A week of trapping in the Yorkshire Dales

[pete76]

I've just returned from a week in the Yorkshire Dales and I was fortunate enough to take my trap along. Wonderful place - Coverdale - and the location seemed pretty good for moths, right on the edge of moorland with a clear view looking across the valley. It was the first time I've trapped away from my back garden so I had no idea what to expect - in the end it was better than I'd hoped for. 19 moths new to me, and plenty of interesting ones at that. Most plentiful were Large Yellow Underwings - clouds of them. Far more than I've ever seen at home.

Now on to some pictures, hope I've got the IDs right!

Northern Deep-brown Dart


Autumnal Rustic - lots of these


Plain Clay - Scarce B!


Barred Straw - saw a few of these, on the moors by day as well


Herald - gave me goosebumps when I spotted him - stunning moth


Scarce Silver Y


Antler Moth - loads of these feeding on Creeping Thistle by day


Flounced Chestnut


Centre-barred Sallow - beautiful


Small Autumnal Moth


Burnished Brass


Haworth's Minor - lots of these feeding on thistle with Antlers, up high


Other moths new to me were Small Wainscot, July Highflyer, Grey Chi, Rosy Rustic, Heath Rustic and a few micros. Pictures available on request .

Now I can't wait to take my trap on holiday again.

[Pete Collins]

I'm new to moth trapping, so I can't really help confirm your IDs. But you've certainly got some gorgeous (and unusual) moths! Thanks for sharing.

[badgerwatcher]

Those are beautiful, Pete.

[GuyF]

Looks like you had a great trip! Lots there that I've yet to see, I'm particularly jealous of the Flounced Chestnut and Scarce Silver Y.
There's only one of those moths that I'm not too sure about, the Northern Deep-brown Dart. It may be the angle of the photo, but the shape doesn't look quite right to me, this moth seems to have a very large thorax and relatively short, square-ended wings whereas I'd expect it to look a bit sleeker with more rounded wing-tips. I may be wrong though, and I can't offer any good suggestions as to what else it may be at the moment!
Guy

[pete76]

Thanks for the replies.

The Northern Deep-brown Dart was the one I'm not totally 100% on - it certainly doesn't look much like the one on ukmoths, but the markings that you can see on mine (he's worn, which doesn't help!) seem to match. The angle of the photo is a bit misleading, you can see a lot of the top of the thorax which makes it look a bit larger, plus the wings are foreshortened. It's certainly not clear, but you can just about see the dart markings.

I could well be wrong though!

[GuyF]

Originally Posted by pete76

Thanks for the replies.

The Northern Deep-brown Dart was the one I'm not totally 100% on - it certainly doesn't look much like the one on ukmoths, but the markings that you can see on mine (he's worn, which doesn't help!) seem to match. The angle of the photo is a bit misleading, you can see a lot of the top of the thorax which makes it look a bit larger, plus the wings are foreshortened. It's certainly not clear, but you can just about see the dart markings.

I could well be wrong though!

Well, having looked at the photo a bit more here a some alternative suggestions, although I'm still not at all sure about this moth!
My best suggestion is probably Straw Underwing, it looks quite close to the right hand moth illustrated in the Waring and Townsend guide. In the description it says that 'In north-east England, forewing is often dull and obscurely marked'. The Yorkshire Dales aren't exactly north-east England, but I suppose the markings may well gradually get duller the closer you are to that area.
Other possibilities could be Flounced Rustic, Crescent or Hedge Rustic, although if it's any of these it's a very strangely marked individual! I'm sure it would be helpful to have some input from someone familiar with the moths in the area, I've never trapped outside of Dorset so I can't offer much help I'm afraid
Guy

[Meta menardi]

Coverdale is a splendid place, glad to see it has Fauna to live up to the place.

When I saw the title of the post, I was going to get on the list first for an otter-skin coat.

I'll get my coat ( moleskin)

[pete76]

Here's another angle:



If you can, compare it to the image of the Northern DB Dart that's in Chris Manley's British Moths and Butterflies - specifically the left hand image. I think it's a pretty clear match of a worn example.

[pete76]

Me again!

Here's one I'm not sure about - Dotted Clay?

[Cordaline]

Hi Pete,
What a wonderful selection of moths, most of which I've never seen!

GuyF suggested your Northern Deep-brown Dart might be a Flounced Rustic.
I doubt it's that. Here's mine from last week to compare.