Paul's Back Garden Safari

One of the most common visitors to the light trap I have put out in the garden over the past month has been the Large Yellow Under-wing. One morning I counted 25 hiding among the egg boxes, all clinging on determedly, and difficult to displace.  According to the UK Butterfly Conservation in the report "The State of Britains Larger Moths 2013" the incidence of N. pronuba has increased by 186% during the period of 1968-2007 (1). The distribution map from the NBN gateway shows how widely distributed it is. This is a fairly large moth with a wing span up to 60mm. At rest it's not the most spectacular of moths, with a base colour of brown, and few distinguishing markings besides the kidney spots on its wings. However when it flies there's a flash of colour as the forewings spread out and expose the bright orange/yellow colours of the rear wings. As soon as it comes to rest the rear wings are folded away and hidden once more. They rest during the day, but will flash their b...

I took the chance and put the moth trap out on Saturday night. The weather forecast predicted that it would be mild and dry, if cloudy. Well it was almost right. There were a few light showers, but nothing like the major thunderstorm and downpour Friday night. So I wasn't sure if there would be much in the trap when I switched it off in he the morning. It turned out to be my best haul so far, with 8 different species - 2 of which escaped before I could take any photos to help with the ID. And it turned out those photos I did take weren't up to much either so I'll only put a couple up on this post. The full list included, excluding the two that got away: Buff Ermine:  Spilarctia luteum Large Yellow Underwing:  Noctua pronuba Heart and Dart:  Agrotis exclamationis Light Brown Apple Moth:  Epiphyas postvittana The Flame:  Axylia putris Mottled Beauty: Alcis repandata This brings the total of moths I've managed to identify in the garden to 19 so far. Not many by som...