As usual, September saw a sharp drop in moth numbers and species variety, following the peak period of July and August. But September and October hold the promise of quality rather than quantity, with some very attractive autumnal species on the wing, plus an increased likelihood of scarce vagrants, and this September didn’t disappoint.
Our four moth mornings in the month produced totals of between 30 and 55 species for people to see, with moths from our own traps including Dark Spectacle, Sallow, Pink-barred Sallow and Brindled Green.
Dark Spectacle Photo Credit: John Geeson
Pink-barred Sallow Photo Credit :john Geeson
Our regular visitors also brought in some interesting moths from elsewhere in the county: these included Breckland Plume, Convolvulus Hawk-moth, Clancy’s Rustic and the beautiful Merveille du Jour, which really does live up to its rather pretentious French name! They also included, on two separate mornings, the stunning Clifden Nonpareil – the fabled “Blue Underwing”, which was the holy grail for Victorian collectors back in the day; it was vanishingly rare then but is now beginning to colonize Norfolk and other parts of England, although it’s still by no means common.
Merveille du Jour Photo Credit: John Geeson
Last but not least, on 25 September we were able to show visitors a new species, not just for Norfolk but for Britain: this was the micro-moth Phycitodes lacteella (belonging to the Knot-horn family), which had been trapped in the Broads a couple of nights earlier. So, we’ll see if October can follow that…