Tuesday 19 April 2011

Better late than never...

In summer 2009 I had 15 caterpillars of the Mullein on some verbascum plants self set on our drive. See here. At the time these were the 2nd - 16th records for Northumberland. Only one adult had ever been caught. In 2010 I was keen to see if I would trap one, and checked eagerly each morning to see if the Mullein Shark had appeared, but it never did.

Until today.



This pristine Mullein was waiting for me this morning, not in the trap, but perched on the cable! Best catch of the year by a mile and it will take a lot of beating....

And for the rest...

Cool 5 degrees and clear last night. Must have come in misty in the early hours.

Taxa
1398 Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella) 1 NFY
1750 Water Carpet (Lampropteryx suffumata) 2
2158 Pale-shouldered Brocade (Lacanobia thalassina) 1 NFY
2186 Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) 9
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 4
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 11
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 40
2221 Mullein (Shargacucullia verbasci) 1 NEW ADULT

Total 67 moths of 7 species.

Pale shouldered Brocade seems very early and the Rush Veneer? I usually get them in the autumn...

Rush Veneer

Pale shouldered Brocade
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3 comments:

  1. Skev19 April 2011 at 22:01

    Nice one. Another Mullein here is long overdue (had it 3 consecutive years 2000-2002, and 2 in 2005, but none since).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stewart19 April 2011 at 22:57

    A superb moth, and a real mega this far north....it makes me wonder just what else is around the corner..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous20 April 2011 at 05:27

    Yeah, nice one Stewart. I`ve only ever seen them as adults when i`ve reared them through. Will have to see if i can find some cats, this year.

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