Newsletter no. 2 July 2000Page 2Stray recordsWould the person who sent me a sheet of moth records for May 2000, nicely tabulate by computer and with a column entitled total appearances printed in red, please get in touch and tell me - who are you, where are the moths from, etc., etc., etc.. Sorry - I am not telepathic.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Membership listThis is circulated with this newsletter. Please tell me if any details are wrong or if you have added or changed your e-mail address. Please fill in any missing details, such as post code. If your home grid reference is not given to at least 4 figures (e.g., TL 1234) please supply it. This is the grid that will be used to map your garden records. Please tell me if anyone else's details are wrong too.Telephone numbers are only given for those people who stated that they wished to be put on the "grapevine list" so that others could contact them if moth-trapping in their area. If your phone number is absent, then this is the reason (or else you did not supply it). If you want it adding, please tell me. Note there is a second list of people who have not responded to my requests for details. Please check to make sure you are not on this second list, because these people will not receive any more newsletter unless they bother to respond to my requests and tell me that they wish to do so. If you think that any of these addresses etc are wrong please tell me (or them) so they are not chopped off without realising they were ever invited to stay.
Research into the Buttoned Snout and the Heart Moth in Herts. and Middlesex As a part of their Biodiversity Action Programme, Butterfly Conservation have asked me to undertake research into two moths in Herts and Middlesex, namely the Heart Moth Dicycla oo and the Buttoned Snout Hypena rostralis. Although some moths have declined to the point where recovery seems unlikely, others may have natural cycles in which they alternate between abundance and rarity. The Heart Moth may be one of these, perhaps. Records suggest that it was quite widespread in southern Hertfordshire and Middlesex during the last ten years of the nineteenth century, but declined by about 1920. After a gap of no records, it reappeared in the 1940s in the suburbs of north London and was common (ish) by the 1950s, but by the early 1970s was in serious decline again. There are no records for London north of the Thames or for southern Hertfordshire in the period 1980 to 1991. The last Hertfordshire record known to me was at Digswell in 1971. This pattern very vaguely suggests to me a thirty year cycle - 1890s - common; 1920s - very rare; 1945-55 - common; 1980 - absent. On this basis it ought be on the up any year now. Adult Heart Moths are on the wing in late June and July and should be looked for in older woodland, parkland, etc., where there are mature oaks. It might turn up almost anywhere and is very easily recognised. Chorleywood Common looks eminently suitable (it also looks possible for the Double-line Mythimna turca as well. Buttoned Snout is evidently fairly common in the Herts & Middlesex area. Adults hibernate in sheds, hollow trees, etc., and are on the wing from August to the start of cold weather and then from waking up until June. The caterpillars feed on hop during June and July, which grows wild in many north London "brown field" sites. They make holes in the leaves and if you spot hops with holes in their leaves - looking rather like the leaves have been blasted with a shotgun - the caterpillars can be easily knocked out into a beating tray (or sheet) placed under the foodplant. Currant Pug caterpillars make similar feeding patterns, but the larvae are much smaller and though both caterpillars are not strikingly different from anything else to the amateur eye there is very little else that you will find on hop plants so the job is made fairly easy. I need to assemble all records of both these species for both Herts and Middlesex, past and present but I am obviously more keen on the present. Please make an effort to look for these species and report them when found - not at the end of the year. I would be very pleased to look at any candidate caterpillars encountered on hops. These should be sent alive, with a few leaves of the foodplant, by first class post in something that is crush-proof, but which does not allow condensation to drown the beast (slide film boxes are usually OK, or film canisters if lined with tissue to absorb condensation). Alternatively, deliver them by hand and stop for coffee and a look at my collection if you wish.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Extra field meetings - discovering leaf-minersTwo additional field meetings have been arranged for your delight and edification. These are daytime meetings for leaf-miners. At the indoor meeting in April, people expressed an interest in, but profound lack of knowledge of, leaf-mining moths and so we are taking you to probably the best recorded leaf-miner site in the county on the first date so you can learn and then to an area from which we really do need rather more records on the second so you can practice. It would help if you could bring your own hand lens (x20 is ideal) and a couple of plastic bags so you can collect leaves to be examined by our expert leader, Ray Uffen, whilst I stand around pretending that I also know what he is talking about! From experience, we will not wander all that far from the car park and so these trips will be ideal whether you want to spend the whole day or just a couple of hours. Please - no dogs.
Broxbourne Wood, Sunday 8th October 2000 Assemble: 10.30 am for 11 am start. Bring lunch. Leaders: Ray Uffen and Colin Plant
Whippendell Wood, Sunday 22nd October 2000 Meet: Car park at grid reference TQ 073976. Warning - there are two car parks on this narrow road and there is a barrier between them on the road. You want the southern one, but if you end up the wrong side of the barrier it is only about two minutes walk to the correct one. Assemble: 10.30 am for 11 am start. Bring lunch. Leaders: Ray Uffen and Colin Plant
Field meetings still to come this year In case you have lost your last newsletter, here are the field meetings still to come that have already been organised:
Amwell Quarry Wildlife Reserve Friday 14th July 2000 Assemble: from 8 pm to 8.30 pm. Some of our activity will be close to the parking area and latecomers will therefore have no difficulty finding us. Trap site: An area of former gravel workings restored specifically for nature conservation. It comprises a mosaic of habitats grading from lake, through marsh, reed-bed, short and coarse grassland, and scrub, to semi-mature woodland. Bring warm clothing and dry footwear - mosquito repellent is advised. Leader - Tom Gladwin.
Rye Meads Nature Reserve Friday 28th July 2000 Assemble: from 8 pm to 8.30 pm. Late-comers should be able to find us easily on the reserve. Trap site: Reedbeds and damp woodland. May need wellies and mosquito repellent. Leader - Colin Plant.
Wilstone Reservoir Nature Reserve (marshland) Saturday 19th August 2000 Assemble: from 8 pm to 8.30 pm. Cars with trapping equipment will be let through the gate to the site. Latecomers can walk down the track. Trap site: This reserve is a large area of reedbed backed onto by sallow scrub as well as some more established woodland. There is also a small area of old orchard. Wellies may be required particularly if there has been recent rain (or we decide to get adventurous). A barbecue will be available so bring your own food and refreshments. Leader - Ian Burrus.
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