File:Xestia xanthographa (36253224914).jpg

b Field Trip - Ashwell Quarry - 04/09/17 I decided to do some light trapping at Ashwell Quarry after a warm and muggy day with temperatures up to 22 degrees and a prediction of minimums of around 16 or 17 degrees it sounded just perfect.

The last time I trapped at Ashwell was mid-June! So it was about time I should try there again.

I've enjoyed trapping at Ashwell Quarry this year, the site isn't huge and probably around 5 acres in size but the habitat is quite distinctive with swathes of chalk grassland, mature hedgerows bordering the pit and a few mature trees as well. It really is in the middle of nowhere and amongst an 'Arable Desert' with very little high canopy in the vicinity, but makes up for it in low-growing flora.

By the end the moths were literally everywhere and i'm glad I put white sheets under every trap as I probably would of trod on them if they were in the long grass.

Migrants were in good attendance and my best migrant night for a few years now with 5 of the commoner migrants topped off by a Scarce Bordered Straw which I haven't seen since 2012.

Even better, I potted up two tiny micro moths that I initially didn't recognise but quickly found both on the internet whilst out in the field. Both Paractopa ononidis and Euspilapteryx auroguttella were new to me, both being attracted to my 160w Blended bulb on the larger Robinson Trap... the cheap bulb set-up (£27) strikes again!

They were very hard to photograph in poor light the next day but I'm happy enough with how they came out.

Also there was absolutelytonnes of Ivy in bloom and I found plenty of moths feeding from it during the night.

A couple of other species I didn't expect to see this late on in the year (And testament to how warm this year has been overall) both Green Silver-lines and Ruby Tiger!

All in all a pleasing trip that was well worth the effort.

Catch Report - 04/09/17 - Ashwell Quarry - North Hertfordshire - 4 traps in total - 2x 125w MV Robinson Trap 1x 40w Actinic + 15w LED Trap and 1x 160w MBT Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

Brimstone Moth 5 Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 4 Burnished Brass 2 Centre-barred Sallow 10 Chinese Character 1 Common Carpet 2 Common Marbled Carpet 5 Common Wainscot 200+ Copper Underwing 2 Dark Sword-grass 7 Double-striped Pug 2 Dusky Thorn 1 Feathered Gothic 1 Flame 2 Flame Shoulder 2 Flounced Rustic 6 Garden Carpet 2 Green Carpet 10 Green Silver-lines 1 Large Thorn 1 Large Yellow Underwing 25 Latticed Heath 15 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 5 Lesser Yellow Underwing 2 Light Emerald 2 Mouse Moth 2 Old Lady 1 Pug sp 1 Purple Bar 2 Ruby Tiger 1 Scarce Bordered Straw 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character 200+ Shaded Broad-bar 2 Shuttle-shaped Dart 2 Silver Y 2 Small Blood-vein 5 Small Dusty Wave 3 Snout 10 Spectacle 4 Square-spot Rustic 50+ Straw Dot 1 Turnip Moth 5 Vines Rustic 1 White-point 5 Willow Beauty 4 Wood Carpet 1 Yellow Shell 2 Yellow-barred Brindle 1

Micro Moths

Agapeta hamana 2 Agriphila geniculea 4 Agriphila straminella 2 Agriphila tristella 1 Anthophila fabriciana 2 Apotomis lineana 1 Argyresthia goedartella 1 Blastobasis adustella 2 Bucculatrix nigricomella 1 Cameraria ohridella 5 Catoptria falsella 1 Celypha lacunana 2 Celypha rosaceana 1 Clepsis consimiliana 1 Cochylimorpha straminea 5 Cochylis dubitana 1 Cochylis hybridella 2 Cochylis molliculana 3 Coleophora sp 1 Coptotriche marginea 2 Emmelina monodactlya 1 Endrosis sarcitrella 4 Epipyhas postvittana 5 Eudonia lacustrata 1 Eudonia pallida 2 Euspilapteryx auroguttella 1 Grapholita funebrana 5 Grapholita janthinana 1 Hofmannophila pseudospretella 3 Hypsopygia costalis 1 Monopis crocicapitella 1 Monopis weaverella 1 Nomophila noctuella 2 Parectopa ononidis 1 Pleuroptya ruralis 2 Plutella xylostella 5 Scrobipalpa costella 2 Scythropia crataegella 2