Falkland Palace 14-06-2014

After setting up my heath trap at Cullaloe I arrived with my glamorous assistant to set up here at 22:00. it was overcast with spitting rain and 14 degrees. Ran the trap until midnight.

Fortunately I am becoming familiar with some of the species, but there was still plenty of newness to trouble the pots. Highlight of the night was a Figure of Eighty, a species which seems to be making major headway north judging by current distribution maps. Another nice one was Light Emerald, which was probably my favourite moth of the night for looks. The Figure of Eighty was only the third record of this species in Fife!

Species list
14 Ghost Moth (4 - 1m, 3ff)
18 Map-winged Swift (4, 1 gallicus form)
1654 Figure of Eighty (1)
1722 Flame Carpet (3)
1727 Silver-ground Carpet (5)
1760 Green Carpet (2)
1764 Common Marbled Carpet (1)
1906 Brimstone (5)1926 Pale Brindled Beauty (2)
1937 Mottled Beauty (1) (ID link)
1961 Light Emerald (1)
2089 Heart & Dart (2)
2102 Flame Shoulder (3)
2158 Pale-shouldered Brocade (2)
2173 Lychnis (1)
2302 Brown Rustic (3)
2305 Small Angle Shades (2)
2340 Middle-barred Minor (10)
2442 Beautiful Golden Y (2)

Clouded hilltop

Orchard trapping

Map-winged Swift

Map-winged Swift

Ghost Moth male

Small Angle Shades

Ghost Moth female

 

Flame Shoulder

Common Marbled Carpet

Heart & Dart

 

Mottled Beauty

Figure of Eighty

Figure of Eighty

Grey Pine Carpet

Light Emerald

Spring Collection

Pale-shouldered Brocade

?

.

Figure of Eighty Moth - Tethea ocularis, at Falkand Palace, Fife (VC85)

From the NBN distribution map you can see that this is an unexpected species in Fife, although I believe it has been recently recorded in Fife. I expect lots of interesting records will shake out from atlas related work in the next couple of years. (edit: looks like this is the third county record).

Cullaloe, 10/06/2014

Heath trap overnight, 22:00-05:00

1648 Pebble Hook-tip Drepana falcataria (1)
1776 Green Carpet Colostygia pectinataria (1)
1887 Clouded Border Lomaspilis marginata (2)
1902 Brown Silver-line Petrophora chlorosata (1)
1981 Poplar Hawk-moth Laothoe populi (1)
1994 Buff-tip Phalera bucephala (1)
2302 Brown Rustic Rusina ferruginea (1)

(Some micros potted but not yet photographed/identified)

Buff-tip

Buff-tip doing wood impression

Clouded Borders

Brown Silver-line

Pebble Hook-tip

Poplar Hawk-moth

Brown Rustic

Green Carpet

Noctuinae ... some kind of dart ... ?

More incidentals - Cullaloe and Inverkeithing

Plume moth - Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla, Cullaloe, 6/6/2014

Common White Wave, Cullaloe, 8/6/2014

Latticed Heath, Cullaloe, 8/6/2014

Grass Rivulet, Cullaloe, 8/6/2014

Yellow Shell, Inverkeithing, 9/6/2014

incidental Cullaloe - Agonopterix ocellana

On the trunk of a tree (Salix cinerea) in cpt. 6

Falkland Palace, 6/6/2014, 21:30-00:00

At first quiet, with S-G Carpets flitting around the grasses/Yellow Rattle. First notable appearance by the trap was a Brimstone, which was the first of many. A good spread of species which quickly overran my pots and ability to ID in the field, so we gradually dismantled the trap one egg box at a time and retired.

14 Ghost Moth (1)
1376 Small Magpie
1727 Silver-ground Carpet (5)
1764 Common Marbled Carpet (3)
1768 Grey Pine Carpet (1)
1772 Flame Carpet (2)
1776 Green Carpet (1)
1834 Common Pug (2)
1906 Brimstone Moth (20)
1931 Peppered Moth (1)
1991 Elephant Hawk-moth (1)
2102 Flame Shoulder (2)
2147 The Shears (1)
2302 Brown Rustic (1)
2340 Middle-barred Minor (3)
2442 Beautiful Golden Y (2)
2450 Spectacle (1)

Ghost Moth

Elephant Hawk-moth

Beautiful Golden Y

Flame Shoulder

Small Magpie - a big micro!

Brimstone

Spectacle

Peppered

The Shears

Grey Pine Carpet

Middle-barred Minor

Something brown

Brimstone bounty: