leucodonta bicoloria

I finally bagged my first Leucodonta bicoloria this week at Killeröd, this has been much-anticipated and was long overdue.

Endromis versicolora - Kentish glory

I finally managed to catch Endromis this week, a superb monotypic moth.

Pennisetia hylaeiformis

A superb clearwing moth (Pennisetia hylaeiformis) in the garden this morning. Also present a surprise Ischnura pumilio which has taken up territory on the trampoline.

Cucullia absinthii

One of the highlight this month in the garden was trapping this superb moth, Cucullia absinthii.

Melanthia procellata in the garden

Nice surprise in the garden trap this morning. A fresh Melanthia procellata, first recorded in Skåne in 1996, this is the first for Båstad kommun.

new BK moths in the garden

The fact that I am not in China this year bagged me a couple of great new moths for BK on the 15th October, with Mythimna l-album (above) and Lithophane semibrunnea (below) being the easy highlights of the month.

sallow kitten

Moth-trapping in the garden continues every other night and keeps adding species to the BK list, I have been waiting for this beauty (Furcula furcula) for a long time...

merveilleux

Finally bagged not one but two Merveille du jour (Griposia aprilina) in the garden trap this morning.

huge moth find

This Nothocasis sertata trapped on the 15th is probably the rarest moth so far in the garden. The first record for Halland occurred this week too.

heavy moth in the garden

Bagged a good moth in the garden this week with a nice Agrotis puta - a recent arrival in Sweden, first spotted in 2009 but with annual records thereafter. New for BK.

Y oh Y

Moths have been trying to cheer me up since the Brexit referendum and particularly the Plusiinae (Ys and brasses). Last year I only bagged Autographa gamma but this summer I finally met Autographa pulchrina (above) and jota (below).

in my brain

Despite a by no means warm summer I am doing well with the traps this year. Upgrading to a 125W mercury vapour lamp is paying real dividends too. This purple cloud (Actinotia polyodon) was much-wanted and was as good as I thought it would be!

Moma mia!

An incredible week for moths. Three traps out and over 300 photos per session has produced a huge number of new moths for me and none more eagerly anticipated than my first Moma alpium. Identifying 100+ species is brain-melting though!

the tau of mothing

Ed Parnell came over for the weekend recently from Wymondham in my old home county of Norfolk and I promised him Aglia tau, one of two species of Saturnid here in BK. We only had to wait half an hour before this guy came blundering to our light trap in the dark beech woods above Klarningen. What a beauty.

the emperor

The kids tried my new emperor moth lure recently and pulled in BK's first ever Saturnia pavonia when this male zig-zagged around them. Incredibly (because they had no net) they presented it to me in a pot when I returned from putting out a trap!

that's more like it (20150620)

The highlight for me this morning was my first Pseudoips prasinanus - a stunning little moth.

Rosentorp produced a bumper haul this morning (by this season's standards anyway) that actually took some time to process. Totals: Korscheltellus lupulinus (1), Korscheltellus fusconebulosus (14),  Hepialus humuli (1), Drepana falcataria (2), Timandra comae (1),  Xanthorhoe montanata (2),  Xanthorhoe fluctuata (1),  Cosmorhoe ocellata (2), Ecliptopera silaceata (1), Colostygia pectinataria (2),  Dysstroma truncata (1), Hydriomena impluviata (2), Opisthograptis luteolata (1), Hypomecis punctinalis (7), Biston betularia (2), Siona lineata (7), Deltote pygarga (2), Charanyca trigrammica (1), Apamea crenata (2), Diarsia rubi (1),  Pseudoips prasinanus (1), Calliteara pudibunda (11), Spilosoma lubricipedum (2), Spilosoma luteum (1) and Eurrhypara hortulata (1).

 

My first Pyrochroa coccinea actually landed on Number 1 as she was walking along, she had the presence of mind to quickly pot it and run it to me. Getting them trained up nicely!

Number 2 had a poor session today but typically produced the goods with this smart staphylinid (Platydracus fulvipes). Only 8 records for Skåne for this species on Artportalen at the moment, so she got the prize for best find of the day.

In the afternoon we all went out searching out invertebrates. Just before we got to Frestensfälla we bumped into a huge female moose with a tiny youngster as they crossed the road. Big! Frestensfälla was great if a little cool and windy and we found some great stuff. Number 1 did well today finding a nice cardinal beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea), only to be trumped by Number 2's Platydracus fulvipes - a smart little staphylinid that has only been recorded in Skåne eight times! There were also a pleasing number of new micromoths during this session...

rosentorp trap contents (20150617)

Rosentorp produced my first Apamea remissa this morning.

Moth totals for Rosentorp this morning: Korscheltellus fusconebulosus (3), Smerinthus ocellata (1), Drepana falcataria (1),  Xanthorhoe montanata (2), Colostygia pectinataria (1), Odontopera bidentata (1), Plagodis pulveraria (1), Opisthograptis luteolata (2), Hypomecis punctinalis (2), Siona lineata (3), Pheosia gnoma (1),  Peridea anceps (1), Apamea remissa (1), Diarsia mendica (1), Calliteara pudibunda (3) and Hedya ochroleucana (1).

mothing with the kids (20150616)

The highlight of a sparse haul from the garden trap this morning was my first Sphinx ligustri!

Dragged the kids out for a cool and rather windy moth session at Lya ljunghed and nearby Älemossen this morning now they have finished school. The net at Lya produced my first Xanthorhoe spadicearia at last. It was busier along the trail to Älemossen and Number 2 distinguished herself by finding a huge number of cryptic or just plain tiny species and earning numerous ice creams as a result. Perhaps her best observation came when she pointed out a roosting Clostera curtula dangling from the tip of a spruce branch above the trail! A nightjar perching and flying about in daylight was a fine sight and then it was time to take the cubs back for a rather late lunch.

new moth (20150513)

The garden trap produced another new moth this morning, the commonplace buff ermine (Spilosoma luteum).

epic invert day (20150610)

Crambus lathoniellus proved to be common in the long grass at both sites visited today.

With the car in the shop being sorted out ahead of our summer holidays I was released into the neighbourhood on a glorious sunny day. With my net in hand and a few hours to spare I did not waste any time in getting to nearby Petersberg. The micromoths here were fascinating and included my first Crambus lathoniellus, Cochylis dubitana and the stunning Nemophora degeerella. Birds here included a few singing reed and marsh warblers and a single grey wagtail.

Crossing the road I checked out the Makadamfabriken, an old quarry that I thought might have potential for Lepidoptera. I was not wrong and over the next few hours the moths and butterflies just kept on coming. It was nice to see some fresh painted ladies here but the big shock came when I discovered a tiny colony of small blues clinging to the grassland at the top of the quarry. Also here more new moths in the shape of cinnabar black-veined moth, yellow shell and the micromoth Crambus pratella. Birds here included a five long-tailed tits, a pair of little ringed plovers and perhaps 25 active sand martin burrows. An epic session.

Nemophora degeerella - just stunning.

Cochylis dubitana was new for me too today at Petersberg.

The quarry was amazing for invertebrates. First up was the first BK cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae), one of three or four during the session here.

Another new moth - the yellow shell (Camptogramma bilineata). New for BK too.

The grassland at the top of the quarry was home to a small colony of black-veined moth (Siona lineata). New for BK...

The biggest surprise in the quarry though was the discovery of BK's first colony of small blues (Cupido minimus).