Both traps out last night - mild & dry, half moon - result, no moths !!

Hello Paul, thanks, I think I 'over-examined' it until it morphed into possible Chestnut shape! I did come across this site; http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Conistra_Ligula where they said that the fringe on the hind-wing was plain in a Chestnut but had a grey band within it in a Dark Chestnut. I did check (quite easy as the moth didn't seem to take offence) and it did have a distinct wide dark grey band within the fringe.  But don't know how reliable that is.

Hi Liz, I would say it's almost certainly a Dark Chestnut going by the shape of the wing.

First time I've trapped for about 6 weeks; an Agonopterix heracliana, a Hebrew Character and what I initially thought was a Dark Chestnut, but am now undecided and would appreciate comments!

I tried both MV & actinic traps last night, as it was much milder than of late, although light rain forecast for later.  Absolutely nothing in either trap, bar a dung fly and a couple of dozen midges in the MV. 

P.S.  A Winter Moth on the kitchen window this evening (6.30 pm onwards)

Ran an actinic for a couple of hours in the woods on the Ammerdown Estate.  1 Small Quaker the result - a bit early even for this species.  It appears to be a new species for the 10km square.

Put the trap out on Friday night for Winter GMS - T min 5˚C and warm before midnight. A single Chestnut.

A.brongniardella is a strange one.  Moths of the Bristol Region has it as being predominately coastal, which may well be true; at least I very rarely find it in inland north Somerset.  There is a small colony on Sham Castle field in Bath, on young deciduous oaks, where I have found the mines the last couple of years; I've also found a single mine on evergreen oak nearby on the University campus.  It seems to be quite flexible as regards host plant - it is common in southern France on Kermes oak, for instance - so rightly ought to be found more often than it actually is.  I wonder what restricts it?  It doesn't seem to need old woodland, and it doesn't appear to me to be warmth-dependent (the Sham Castle site is almost 600' up, exposed to the prevailing wind and generally a couple of degrees colder than the city below).

E.heringella is such a recent arrival in this country that maybe it hasn't reached Weston yet.

Hi Paul - It's interesting that you found lots of old blister mines of Acrocercops brongniardella but not Ectoedemia heringella, whereas I found lots E. heringella and not a single A. brongniardellae, for some reason these species seem to be very localised.  It just goes to show that there is a lot we don't know about certain species of moths!

Had a look round some of the Quercus ilex in Weston and was unsuccessful in finding any Ectoedemia heringella but did find lots of old blister mines of Acrocercops brongniardella as well as smaller no's of Phyllonorycter messaniella and Stigmella suberivora.

As there are not too many moths around at the moment I thought I would try searching for the evidence of a couple of leaf mining moths on the leaves of Holm Oak or Evergreen Oak (Quercus ilex).  Holm Oak was a particularly popular Victorian planting and can be found in many of our Parks, Cemetery's and in the gardens of older larger properties.

The records for both of the species shown are pretty sparse for our area but I have found both along with Phyllonorycter messaniella (not shown) on almost every tree I have looked at over the last few weeks.

Ectoedemia heringella - This small Nepticulidae species was first discovered in London in 2002 and given the numbers of mines I have found so far here in Bath there must be hundreds of them around a single mature tree when they emerge in June/July.  I am overwintering some tenanted mines here at home so hopefully I will see some adults to photograph in the summer.

Stigmella suberivora - I have found this species on most trees I have looked at in the Bath area as well as some further afield but nothing like the numbers of the previous species and I have only managed to find two tenanted mines so I am less optimistic about seeing an adult of this species in the coming spring/summer.

A singleton Agonopterix alstromeriana (FFY) in the kitchen this morning. The kitchen seems to be a favourite place for moths at the moment - must be the warmth !

A Winter Moth (FFY) in the kitchen last night - I let it out without realising that it was raining at the time, so it had a rude awakening, poor thing !!

2 Winter Moths, Agonopterix heracliana and alstromeriana at the kitchen windows tonight.

1/1/15 December Moth 7/1/15 Silver Y, 2 December Moth

A singleton Depressaria daucella in the kitchen last night - nearly missed it, as it flew out of its hiding place just seconds before I turned off the light.

Loads of midges but just 3 December Moths and 1 Winter Moth.

First two moths of the year last night including LBAM and a garden first of December Moth. Two new diptera in the trap also: Phaonia subventa and Limonia nubeculosa.

December Moth

Just one solitary male December Moth (FFY !!) and 2 dung flies in the actinic trap, and several hundred dead midges in the MV - quite a mixture.

Martin and I trapped tonight for a couple of hours. Temp 9c with a fine mist. 1Winter Moth, 1 Red-green Carpet and 1 Pale Brindled Beauty. All in the first hour. Also 2 Birch and 1 Hawthorn Shieldbug and the bright red and black ladybird relation Endomychus coccineus.

Nothing at all on night of 3/4 Jan. Single December Moth and female LBAM night of 4/5 Jan.

A Mottled Umber was my first moth of the year last night.

I left the trap out by mistake last night after the previous night (31 Dec.) yielded a single Yellow Dung Fly. To my surprise there was a pristine Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa in the trap.

I have checked the database and it is the earliest date for this species in the last 37 years - as far back as the records go.

To welcome the New Year ... a hornet, December moths x3, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla and Acleris hyemana.  Not having put in a photo for ages, am having trouble so it'll either follow this or not!

Happy New Year everyone. Single Dark Chestnut and female LBAM in the trap this morning.

Loadsa flies, but no moths (again) on opening the traps this morning, in spite of the milder night. Never mind, the new year will hopefully provide a few - one lives in hope.

Happy New Year to all.

Happy New Year. On returning home after midnight i had 4 December Moth and 1Mottled Umber waiting to greet me! Happy mothing in 2015 to all. Pam