Last Nights Moths

by Alan Cole · Published Friday, June 25th, 2010 · Updated Sunday, June 27th, 2010

It was a busy night for the moth trap last night. The temperature still dropped to 8ºC though which was lower than I was expecting so it wasn’t a record night as far as number were concerned. There were a few new species for the garden list though and the Dark Arches are on the increase.

4x Buff Ermine
14x Lackey
2x Buff Tip
10x Flame
1x Silver-ground Carpet
2x Wormwood Pug
2x Shaded Pug
2x Garden Tiger
1x Small Elephant Hawkmoth
1x Shoulder-striped Wainscot
17x Heart and Dart
1x Shears
1x Knot Grass
3x Grey Pug
2x White Ermine
6x Oiligia sp.
4x Heart and Club
2x Archers Dart
1x Riband Wave
1x Small Seraphim
1x Small Magpie
16x Dark Arches
2x Bright-line Brown-Eye
1x Pale-shouldered Brocade
1x Dusky Brocade
6x Flame Shoulder
2x Middle-barred Minor
3x Clouded-bordered Brindle
1x Setaceous Hebrew Character
1x Large Yellow Underwing
2x Elephant Hawkmoth
2x Broom
2x Gold Spot
1x Green Carpet
1x Common Wainscot*
1x Grey/Dark Dagger agg.*
1x Common Carpet
1x White Colon*
1x Double-striped Pug
1x Beautiful Brocade* (Still awaiting ID confirmation on this one)

The White Colon is a fairly uncommon moth, mainly occurring in coastal dune systems and is considered ‘Nationally Scarce B’ according to the national status designated by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. This means that it isn’t endangered, vulnerable or rare but is none-the-less uncommon in Great Britain and are thought to occur in between 31 and 100 10 km squares of the National Grid. It isn’t unexpected to find it here though as we do live within a dune system.