Moth Wall

[exoskeleton]

Hi folks

For some reason I don't understand I have had a veritable plague of moths settling on my porch wall from about 18 March. The low wattage low energy bulbs in the porch lights have always attracted a few without frying them but nothing like the crop this year.

I've identified a few (Oak Beauty, Early Grey, Hebrew Character) with a little help from my friends but, being a bit of an identification duffer, there's about 25 types I can't identify with any certainty so I will have a go at putting them in the unidentified moth Gallery.

I've tried three times already and failed dismally but I'll keep trying. If anyone has any advice on the easiest way to upload photos I'd be grateful.

[Hedge Witch]

Lots of good advice on this thread:
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...otos-info.html

You usually need to resize the pictures first. I aim for less than 2 Mb.

Around 1000-1200 pixels across the long edge.

You could try a small test upload less than 1 Mb.

[Jenny W]

I run two permanent moth traps that have been active now since the beginning of 2000 and this year there seems to be exceptional numbers of moths, especially in February.

After the very cold weather at the beginning of Feb the traps produced 350%of the average catch for that month.

March was also very good, although not the year with the highest total, I still ended up with 151% of the average March catch.

In the second half of Feb and throughout much of March overnight temperatures were high for the time of year and rainfall was low. This has produced ideal flying conditions for moths after the cold weather, a possible explanation for the high numbers seen this year.

[exoskeleton]

HI

Many thanks to Hedge Witch for advice on photos. I think it was because I didn't resize and most of my images would have been about 2Mb.

Also thanks to Jenny W for possible cause of numbers of moths. The odd thing is that some of my friends who are using pukka moth traps in more or less the same area of Shropshire haven't had much luck at all - they're threatening to come round and camp in my porch! Also some moths I have tentatively identified, although I admit to being a total beginner, are not supposed to be around until May or even August. Maybe they don't have access to the I-Spy book of moths or can't read. If I manage to upload my photos you may see what I mean (either about me being an identification duffer or moths that shouldn't be around yet).

Right I'm going to have a go at resizing and re-uploading - it could be a case of tears before bedtime !

[naturegirl]

Hi Exoskeleton and a warm welcome to WAB!!!

I think you may have miss-identified some species, sorry!!!

If they are not normally out until June or August then you have definitely miss-identified them..... sorry!!

Naturegirl

[exoskeleton]

Hi Naturegirl

No problem - I freely admit that my identification relies totally on comparison against photos in a book and is not based on any experience whatsoever which is why I've been trying to upload photos for those with more knowledge than I - (that's everyone then) - to kindly assist.

I have finally loaded some into Unidentified Moths but the others apparently went into my own Gallery - I didn't know I had one.

Any help with them would be appreciated - some photos are a bit poor as I took them at night perched on a rickety stool.

Are other members able to access my Gallery to help or do you think I should re-upload to Unidentified Moths. I'm still trying to work out how to link the images with my posts - I'll get there eventually.

[CapAndBracket]

Your yellow horned,

You need to open the chosen image in unidentified moths by clicking on the
thumb nail,
scroll down and you will see a text box titled Forum code
Right click on this and choose copy,
then go to this thread and open a reply post,
paste the Forum code into the post, add text and press submit reply.
Becomes second nature after a while (but confusing at first or most of us).

Cheers J.P.

[Jenny W]

Hi,

I tryed to post your photos in this post so I could name each one but I couldn't seem to get it to work - I'm rubbish with computers!

So if this makes any sense(!) in the 'Unidentified Moths' Gallery....

....your first image looks like a micro moth of the Oecophoridae family, probably either Agonopterix sp. or Depressaria sp. (Sorry blurry picture - not your fault!)
Second image - again it's a bit blurry but looks like a Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta
Third and Eighth- The Engrailed Ectropis bistortata
Fourth - Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica
Fifth - Twin Spotted Quaker Orthosia munda
Sixth - as already said Yellow Horned Achlya flavicornis
Seventh - Brindled Pug Eupithecia abbreviata
Nineth - Early Grey Xylocampa areola and Brindled Pug
Tenth - March Moth Alsophila aescularia

Hope that makes sense!

There's nothing here that is early emerging, all those species should be around at the moment. I'd be interested to know which species you think you have seen that are early. If there are species that should be appearing in May then it's totally feasible that they could have emerged a few weeks early, I've seen it fairly often.

August though it a bit far away! It's possible that you have seen a species that first emerges in August but then overwinters as an adult and re-appears in the spring, quite a few species do this. Also, many species are bivoltine (meaning they appear in 2 generations each year). It's possible you have seen a species that emerges as a second generation in August, but who's first generation appears now (the Engrailed is an example of this).

Cheers
J

[exoskeleton]

Hi Jenny

Thanks for your sterling efforts - I've managed to tie up your descriptions to the relevant moths.

Out of that group the only one I thought might have been an early emerger was the Yellow Horned because I don't have that one in my book and the nearest was a Poplar Lutestring which is May-August according to my book. Having now seen a photo of a Yellow Horned I agree your ident.

Some photos were taken with the aid of a torch held in one hand and the camera in the other so they suffer from a bit of blurriness and colour shift but looking at a few photos of Clouded Drabs and trying to remember what it looked like in the flesh I'm pretty sure you got that one right as well despite the rotten photo!

There are a quite a few more that I tried to upload to Unidentified Moths but they went into my Gallery - probably because I forgot to tick a box or make a selection or something but I'll have another go.

[exoskeleton]

Hi again folks.

Just hoping I've got this right (looks promising on the preview)

I've tried to include an image of another "Moth Wall" moth for ident. please.

Many thanks to CapAndBracket if this works.