A warm night brings a stack of moths

I've given the moths a break this week, although we did spot a Bat sp on Monday night, so they've not had it all their own way. As the nights have become increasingly warm, so a number of moths have made it into the bathroom, including the first two Blastobasis adustella of the year on the evening of 30 July.

Blastobasis adustella

So last night there was every reason to hope for a lot of moths, and it didn't disappoint. There may still be a few lurking in the utility room, but the count stands at 95 moths of 46 species. About half were micros, and it was those that provided the most reward (and difficulty).

Two which were definitely new for the garden were Ptycholomoides aeriferana and Cochylis atricapitana. What I don't know is the current status of these two in Warwickshire.

Ptycholomoides aeriferana

Cochylis atricapitana

Not knowing the status of these micro moths is a disadvantage, and can lead to errors. A case in point came with two other small tortrix moths I found in the trap. They reminded me of Eudemis profundana, one of which I caught last time. I therefore recorded them as such, but had the photos checked by UKmothID. After I had released them I learned that they looked sufficiently similar to Eudemis porphyrana, which it turns out is a scarce moth, to make it worth contacting the County Recorder. Too late I'm afraid....or maybe not. Nigel has seen the images and regards the original identification as E profundana as correct, so its as you were.

Eudemis profundana

Moving on to moths which were new for the year, the pendulum swung back to macro-moths, which should be easier.

An Iron Prominent in the trap was certainly straightforward, my only regret being that I chose to wake it up to get it into a pot before photographing it. As a result it was rather agitated and wasn't sitting in a natural position.

Iron Prominent

Also now regarded as "easy" was a Copper Underwing, but I did check its underwing to make sure.

Copper Underwing

The last one was so easy that I messed it up ! My excuse was that it was resting awkwardly in the pot and was earlier than I had expected to see a Square-spot Rustic. Mind you they are very common, so I'm grasping at straws.

Square-spot Rustic

The last year-tick was even more humble. The micro Bryotropha domestica is presumably associated with human habitation, so not a very exciting moth.

Bryotropha domestica

The commonest moths last night were the usual suspects: 13 Large Yellow Underwings, and 10 Garden Grass veneers. No other species got near to double figures.

There are always plenty of other insects attracted. Several Common Wasps meant that progress was cautious, and a Cricket was assumed to be Oak Bush-cricket. Weirdest of all was a strange leafhopper, which I have seen in the garden once before.

Oak Bush-cricket

Ledra aurita