Roughdown Common - Hemel Hempstead - Field Trip - 17/07/14

I was joined by David and Roger to Roughdown Common on a very favourable evening weatherwise.

We had hit 33 degrees earlier on and as we arrived at Roughdown to start setting up, it was still a heady 25 degrees at 9pm!

We did know of storms that were expected early morning, I thought we would be packed up and long gone before they turned up.

As the evening went on it got very breezy indeed and this did hamper the catch somewhat...luckily we were just packing up the last trap at 2am when a flash of lightning caught our attention coming in on a Southerly from London.

With traps all packed up it was a brisk walk back to the car...most of the gear was loaded and then the heavens opened.

The moths were represented by most species but in relatively low numbers for the time of year.

I was very very nice to see so many Dark Umbers, Brown Scallops and Maple Pugs.

Highlight of the night was a new micro for us all, Metalampra italica a possible accidental introduction in 2003 is responsible for this and all previous records as it was only known in the past from Italy!

Catch Report - 17/07/14 – Roughdown Common - Hemel Hempstead - 2x 125w MV Robinson Trap, 1x 40w Lucent Suitcase Trap, 1x 160w MBT Robinson Trap & 1x 80w Actinic Suitcase Trap.

96 Macros and 80 Micros (176 species)

Macro Moths

1x Beautiful Hook-tip 2x Black Arches 2x Bright-line Brown-eye 4x Brimstone Moth 1x Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 6x Brown Scallop 2x Brown-line Bright-eye 1x Brown-tail 2x Buff Arches 4x Buff Footman 3x Clay 3x Cloaked Minor 5x Clouded Border 1x Clouded Brindle 8x Clouded Silver 3x Common Carpet 2x Common Emerald 5x Common Rustic 2x Common White Wave 10x Coronet 8x Dark Arches 10x Dark Umber 2x Dingy shears 1x Dot Moth 4x Double Square-spot 1x Drinker 2x Dun-bar 1x Dusky Brocade 3x Early Thorn 2x Elephant Hawk-moth 1x Fan-foot 1x Fern 1x Flame 2x Flame Shoulder 2x Ghost Moth 2x Green Pug 1x Grey Dagger 4x Haworth's Pug 1x Heart & Club 4x Heart & Dart 4x July Highflyer 2x Large Yellow Underwing 2x Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1x Lesser Yellow Underwing 1x Light Arches 1x Light Emerald 1x Lime-speck Pug 2x Maple Prominent 10x Maple Pug 2x Marbled Minor 1x Miller 3x Mottled Beauty 2x Nut-tree Tussock 1x Pale Mottled Willow 1x Pale Prominent 2x Peach Blossom 1x Pebble Prominent 3x Peppered Moth 1x Phoenix 1x Pine Hawk-moth 1x Poplar Grey 1x Poplar Hawk-moth 3x Pretty Chalk Carpet 1x Purple Bar 2x Red Twin-spot Carpet 5x Riband Wave 4x Ruby Tiger 1x Rustic 2x Scalloped Oak 1x Scarce Footman 1x Scarce Silver-lines 1x Scorched Carpet 2x Shaded Broad-bar 2x Shuttle-shaped Dart 1x Single-dotted Wave 1x Six-spot Burnet 1x Slender Brindle 1x Small Angle Shades 2x Small Emerald 2x Small Fan-foot 10x Small Fan-footed Wave 4x Small Rivulet 2x Smoky Wainscot 2x Snout 2x Spectacle 5x Swallow-tailed Moth 1x Sycamore 1x Tawny Marbled Minor 1x Tawny Speckled Pug 6x Tree-lichen Beauty 3x Uncertain 1x Vapourer Moth 1x White-spotted Pug 1x Willow Beauty 1x Wormwood Pug 1x Yellow Shell

Micro Moths

1x Metalampra italica [NEW!] 6x Blastobasis laticolella 2x Blastobasis adustella 5x Pleuroptya ruralis 3x Agapeta hamana 10+ Agapeta zoegana 2x Coleophora sp 2x Cydia splendana 1x Agonopterix heracliana sp 1x Hypatima rhomboidella 2x Zeiraphera isertana 1x Parornix sp 2x Eudemis profundana 1x Argyrotaenia ljungiana 1x Eurrhypara hortulata 20+ Chrysoteuchia culmella 1x Agonopterix arenella 1x Pandemis cerasana 4x Pandemis heparana 1x Pandemis corylana 1x Homoeosoma sinuella 2x Hofmannophila pseudospretella 2x Phycita roborella 2x Celypha lacunana 1x Archips podana 1x Hedya nubiferana 7x Aleimma loeflingiana 2x Epinotia demarniana 3x Eudonia mercurella 12x Cnephasia sp 2x Coleophora sp 2x Ditula angustiorana 3x Dipleurina lacustrata 10+ Eucosma cana 3x Batia unitella 5x Acleris forsskaleana 2x Argyresthia albistria 20+ Eucosma hohenwartiana 1x Eucosma obumbratana 2x Aspilapteryx tringipennella 2x Bucculatrix nigricomella 1x Rhopobota naevana 1x Epiblema costipunctana 1x Teleiodes vulgella 2x Carcina quercana 1x Pterophorus pentadactyla 4x Catoptria falsella 1x Oncocera semirubella 2x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 5x Endotricha flammealis 1x Stigmella sp 3x Ancylis badiana 4x Yponomeuta evonymella 1x Phlyctaenia coronata 2x Limnaecia phragmitella 2x Syncopacma sp 2x Plutella xylostella 1x Gypsonoma dealbana 2x Spilonota ocellana 1x Agriphila straminella 2x Crambus perlella 2x Dichomeris marginella 2x Eucosma campoliliana 10x Aethes rubigana 1x Aethes cnicana 2x Batia lunaris 2x Udea prunalis 2x Clepsis consimilana 1x Pammene fasciana 1x Epinotia nisella 2x Acentria ephemerella 1x Recurvaria leucatella 2x Catoptria pinella 2 Epiblema uddmmaniana 1 Cochylimorpha straminea 1x Eudonia pallida 2x Archips xylosteana 10+ Celypha striana 5x Scoparia ambigualis