A mothing jolly.....

College Valley at sunrise.

Last night myself, George Dodds, Ian and Keith Davison ventured to the remotest corner of North Northumberland to check out the moth action.

The College Valley is a protected area, but George 'knows people' so we had the privilege of being allowed to drive in. We soon found a tricky place to get the car up, but we set up camp and plonked out 3 traps over a 100 mtr stretch. As this area hasn't got a street light for miles, our three lights were a beacon to every insect in the vicinity, including some undesirable biting midges.

By midnight moths came in thick and fast and we had our work cut out to keep up, then in the first light of dawn emptying and logging the catch took a while too...

To sum up, we caught 251 moths of 42 species including - the ones in bold are noteworthy.

Taxa
0228  Monopis weaverella  1
1301  Crambus lathoniellus  1
1722  Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)  7
1753  Striped Twin-spot Carpet (Nebula salicata)  6

Striped Twin spot Carpet

1759  Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata)  11
1760  Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata)  1
1761  Autumn Green Carpet (Chloroclysta miata)  1

Autumn Green Carpet

1773  Broken-barred Carpet (Electrophaes corylata)  3

Broken barred Carpet

1778  May Highflyer (Hydriomena impluviata)  55
1817  Foxglove Pug (Eupithecia pulchellata)  1
1834  Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata)  6
1846  Narrow-winged Pug (Eupithecia nanata)  2
1851  Golden-rod Pug (Eupithecia virgaureata)  1
1857  Dwarf Pug (Eupithecia tantillaria)  2
1887  Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata)  2
1902  Brown Silver-line (Petrophora chlorosata)  39
1903  Barred Umber (Plagodis pulveraria)  8 (only 5 previous county records, last recorded 1971)

Barred Umber

1906  Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)  9
1917  Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)  7
1918  Lunar Thorn (Selenia lunularia)  6
1920  Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata)  6
1931  Peppered Moth (Biston betularia)  2
1951  Grey Birch (Aethalura punctulata)  1

Grey Birch

1955  Common White Wave (Cabera pusaria)  2
1981  Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)  4
2000  Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius)  1
2003  Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac)  1
2006  Lesser Swallow Prominent (Pheosia gnoma)  2
2008  Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina)  3
2011  Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina)  4
2060  White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)  10
2102  Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)  7
2158  Pale-shouldered Brocade (Lacanobia thalassina)  3
2162  Glaucous Shears (Papestra biren)  6

Glaucous Shears

2250  Dark Brocade (Blepharita adusta)  2
2289  Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis)  4
2302  Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea)  1
2305  Small Angle Shades (Euplexia lucipara)  11
2326  Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata)  4
2425  Nut-tree Tussock (Colocasia coryli)  4
2434  Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)  1
2450  Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)  3