Evergestis limbata
Vestal
Clifden Nonpareil
Clifden Nonpareil
Trapping around Cothill Fen this week produced some nice moths including Clifden Nonpareil! Evergestis limbata was the rarest to turn up, and it was nice to see Vestal and other migrants #teammoth @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @bbowt.bsky.social @migrantmothuk.bsky.social
Wow songs like quite the night! We only had our first record in 2022- perhaps it won't be long until we see numbers like these
Morophaga choragella
Aethes rubigana– a very smart Tortrix
Blomer's Rivulet
Marbled White Spot!
A surprising moth came to my light on Friday– the rarely-seen monster Tineid, Morophaga choragella. It's only been seen once in Durham (1862). I was also surprised by the number of Marbled White Spot– all 4 previous county records are of singles, and I got 7! #teammoth #mothsmatter #ukwildlife
Fantastic Arto, well done!
Dichrorampha alpinana
Pammene regiana
Schreckensteinia festaliella
Ptylocoma lecheana
Four nice micros from an afternoon stroll around Wynyard Woodland Park (VC66) last week: Dichrorampha alpinana, Schreckensteinia festaliella, Pammene regiana, and a beautiful Ptylocoma lecheana. All new to me! #teammoth #ukwildlife
Thanks!
Thanks, very satisfying when you get the target species!
Thanks Arto!
Phtheochroa rugosana lateral view
Phtheochroa rugosana dorsal view
Delighted to have found Phtheochroa rugosana in Durham- the first modern adult record! An amazingly intricate moth, and a candidate for our rarest breeder due to the scarcity of White Bryony here. Keith Dover and I were following up on historic reports recently confirmed by larval records. #teammoth
The Durham Moths website has been updated with new data! We've had some interesting new arrivals to the county list over the last few months, including adding a new family of Lepidoptera thanks to the northward spread of Roeslerstammia erxlebella durhammoths.org #teammoth #mothsmatter
The Durham Moths website has been updated with new data! We've had some interesting new arrivals to the county list over the last few months, including adding a new family of Lepidoptera thanks to the northward spread of Roeslerstammia erxlebella durhammoths.org #teammoth #mothsmatter
Thanks Arto- absolutely, they must be out there!
Scarce Prominent
Yellow-barred Brindle
Coleophora pyrrhulipennella
Phylloporia bistrigella
A few mothing highlights from April around County Durham. Phylloporia bistrigella is rare in the county, and I was delighted to find one again. Coleophora pyrrhulipennella case was a chance find- a new site, the third county record, and the first in 35 years. #teammoth #ukwildlife #moth #insect
Well done, worth the wait I hope!
Many thanks for your kind comments!
Pine Beauty
Red Sword-grass
Semioscopis avellanella
Red Sword-grass
The last night of March brought some nice moths to my traps. Red Sword-grass was a long-awaited first for me, and I've only seen Pine Beauty and Semioscopis avellanella once before! Taken in County Durham (VC66) in forest on the edge of moorland. #teammoth #mothsmatter #ukwildlife
That's very kind of you, thank you!
Thanks!
Thanks Steve
Yellow Horned
Engrailed
Oak Beauty
Shoulder Stripe
The end of last week finally saw some warmer nights in Durham, so I headed out to a favourite local spot with two traps in tow. Nothing I wasn't expecting, but a decent haul nonetheless (115 moths/18 species), and Yellow Horned is one I look forward to every year. #teammoth #mothsmatter ##ukwildlife
It makes a real difference being out in good habitat– I'm lucky to get single figures in my garden at this time of year!
Spring Usher
Pale-brindled Beauty on my sheet
40 moths/5 species earlier this week in a local Birch woodland. Pale-brindled Beauty made up most of the numbers, though a lone Spring Usher was my favourite of the night. Durham, VC66. #teammoth #mothsmatter #ukwildlife
Green Silver-lines moth resting on a green leaf. Text overlay reads 'UK Moth Recorders' Meeting 2025' with Butterfly Conservation's logo.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our annual UK Moth Recorders' Meeting on Saturday
In case you missed it, all the brilliant talks from the day are now available to watch back on our YouTube channel! Grab a cuppa and catch up here 👉 youtube.com/watch?v=qLhn...
#UKMRM #MothsMatter
Well done Ed, done great work detailed here. Always love reading these!
A roundup of the mothing year at #Saltholme 2024 is online and available: community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisi... @teesbirds.bsky.social Highlights included 3 #VC66 firsts; Coleophora inulae, Elachista poae and best of all Dahlica triquetrella, found and id'd by scabz1.bsky.social #teammoth #ukmoths
Female Mottled Umber
Female Mottled Umber
I found the flightless female Mottled Umber climbing over my bag as I went to pack up- a first for me! I never realised how striking they are #teammoth
Mottled Umber male sitting on Birch
The frost finally broke in Durham this week, so I headed out to a local woodland with the LED light for a few hours. 23 moths of 5 species was better than expected- Mottled Umber did most of the heavy lifting numbers-wise. Finally, the first moth records of the year! #teammoth #ukwildlife
It was 23 that morning! There are some even bigger Rothamsted counts from VC66 too
In about a month or so Achlya flavicornis (Yellow Horned) will be on-the-wing and always a pleasure to see. This Dorset specimen posing nicely for me way back in 2007. #MothsMatter #TeamMoth
An early year favourite, but one that doesn't seem to wander too far up in Durham. I've only ever had one in the garden trap, meanwhile down the road in an ancient birch woodland...