Isle of Carna Field Trip, 13th & 14th June 2014

Pete Moore

 

The Isle of Carna is a privately owned 600 acre island in Loch Sunart just off the Ardnamurchan peninsula. It is being managed for its wildlife and so the owner and boatman/caretaker invited us onto the island to find out what was there in the way of butterflies and moths.

 

Four of us were taken across to the island on the afternoon of Friday 13 June to set up a total of nine moth traps. Most were sited in the area of the three cottages on the south side of the island but with the help of a small boat, a few were set up in an area of birchwood along the coast to the west of the cottages. Different habitats were targeted with the aim of increasing the number of moth species caught. Traps were set in or near birchwood, pinewood, boggy willow scrub, flowery meadow, bog myrtle, saltmarsh, heather and general rough vegetation. The traps were fired up at dusk and we spent the night in one of the cottages. It was a perfect night for moths (and midges) – warm, calm and overcast. Incidentally, there is a cottage available to rent on the island - see the website: www.isleofcarna.co.uk.

 

We got up early in the morning to switch off and cover up the traps. A further eight folk came over on the morning of Saturday 14 June to see what was in the traps and have a wander to look for butterflies. There were so many moths in the traps that it took all day, with hardly a break, to go through them! A total of 76 macro-moths and 12 micro-moths were identified. Although it was mild, there was little sun and only 4 species of butterfly were seen – orange-tip, red admiral, green-veined white and small heath. Moth list below.

Micro Moths
Argyresthia brockkeela	Argyresthia goedartella	Caloptilia alchimiella
Celypha lacunana	Chrysoteuchia culmella	Crambus ericella
Crambus lathoniellus	Hellinsia tephradactyla	Mompha raschkiella
Notocelia uddmanniana	Opostega salaciella	Pandemis cerasana

Macro Moths
Barred Red	Beautiful Brocade	Beautiful Golden Y
Birch Mocha	Bordered White	Bright-line Brown-eye
Brimstone	Broken-barred Carpet	Broom Moth
Brown Rustic	Brown Silver-line	Buff Ermine
Buff-tip	Campion	Chimney Sweeper
Clouded Buff	Clouded-bordered Brindle	Common Marbled Carpet
Common Wave	Common White Wave	Common Rustic agg.
Dark Brocade	Drinker	Dusky Brocade
Elephant Hawk-moth	Emperor	Flame Carpet
Flame Shoulder	Four-dotted Footman	Foxglove Pug
Garden Carpet	Gold Swift	Green Arches
Green Carpet	Grey Arches	Grey Dagger
Grey Pine Carpet	Grey Scalloped Bar	Ingrailed Clay
Knot-grass	Light Emerald	Light Knot-grass
Map-winged Swift	Middle-barred Minor	Mottled Beauty
Narrow-winged Pug	Northern Eggar	Pale-shouldered Brocade
Peach Blossom	Peacock	Pebble Hook-tip
Pebble Prominent	Peppered Moth	Poplar Hawk-moth
Poplar Kitten	Purple Clay	Red Twin-spot Carpet
Rustic Shoulder-knot	Satin Lutestring	Saxon
Scalloped Hazel	Shears	Silver Hook
Silver-ground Carpet	Small Angle Shades	Small Argent and Sable
Small Clouded Brindle	Small Dotted Buff	Small Phoenix
Small Square-spot	Smoky Wainscot	Spectacle
Spruce Carpet	True Lover's Knot	Welsh Wave
White Ermine