Landmark Adventure Park Moths - Sunday 15th July 2018

Landmark asked if BC could run a moth-trapping event near to their Butterfly House, to which I agreed. I set up three moth traps in the vicinity of the Butterfly House on the night of Saturday 14 July. Although there was good forest habitat next door, the area in which I set the traps was not inspiring – mainly Scots pines but with poor ground cover. In fact one of my traps, to one side of the Butterfly House, didn’t have any vegetation within about 20 metres of it. It was surrounded by gravel, rubbish bins and a Portaloo!

But I need not have worried. When we arrived on site Sunday morning, the place was alive with moths, probably pulled in from the better woodland habitat next door, and it turned out to be my best moth night of the year to date.

Hilary and I set up stall to the side of the Butterfly House entrance and collared visitors as they approached the House. Better that they saw the moths before going in because the mostly small and brown-ish moths didn’t bear comparison with the large, exotic, colourful butterflies that they were about to see! Hilary is much better with kids than me, so I left her to do most of the public engagement while I went through the traps and built up a good list! The grand total was 75 species which included a Nationally Scarce A (found in 16 - 30 10km squares in Britain) and three Nationally Scarce B’s (found in 31 - 100 10km squares). Full moth list below.

Pete Moore

Agriphila straminella	Dotted carpet	Marbled minor agg.
Antler	Dotted clay	Middle-barred minor
Apotomis turbidana	Double Square-spot	Mottled beauty
Argyresthia conjugella	Dusky brocade	Northern spinach
Argyresthia goedartella	Eana osseana	Phyllonorycter messaniella
Bactra lancealana	Eucosma cana	Plain clay (Nb)
Barred red	Eudonia lacustrata	Plain golden Y
Barred straw	Eudonia truncicolella	Plain wave
Beautiful Golden Y	Great brocade (Nb)	Purple bar
Bee moth	Green arches	Purple clay
Bird-cherry ermine	Green carpet	Riband wave
Blastobasis lacticolella	Green pug	Rivulet
Brimstone	Grey mountain carpet	Scalloped oak
Catoptria margaritella	Grey pine carpet	Scarce silver Y
Cedestis gysseleniella	Holly tortrix	Scoparia ambigualis
Celyha lacunana	Ingrailed clay	Silver Y
Chestnut-coloured carpet (Nb)	July highflyer	Silver-ground carpet
Clepsis consimilana	Juniper pug	Six-striped rustic
Clouded-bordered brindle	Large yellow underwing	Small dotted buff
Common carpet	Lempke's Gold-spot	Small square-spot
Common marbled carpet	Lesser Broad-bordered yellow underwing	Smoky wainscot
Cousin German (Na)	Lesser swallow prominent	Snout
Dark arches	Light emerald	True lover's knot
Denisia similella	Lozotaenia forsterana	Udea olivalis
Dioryctria abietella	Map-winged swift	Welsh wave