A belated field trip post from mid-July, apologies for not being in season! Here's my 'harking back' post for the day.

Ensue wall of text....

A fantastic night was had at my local chalk quarry just 15 minutes up the road from me.

The relative remotness and ease of access keep me going back here, and of the 11 trips i've done here over 2 years now i've always come away with at least one new moth for me, that's a blooming good statistic and surely testament to the incredible habitat there.

It is a very unusual location, miles from any substantial woodland, just arable fields as far as the eye can see, it is also fairly elevated which is probably why I do very well for migrants here.

4 traps were set up around the reserve and switched on just in time as the light faded under increasing cloud, it was very balmy indeed but very gusty and traps were positioned out of the wind apart from one which over-looked the breeze coming from the south, hoping to intercept a migrant or two...

Below where the best species of the night.

Dewick's Plusia was very welcome moth, and my second record this year (After finding a wing in the garden). I believe this is now the 5th record for Herts this year? (At time of going to press!) 1 in Royston (Unknown captor), 1 in my garden, 2 in Andrew Wood's garden over the past week.

Coleophora conspicuella, 2nd County record for Herts (After the first two nights before in my garden), a rare coastal Coleophora, both probably blown in on the wind and unexpected.

Agriphila selasella, not a common moth in Herts, but it's had a very good year with lots of people adding it to their garden list for the first time (Including mine with a garden first on the 03rd of August).

Cnephasia longana, likes open waste/grassland. My only other records are from my parents farmland, not common for me.

Pediasia contaminella, another good record of an uncommon grass moth.

Plain Pug, my first Herts record of this large distinctive Pug.

Sorhagenia rhamniella, a first for me and the 5th record for Herts.

Elachista sp, probably bisulcella... rare in Herts, dissection pending but looks good. A first for me.

Nymphula nitidulata, the Beautiful China-mark, a first for me again and what a stunning little moth, my photo desn't do it justice!

BIG thanks to Graeme Smith for providing the dissections.

Below is the full list.

94 Macro and 85 Micro species recorded.

Catch Report - 16/07/18 - Ashwell Quarry - 1x 250w Frosted MV Robinson Trap, 2x 125w MV Robinson Trap, 1x twin 20w Wemite Actinic

Macro Moths

Blood-vein Bright-line Brown-eye Brimstone Moth Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing Brown Scallop Brown-line Bright-eye Brown-tail Buff Arches Buff Ermine Buff Footman Buff-tip Campion Chinese Character Clay Cloaked Minor Clouded Silver Common Carpet Common Emerald Common Footman Common Rustic Common Wainscot Coxcomb Prominent Dark Arches Dark Umber Dewick's Plusia Dingy Footman Double Square-spot Double-striped Pug Drinker Dun-bar Dusky Sallow Dwarf Cream Wave Early Thorn Elephant Hawk-moth Fan Foot Fen Wainscot Fern Flame Flame Shoulder Ghost Moth Grey Dagger Haworth's Pug Heart & Club Heart & Dart Knot Grass Large Twin-spot Carpet Large Yellow Underwing Latticed Heath Least Carpet Least Yellow Underwing Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing Lesser Common Rustic - Gen Det (Male) Lesser Yellow Underwing Lesser-spotted Pinion Light Arches Lime-speck Pug Lunar-spotted Pinion Lychnis Mouse Moth Nutmeg Pebble Hook-tip Pebble Prominent Peppered Moth Pine Hawk-moth Plain Pug Poplar Hawk-moth Red Twin-spot Carpet Riband Wave Ruby Tiger Scalloped Oak Scarce Footman Scorched Carpet Scorched Wing Setaceous Hebrew Character Shaded Broad-bar Silver-Y Single-dotted Wave Slender Pug Small Blood-vein Small Emerald Small Fan-footed Wave Small Scallop Smoky Wainscot Snout Southern Wainscot Spectacle Straw Dot Tree-lichen Beauty Turnip Moth Uncertain V-Pug Willow Beauty Wormwood Pug Yellow-tail

Micro Moths

Acentria ephemerella Acleris aspersana Acleris forsskaleana Acleris variegana Acompsia cinerella Acrobasis advenella Aethes rubigana Agapeta hamana Agapeta zoegana Agonopterix alstromeriana Agonopterix heracliana Agriphila selasella Agriphila straminella Anania coronata Anania hortulata Anarsia innoxiella Ancylis achatana Aproaerema anthyllidella Archips podana Archips xylosteana Argyresthia albistria Argyresthia goedartella Argyresthia pruniella Aspilapteryx tringipennella Batia lunaris blaatibasis adustella Blastobasis lacticolella Blastodacna hellerella Borkhausenia fuscescens Brachmia blandella Cameraria ohridella Carcina quercana Celypha rosaceana Celypha striana Chilo phragmitella Chrysoteuchia culmella Coleophora conspicuella Clepsis consimiliana Cnephasia longana Cnephasia sp Cochylimorpha straminea Cochylis atricapitana Crambus perlella Crassa unitella Ditula angustiorana Elachista bisulcella to be checked Endotricha flammealis Endrosis sarcitrella Epinotia foenella Eucosma hohenwartiana Eucosma obumbratana Eucsoma cana Eudonia lacustrata Eudonia mercurella Eudonia pallida Eulamprotes atrella Euzophera pinguis Galleria mellonella helycystogramma rufescens Hofmannophila pseudospretella Hypsopygia costalis Hypsopygia glaucinalis Lathronympha strigana Metzneria metzneriella Mompha ochraceella Monopis crocapitella Monopis laevigella Nemapogon cloacella Nymphula nitidulata Oegoconia sp Ostrinia nubilalis Pammene fasciana Pammene fasciana Pandemis heparana Paraswammerdamia albicapitella Parornix sp Pediasia contaminella Phtheochroa inopiana Phyllonorycter leucographella Pleuroptya ruralis Plutella xylostella Prays fraxinella Pseudargyrotoza conwagana Pyrausta aurata Recurvaria nanella Scrobipalpa costella Sorhagenia rhamniella Spilonota ocellana Stenoptilia pterodactyla Syncopacma sp Teleiodes vulgella Tinea semifulvella Udea prunalis Yponomeuta evonymella Yponomeuta sp