File:Bucculatrix nigricomella - Flickr - Bennyboymothman.jpg

Field Trip - Bovingdon Brickworks - Bovingdon - 08/05/16

Last night I was joined by Roger and Steve at Bovingdon Brickworks just outside of the village of Bovingdon, roughly 5 miles South-West of Hemel Hempstead. The reserve was formerly a brickworks and is consequently very sandy with undulating pits making it quite a unique trapping location that is full of wild flowers.

David had already setup his MV Robinson at Gadesprings which we would return to after packing up from Bovingdon. We did a lengthy walk from the cars with the equipment which isn't for the faint-hearted, set up a total of four traps, an actinic in the wooded section and then three other traps scattered around the pits. The weather was pretty much perfect minus cloud cover, but we didn't need it as it was still 16 degrees when I was driving home at half 2! With the day-time temperature peaking at a heady 27 degrees, we were confident that even if the sky stayed clear that it would take a few hours for the temperature to drop, and a few hours is all we needed.

Best moth of the night was a pretty scarce moth for Hertfordshire but seemingly common in other parts o the Country, Early Tooth-striped a new moth for me! Other species of note were mainly micros with a few still to sort out. Three stunning Cydia strobilella were great to get, and a Herts scarce species along with my third new species an Incurvaria pectinea.

It was great to finally see good numbers of moths and many species numbered into double-figures.

Catch Report - 08/05/16 - Bovingdon Brickworks - Bovingdon- 2x 125w MV Robinson Traps 1x 160w MBT Robinson Trap and 1x 80w Actinic Suitcase Trap

Macro Moths

1x Early Tooth-striped [NEW!] 12x Small Phoenix 8x Nut-tree Tussock 4x Clouded Drab 4x Early Thorn 7x Lunar Marbled Brown 1x Chinese Character 7x Common Quaker 4x Brimstone Moth 9x Least Black Arches 1x Common Pug 1x Purple Thorn 13x Streamer 1x Red-green Carpet 8x Waved Umber 4x Frosted Green 3x Pale Tussock 12x Seraphim 8x Oak-tree Pug 1x Hebrew Character 1x Spruce Carpet 1x Green Carpet 1x Garden Carpet 1x Double-striped Pug 1x Clouded Border 2x White-spotted Pug 1x Orange Footman 1x Bright-line Brown-eye 1x Mottled Pug 1x Flame Shoulder 1x Iron Prominent 1x Water Carpet 3x Angle Shades 3x Brindled Pug 4x Red Twin-spot Carpet 1x Chestnut 2x Shuttle-shaped Dart 1x Swallow Prominent 2x Shoulder-stripe 1x Oak Hook-tip 1x Powdered Quaker 1x Maiden's Blush 1x Scalloped Hazel 1x Pale Pinion 1x Engrailed

Micro Moths

3x Cydia strobilella [NEW!] 1x Incurvaria pectinea [NEW!] 1x Endrosis sarcitrella 1x Bucculatrix nigricomella 3x Agonopterix arenella 2x Epiphyas postvittana 1x Parornix sp 3x Acleris cristana 1x Agonopteris heracliana 1x Caloptilia alchimiella 1x Capua vulgana 2x Incurvaria masculella 2x Dyseriocrania subpurpurella 1x Monpis weaverella 1x Aphomia sociella 2x Syndemis musculana 1x Swammerdamia pyrella 1x Scrobipalpa costella 1x Phyllonorycter leucographella