It shows the difference of living in mild south wales. My 4 traps in February produced 62 moths of 13 species. 2025 was a lot lower (& a lot colder) but 2024 was above 70 in Feb. I love Common Quakers now, but they were a bit daunting my first year of mothing - sorting them out from others. So behind on reading substacks that realised I’ve commented just before your next post is due!!
Thanks Hilary - yes those are good totals for February! Although there are indeed geographical differences, it's probably more what the immediate environment is like that determines the catch size (plus the type of bulb). My garden is in a semi-urban area, but contacts not that far from here but in a less densely populated area get much bigger catches.
Yes I know what you mean about substack! I've decided to cut down a bit on the number that I've subscribed to. Yes the next Moth Report is due out in a few hours ... but only two moths and quite a bit about hedgehogs!
If you go back to my earlier post about the Mottled Umber (link below), which also has a wingless female, there's a picture in that report. The Pale Brindled Beauty female is quite similar but not so strongly marked as the Mottled Umber.
PS Abebooks has numerous copies of 'Enjoying Moths' - starting at £30 and averaging about £40. It's such a brilliant book, with photos which led me to start trying to take 'naturalistic' photos of moths rather than 'egg-box' images, that I'd say it was well worth the money.
re Pale Brindled Beauty mentioned in 'Enjoying Moths' by Roy Leverton - here's the quote (from one of my favourite books) 'Moths that fly in the middle of winter must be able to withstand low temperatures. I once found a male P{ale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria that had nose-dived into a pool of meltwater. This had refrozen, and the moth was almost completely encased in ice 1.5 cm thick. Having chipped out the piece containing the moth, I took it home and thawed it out. As expected, the moth flew away at dusk that evening.'
Yes that makes more sense, i.e. chipping out the block containing the moth rather than chipping out the moth itself ... I did wonder whether that was correct. Thanks for the recommendation re the book itself ... I've just about got room on my bookshelf!
I concur with your comment on the moon competing with the trap light. Last night, in a bright moon, I’d the trap out and all I had were two Common Quakers, a grey and a brown one. The night before I’d 10 of 7 species but the moon was behind the clouds.
It shows the difference of living in mild south wales. My 4 traps in February produced 62 moths of 13 species. 2025 was a lot lower (& a lot colder) but 2024 was above 70 in Feb. I love Common Quakers now, but they were a bit daunting my first year of mothing - sorting them out from others. So behind on reading substacks that realised I’ve commented just before your next post is due!!
Thanks Hilary - yes those are good totals for February! Although there are indeed geographical differences, it's probably more what the immediate environment is like that determines the catch size (plus the type of bulb). My garden is in a semi-urban area, but contacts not that far from here but in a less densely populated area get much bigger catches.
Yes I know what you mean about substack! I've decided to cut down a bit on the number that I've subscribed to. Yes the next Moth Report is due out in a few hours ... but only two moths and quite a bit about hedgehogs!
Wingless females? What do they look like?
If you go back to my earlier post about the Mottled Umber (link below), which also has a wingless female, there's a picture in that report. The Pale Brindled Beauty female is quite similar but not so strongly marked as the Mottled Umber.
https://dennischanter.substack.com/p/moth-report-37
PS Abebooks has numerous copies of 'Enjoying Moths' - starting at £30 and averaging about £40. It's such a brilliant book, with photos which led me to start trying to take 'naturalistic' photos of moths rather than 'egg-box' images, that I'd say it was well worth the money.
re Pale Brindled Beauty mentioned in 'Enjoying Moths' by Roy Leverton - here's the quote (from one of my favourite books) 'Moths that fly in the middle of winter must be able to withstand low temperatures. I once found a male P{ale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria that had nose-dived into a pool of meltwater. This had refrozen, and the moth was almost completely encased in ice 1.5 cm thick. Having chipped out the piece containing the moth, I took it home and thawed it out. As expected, the moth flew away at dusk that evening.'
Yes that makes more sense, i.e. chipping out the block containing the moth rather than chipping out the moth itself ... I did wonder whether that was correct. Thanks for the recommendation re the book itself ... I've just about got room on my bookshelf!
One in, one out on my shelves these days!
Just discovered I won £100 on the Premium Bonds this month, so I’ve even got some change left over!
I concur with your comment on the moon competing with the trap light. Last night, in a bright moon, I’d the trap out and all I had were two Common Quakers, a grey and a brown one. The night before I’d 10 of 7 species but the moon was behind the clouds.
Yes, pretty much the same as my catch from last night, with the full moon showing much of the night.