does seem to have slightly rosy tones. The more I look the less certain I become and there are even other candidates I didn't spot before. I'll have to seek advice on this one.

Pale-shouldered Brocade. There you go. Thanks to DD for the assistance

Cullaloe LNR, Heath Trap, 17/05/2014, 21:30-23:30

By bench at holly tree. Also present a pair of Tawny Owls and a number of bats which passed the quiet times.

1750 Water Carpet (2)
1722 Flame Carpet (1)
1759 Small Phoenix (1)

Cullaloe LNR, Heath Trap, 15/05/2014

An interesting evening at Cullaloe with the heath trap out for its first road trip. A nice start, albeit modest (enough for me to handle!), with some Caddis fly and beetle action thrown in on the side

1750 Water Carpet (2) Lampropteryx suffumata ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
1958 Clouded Silver     Lomographa temerata    ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
2469 The Herald (2)     Scoliopteryx libatrix    (Linnaeus, 1758)

Clouded Silver

The Herald

Water Carpet

Caddisfly sp.

You can see here how superbly the Herald matches the leaf litter:

648 White-shouldered House-moth Endrosis sarcitrella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Before we get into last night's outing to Cullaloe LNR, let's take a moment to record this little guy. Seen before when I had no means to identify it, I'd like to thank it for showing up last night and my daughter for potting it while I was asleep.