[1773] Broken-barred Carpet (Electrophaes corylata)
Field Trip - Hexton Chalk Pit - 17/05/16
I was joined by Roger, Colin and Steve for a last minute trip on Tuesday night to Hexton Chalk Pit.
Hexton Chalk Pit sits in Hertfordshire but only just as it is bordered by Bedfordshire literally on both sides as the County border forks out.
The weather seemed pretty good, warm and muggy if a little windy at times and with a high of 18 degrees and a minimum expected of around 11, it should be good I was thinking.
Well, for starter's the wind didn't die down, it just got progressively worse as the evening went on , and at packing up time at 12.30am it was strong in places across the reserve.
We setup four traps at different heights and areas and left them to their own devices and then concentrated on the sheet that Colin had erected Bear Gryll's style using various bits of wood.
The light went on and we got Green Carpets, more Green Carpets, then Scoparia ambigualis and then Cockchafers by the bucketload!
Unfortunately it was so slow that we were really trying hard to keep the interest going, really unheard of out in the field at nearly the end of May...we usually run out of pots!
All in all we recorded 31 species of moth.
Catch Report - 17/05/16 -Hexton Chalk Pit - 2x 125w MV Robinson Traps 1x 160w MBT Robinson Trap and 1x 80w Actinic Suitcase Trap with a 125w Bulb and sheet.
Macro Moths
1x Common Swift
25+ Green Carpet
1x Waved umber
4x Brimstone Moth
4x Pale Tussock
3x Flame Shoulder
2x Purple Bar
2x Small Phoenix
2x Treble-lines
5x Yellow-barred Brindle
1x Angle Shades
15+ Red Twin-spot Carpet
3x Common Pug
2x Brindled Pug
2x Oak-tree Pug
3x White Ermine
1x Double-striped Pug
2x Shears
1x Common Quaker
1x Broken-barred Carpet
1x Common Carpet
1x Rustic Shoulder-knot
1x Small Waved Umber
1x Least Black Arches f.columbina
1x Common White Wave
1x Chinese Character
Micro Moths
3x Cochylis atricapitana
1x Parornix sp
25+ Scoparia ambigualis
1x Agonopterix pallorella
1x Endrosis sarcitrella
1x Elachista argentella
1x Monopis weaverella
2x Cochylimorpha straminea
1x Plutella xylostella