Happy New Year all!
Same thread as before but a whole year of moth hunting ahead of us. You don't need lots of expensive equipement to set up light traps, a budget of around £20 should be enough, have a look on the old thread HERE or ask again, there is always (almost) someone who knows. Wendy is our surrogate mum & has a house & shed full of caterpillars & pupas & breeding adults!
The moths are still coming to feed on the rope in the garden. All you need is to dissolve 0,5Kg of sugar in 0,5 litres of wine, by gently heating up & stirring. Then pour the mixture into an old pan & put in a natural fibre rope or cord. (Don't put the ends in as it gets messy). Leave to soak a day & hang in the garden from a tree or bush or between posts. Then go back just after dark & see who's feeding. I tend to pop out about every half hour until bedtime. Then the fun starts as you try to get the camera settings right for the photos. The rope tends to work for about 3 days & then needs redipping during the day before the 4th night. Here are some "library pictures"
My rope is now a lot shorter as I only have 1 tree & just loop it from one low branch, it needs to be about 4ft from the ground. Here is one from 30 December, a Chestnut
Everone is welcome!
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
Superb start to first Moth trap this year .... this very spectacular Herald Moth ... never seen one before!!
Double striped Pug??
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
A wonderful start, Wendy!
Thank you Sandra ... then it all went downhill as the rains came!
Congrats on your first and impressive moth trap of the year Wendy, heralding good things to come lol
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Regards, Hazel
Clever aitch ... found this during my search for info on Moth & thought of you ... www.theguardian.com/.../country-diary-herald-moth-appearance-spring
oooh, Knutsford eh ? I better get myself moth trapping soon !
Getta move on! Lol
lol Wendy !!
Hi Wendy, great start to season & looks good for a Double-striped Pug. The Herald is very local for you as they are often seen in caves in winter by people hunting bats, so presumably you have a few caves & holes in the cliff around you.
Yes Hazy, get your lamps & sugar ropes out. I did a trap last night under the garden table & had 9 species, they are coming quite fast now.Will try & post some photos later.
Sorry Wendy, your post got lost on the forum!! I loved his writing style & as you say, very interesting. There are other stories on the same link but I haven't got around to reading them yet.
I had 2 traps last night as it was dryish & warmish!
At home I had 6 species including a rather worn "Gem"
& then went off to empty the other & found around 30 moths of 9 species. My favorite was the December Moth which was my reason for putting the trap in the woods
a Feathered Thorn
loads of Mottled Umber
a Brick
Red-line Quaker
& I'll put the rest on if this lot works. Fingers crossed!
Piece of cake !LOL Photos a bit big though.
Also had a Green Brindled Crescent
thats a better size 650-0
& a Sprawler
That's the best of them!