Newsletter no. 2 July 2000Edited by Colin W. Plant, Herts Moth Recorder14 West Road, Bishops Stortford, CM23 3QP tel/fax: 01279 507697 E-mail: colinwplant@netscapeonline.co.uk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Report on field tripsOur first ever field meeting, at Danemead Wood on 20th May was, for want of a better word, wet! It rained non-stop from before we started until after we had finished. But were we put off? NO! We are the Herts Moth Group! Nothing stops the Herts Moth Group (well, almost nothing). Eleven stalwarts turned out and got totally drenched putting out a total of 6 mv lamps and 2 actinic traps. We ran the lights from 9 pm until 3 am. We broke two bulbs (!) and someone stowed the female hornet from the sheet in the cupboard of my camper van, but we also got a good list of moths. There were no especially stunning species, though we had one rather late Frosted Green Polyploca ridens and several Maiden's Blush Cyclophora punctaria. Great Prominent Peridea anceps also put in an appearance, as did the Chocolate-tip Clostera curtula. Three species of pug noted were Oak-tree Eupithecia dodoneata, White-spotted E. tripunctaria and Mottled E. exiguata. The Oak-tree Pug is poorly recorded in the county and doubtless far more widespread than records currently suggest. Thanks to the efforts of John Chainey and Jenny Spence some caterpillars were also located and eventually identified by them. These included Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria on oak, Mottled Umber Erannis defoliaria, also on oak and the Green Brindled Crescent Allophyes oxyacanthae on blackthorn, all providing positive Hertfordshire foodplant records (it is not our policy to read the book - we want to know what the beasts eat in Herts). The final tally was 45 macros and 10 micros, giving a grand total of 55 species, which we regarded as not bad in view of the utterly atrocious weather. Unfortunately, the conditions did not lend themselves to sitting around the traps and taking a leisurely look at everything.
Therfield Heath - 24th June 2000A cold breeze greeted us at the start of our second outing, and there was a definite feeling that rain might feature prominently in the evening's entertainment. However, the rain held off, barring a few light spots at around midnight and the breeze more or less dropped. It was not a good night, but then it wasn't bad either. Sixteen members were present and we ran six lights on and around Church Hill. Altogether we managed to record 73 species, of which 51 were "macros" and the rest mainly pyralids, plumes and tortricids. We were looking in particular for some of the chalk grassland species and so the undoubted highlight of the evening was two Reddish Light Arches Apamea sublustris, which arrived as we packed up the last trap at about 2.30 am. The only other recent Hertfordshire records of this chalkland species are from Long Marston, 8 July 1986 (Alan Bernard), Rothamsted, Estate, Harpenden, 23 July 1996 (Adrian Riley) and 5 July 1999 at Royston, probably a wanderer from the Heath, 5 July 1999 (John Chainey & Jenny Spence). The pyralid Hypochalcia ahenella was particularly common; this is at present the only Hertfordshire locality for this moth, though it would be worth searching for on the Chiltern chalk in the far west and at places like Telegraph Hill in the north. It will probably still be on the wing when this newsletter reaches you; the moth is shown in Barry Goater's book British Pyralid Moths (Harley Books, 1986), plate 7 figure 22). We were too late in the year for Light Feathered Rustic Agrotis cinerea, though this is another species that really ought to be on Therfield Heath, but which has not yet been recorded. There are only three recent Hertfordshire records of Light Feathered Rustic - from Rothamsted Estate in 1982 by Adrian Riley, Digswell on 13th June 1999 (a rather surprising late date) by Tom Gladwin and at Watford in 1999 by Ray Penrose. We also failed to find the Ruddy Carpet Catarhoe rubidata which John Chainey and Jenny Spence had encountered in their garden trap in Royston a few days earlier; surely this must be on the Heath?All in all we had a good evening. The easy ways of separating the Heart and Dart from the Heart and Club, and the Common Footman from the Scarce Footman were demonstrated and there were plenty of common species enabling less experienced moth group members to examine these.
Other moth highlights since the last newsletter Ray Penrose captured Buttoned Snout (Hypena rostralis) to his Watford garden during May. This is a Biodiversity Action Plan species (see below). I went along to Rye Meads NR on 17th June with Phil Jenner, Charles Watson and my son, Edward. We had a cracking good night with 87 macro species and 33 micros. Five lights ran from 10 pm to 4 am, with 75 of the macros arriving by 2.30 am and then 12 more in the final 2 hours. The macros included two Silky wainscot (Chilodes maritimus); there are only three earlier county records for this species - Tring in 1905; Rothamsted Estate, Harpenden, 1935 (Williams) and 1991 (Riley). We also had five Cream-bordered Green Pea (Earias clorana). This was recorded at Rye Meads in 1985, but the only other county records appear to be "Cheshunt" given by Boyd in the Victoria County History published in 1901 and "Broxbourne, larvae on osiers" by Edelsten (given in Foster's 1937 Hertfordshire list). Pyralids included Chilo phragmitella, not seen in Hertfordshire since the VCH in 1901, Nascia cilialis, a rare reed-bed specialist, Calamotropha paludella and Phlyctaenia perlucidalis. I look forward with eager anticipation to the HMG trip to this site on 28th July. A caterpillar of the Black Arches Lymantria monacha was beaten during darkness from the lower branches of hornbeam at Danemead Wood, Broxbourne, on 15th June 2000. This is an interesting record because the species normally feeds on oak, though the books mentions "É and sometimes other species of trees". In my experience there are very few caterpillars that eat hornbeam. At Digswell, Tom Gladwin trapped several Heart and Club Agrotis clavis on 18th June 2000. The last time he saw this species in his garden was in 1989. Other new species there this year so far are the Red-green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata on 7th May, Great Oak Beauty Hypomecis roboraria, the Least Black Arches Nola confusalis, Small Elephant Hawk-moth Deilephila porcellus and the Bordered Sallow Pyrrhia umbra. An Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa may be expected at almost any time of year, but they are less frequent in the winter onths. Tom took one in his garden at Digswell on 27th January when there was also a rather late Winter Moth Operophtera brumata present. In my garden at Bishops Stortford I have added four new macros to the list bringing the total to 316 species. The extras were Least Black Arches Nola confusalis, Nut-tree Tussock Calocasia coryli, Emperor Saturnia pavonia and Dingy Shears Parastichtis ypsillon. Extra micros, bringing the overall garden moth total to 513 species included several Argyresthia trifasciata, a relatively new species to Britain that is spreading on ornamental Cupressus trees. As I write this on 25th June, my daughter has just called my attention to a live male Emperor Moth Saturnia pavonia, on the carpet at the bottom of the stairs in my front hall. Readers will realise that this is an extremely late date, as this moth is usually around in April. It had undoubtedly emerged from a box of pupae in my bedroom &emdash; most of these emerged during April, but some seem to be going over for a further year. The box got knocked over recently and I had not yet bothered to replace the lid since I did not expect any moths to emerge. The bedroom is unheated and the window is usually kept open so conditions within are more or less the same as those outside. The pupae did not originate from Hertfordshire, but this exceptionally late emergence is of interest and perhaps of some relevance as many moths in the wild appear to be coming out three or so weeks earlier than expected. Please let me have your own highlights for the next newsletter.
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