More moths and a fat diving beetle from mum's garden.

#Entomology #Insects #Lepidoptera #Mothing #MothsMatter #Pollinators #MothsAndButterflies

A visit to my mum's place always means lots of work, but it's also a good opportunity to look for insects. This time I brought the LepiLED. There was a surprisingly good turnout in the moth trap this morning.

#Entomology #Insects #Lepidoptera #Mothing #MothsMatter #Pollinators #MothsAndButterflies

Not really much happening on the #mothing front at the moment. There are a few species around, but I only seem to be attracting Common Quakers and Hebrew Characters ... and nothing else.

This Hebrew Character -- so called because its stigmata resembles the Hebrew Character Nun (נ) -- was a compliant little poseur this morning though.

#moths #MothsMatter #mothsandbutterflies #lepidoptera #entomology #nature #wildlife #winter #spring #insect #conservation #biodiversity #alttext

First moth of the year and it's one I haven't seen before.

Tortricodes alternella Martsvikler
Spring Harbinger/Winter Shade

Now I am keen as mustard to go mothing again. I'll probably start digging out the gear tomorrow, and then hope for a night without downpour.

#Entomology #Insects #Lepidoptera #Mothing #MothsMatter #Pollinators #MothsAndButterflies

#MothOfTheDay is

MOTTLED UMBER
Erannis defoliaria

A rather plain and drab specimen, but when mothing in November, beggars can't be choosers. Not many about now, so lucky if there are 5 in the box come morning and the nights have either been clear and cold, or wet and windy recently, neither of which help. Calm, cloudy, mild is what we need.

#mothing #MothsMatter #lepidoptera #nature #wildlife #insect #naturalworld #november #garden #pollinators #conservation #alttext #brown

It has been a miserable season for mothing again. Last year, I excused it with a wet spring, the year before that a cold summer. This year, none of those excuses are valid. I am not catching anywhere near the same number of species as I did years ago. Despite upgrading my gear. I tested against my garden where I first started out mothing, and also set up the old trap to compare, and it's bad news. Fewer moths overall and drastically fewer species. Some moths that were common as dirt when I started out are showing up in smaller numbers or missing altogether. I did catch some awesome lifers, which is a nice consolation prize, but this season has me feeling sombre and despondent.

#Entomology #Insects #Lepidoptera #Mothing #MothsMatter #Pollinators #MothsAndButterflies #iNaturalist #Wildlife #Nature #Conservation

It has been a busy, busy year. And the best month of mothing has just started.
I have been haunting a local nature preserve called Kær Vestermark. I used to call it the grass desert, because it was close to a larger city, and the conservation efforts seemed to mostly be about conserving a nice area with cut lawns for dogwalkers and pedestrians. It has changed for the better in recent years, with cattle grazing and new ponds for amphibians.
The decline in moth numbers is concerning, though. I catch smaller numbers than I did four years ago, despite upgrading both gear and location. Last year I chalked it up to a wet spring, the year before that, a cold summer. This year....it's depressing.
I find species I haven't seen before, that is awesome, but some species, that used to be common as dirt, are showing up in smaller numbers or missing entirely.

#Entomology #Insects #Lepidoptera #Mothing #MothsMatter #Pollinators #MothsAndButterflies #WildlifePhotography #iNaturalist #Wildlife #Nature