Moths...

A couple of months back I finally decided that attracting the odd moth or two by leaving a light on in the bathroom, wasn't really cost effective (or worth the effort). Having borrowed a trap from Nigel Marven (with excellent results), I decided to purchase a compact twin actinic Skinner trap from Anglian Lepidoptera supplies. It's not as good as the MV trap my brother, mate Rich Heddington and myself used back in the early 80's but it's still pretty good.

I've only used the trap a few times in the last 6 weeks (mainly to avoid repeatedly catching the same individual moths time and time again), but the results have been good so far. My garden list at Whitestaunton is now on 75 species and that will certainly go a lot higher over the coming year or so.

Here are a few of my favourites from recent weeks.

Centre-barred Sallow

Lesser Swallow Prominent

White Ermine

Purple Bar

Sharp-angled Peacock

August Thorn

Dusky Thorn

Canary-shouldered Thorn

Iron Prominent

Chinese Character

Frosted Orange

Orange Swift

Small Blood-vein

Light Emerald

Brimstone

Setaceous Hebrew Character

Straw Dot

Black Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus humator 

At this time of the year the trap also attracts other things too. I've had quite a few European Hornets recently, including this one that was found sat close by one morning on a fence post.

Hornet, Whitestaunton

Vespula vulgaris

Vespula vulgaris

Yellow Dung Fly

With the warmer weather set to stay with us a little longer, I should be able to set the trap a few more times over the coming weeks.