My first attempt at moth trapping

[Pete Collins]

For some months now, the Moths forum has been my favourite bit of WAB. I could resist the temptation no longer, and have been out and bought a moth trap!

I tried it out straight away, as I thought the weather conditions were favourable last night. I left it on all night (the leaflet that came with it said to do that, and so apparently did a TV gardening program last night that featured moth/butterfly friendly gardens) but I did feel guilty in the morning when I saw 20-30 moths on and around the trap. They could have been easy pickings for the birds, so I will probably get a timer so that it turns off while it is still dark next time.

I was delighted to see a Setaceous Hebrew Character straight away (there were actually lots of them in the trap). I'd never seen one before, but they are the species that first aroused my interest in moths. When I first joined WAB, I quickly got hooked on the 'Guess Who?' quiz in 'The Treehouse'. Setaceous Hebrew Character was the answer to one of the first clues - I was fascinated by the fact that moths could have such odd names (the Uncertain is probably my favourite moth name).

I'm really new to this, but here are a few shots of moths that I recognised straight away (at least I hope I did! ).

Setaceous Hebrew Character

Brimstone

Riband Wave

This next one, I recognised immediately from photos I'd seen in the Gallery:

Blood-vein (it escaped from the trap and ended up under my seat - I almost had to do a 'Horizontal Dave' to get the photo! )

This last one, a colourful character, was a new one for me:

Gold Swift

Anyway, the point of this post was just to warn you that this forum is likely to be inundated with posts from me asking for IDs! I've only ever seen 20-30 species of moth, but I've learnt a few more from looking through the WAB Gallery. I've got the Townsend and Waring Concise Guide, and I've managed to ID a couple already (I think!), but I'm sure to be back here soon asking for help.

Right, back to sorting the 250+ moth photos I took today!

[pammosley]

Those are lovely Pete We`ve been thinking about a moth trap for a while as well.............you`r tempting us
All those moths to ID though

[Miss Caretaker]

Well done on giving in to the moths! I wish I'd got that many on my first go. I've only just started trapping too and it's exciting at first as almost everything you get is a new species! Even if you get a timer to turn off the lights, the birds will still get them. At first I thought that 6am was early enough, but you'll have to get up just before dawn and at least put a cover over the trap to keep the birds out until you can get to them. I now get up at 4.30ish, pot the moths up and then go back to bed and ID (or not as the case my be!) them later, releasing them the following evening after the birds have gone to bed.
As I say, I've just started too so between us we'll fill this part of the forum! I look forward to seeing some of your lists.
Jo

[Pete Collins]

Thanks, Pam and Jo!

Here are a few more photos, perhaps someone on WAB can confirm my ID's for me please (these are the 'easy' ones!):

1 Willow Beauty

2 Small Magpie (is this a 'micro'? Couldn't find it in my book)

3 Mother of Pearl (I like the third photo, if I'm right I think this shows how it gets it's name)

4 Maiden's Blush

5 Swallow Prominent

6 Lesser Swallow Prominent

Garden Carpet

Common Wainscot

All except the 'Garden Carpet' are new to me. I thought the two Prominents were the same (both beautiful!), but studying them closer I think I've got one Lesser Swallow and one Swallow. I'm going by the triangular wedge (at the top of the moths in the photos).

I've sorted through the photos, and discarded the ones that were out of focus, duplicates, etc. I've got around 160 photos left, and think I'll eventually have a species count of around 40. With one or two exceptions I ignored the 'micros' completely - basically I felt a bit overwhelmed!

Several moths got out of the trap while I was trying to sort things out, so I only photographed them against the summerhouse windows (and few of the shots came out well). I didn't have enough egg boxes, so I also used scrunched up paper, which made it harder to detect the moths and caused much more disturbance as I took it out of the trap. Hopefully I'll have more egg boxes next weekend when I trap again (can you tell I'm hooked already!).

I meant to be systematic and count each species, but wasn't really orderly enough - it was too difficult for me, not knowing what many of the moths were and not really not knowing which ones were the same. So I'm just going to count the species this time, as I get to recognise more species it will be easier to count the species individually (I hope!).

[GuyF]

All your ids look spot on to me Pete, looks like you're getting the hang of it quite quickly! The Orange Swift is very nice, I haven't seen one in daylight yet. Both the Small Magpie and Mother of Pearl are 'micros', although they're larger than many macro moths! I have to admit that after 3 years of trapping I'm still ignoring most micro moths, I feel a bit guilty as they're just as beautiful as the macros when you look closely at them. There is a new book on micro moths, being illustrated by Richard Lewington, which should be out at some point in the next few years, I can't wait for that to be published!
I also spent my first year just getting to grips with the species I was seeing without really recording them systematically. After a while you'll find that you recognise the commonest species that make up the majority of each catch very quickly so they don't take too long to tally up. You can then spend some time looking at the species that you don't recognise.
It can be quite time consuming, but it's a great hobby!
Guy

[Pete Collins]

Thanks very much Guy - I knew you'd be along to help me out sooner or later!

As you say, once I learn the comoner species that make up most of the catch I'll be able to start being more systematic about recording numbers. As the moths vary throughout the year I expect that, like you, it will probably be a year before I'm ready to do that.

There's one species that was easily the most common in my catch, once I've got that one sorted out it'll be a big help. I've recognised at least one type of Yellow Underwing so far, and I think there are more and some Clays as well. I've got about 40 species to ID (I expect some will be the same, male and female), I'll give them all a go before I resort to using the friendly expertise on WAB.

[Miss Caretaker]

I am also finding it difficult to be orderly when tallying the numbers! I don't have the luxury of being able to ignore the micros as they make up the majority of my total count! I rather envy your macro numbers . Are you quite rural? I'm rather urban unfortunately so not a lot of larval food sources around although I am trying to plant a few more in my own garden.
I can see you're hooked already!
Jo

[Keith Talbot]

Glad you finally gave in pete

Ive only just started trapping as well and like you am really hooked

I look forward to your pics ( and trying to i.d them with you )

Keith

[nutmeg]

Nice to see your first ones. I'm still waiting for a Lesser Swallow Prominent to visit the garden.

For me, part of the enjoyment I get is trying to name them, although some are extremely frustrating. I'm having a go at some of the micros now, but have a very long way to go with those. I frequently have to ask others for confirmation (or correction!).

[Pete Collins]

Yes Jo, I'm quite rural. I'm 53 and live with my parents (how sad is that! ) who have lived in the same house in the large village of Kensworth since a few years before I was born. My mum's a keen gardener, so there is a well established flower garden (the bottom end of the garden is dedicated to my dad's vegetables). Most of the neighbouring gardens along the road are similar. The gardens back on to a very large paddock (it's previously been used for both pasture and arable crops), with a very mature hedge with large trees down one side about 100 yds from the end of our garden. There are mature trees dotted about elsewhere in the locality too. So I think I should get a fairly good number of moth species visiting the trap.