(0652) Alabonia geoffrella - Flickr - Bennyboymothman

Description:

David, Roger, Steve and myself tried a session trapping on the Westbrook Hay site consisting of unimproved grassland and surrounding ancient woodland. We parked up and intended to run a few traps from the Old Barn electrics and then walk with a few traps and the genny to somewhere towards Ramacre Wood, overlooking Hay Wood as well.
Unfortunately the electric sockets in the Old Barn did not work (although strangely all the lights did) so after setting up two traps and laying 100 metres of cable to find they wouldn't work, we had to pack it all up and go to plan B, take all but one of the traps with us alongside the bridlepath leading to Ramacre Wood. This part of Westbrook Hay has been previously untrapped, unfortunately it was very humid (good for moths) and we were plagued by Horse-flies, well I was! One got the tip of my index finger but I got off lightly luckily. Not to be put off anymore, as soon as I pulled the cord on the generator the wind got up! You couldn't make it up! Luckily the wind was on and off, but when it was on it was blowing quite considerably. I thought we should put a trap on the bridlepath shielded from the wind, and this trap did pretty well indeed.
All in all a great trip marred by a few niggles, you can't have it all I suppose.
The catch was mainly made up of Middle-barred Minor, Straw Dot, Tortrix viridana, Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, Aleimma loeflingiana and Chrysoteuchia culmella.
Highlights were Green Arches, White-point, Phlyctaenia perlucidalis, Alabonia geoffrella and Archips crataegana. Stenoptilia pterodactyla was potted up in my car, it must have still been in one of the traps as we were loading them in. Identified by its white costal streak.
Catch Report - 20/06/14 - Westbrook Hay - Hemel Hempstead - 2x 125w MV Robinson Trap, 1x 40w Lucent Suitcase Trap & 1x 80w Actinic Suitcase Trap. 59 Macros and 49 Micros ( 108 species) Macro Moths 2x Beautiful Hook-tip 5x Brimstone Moth 2x Buff Ermine 2x Buff Footman 1x Burnished Brass 2x Clouded Border 30+ Clouded Silver 1x Common Marbled Carpet 1x Common Swift 2x Common Wainscot 1x Common White Wave 1x Coronet 8x Dark Arches 2x Double Square-spot 1x Drinker 2x Engrailed 5x Fan-foot 2x Flame 3x Flame Shoulder 1x Foxglove Pug 2x Garden Carpet 2x Ghost Moth 1x Green Arches 4x Green Silver-lines 4x Grey Pug 3x Heart & Club 12x Heart & Dart 2x Ingrailed Clay 1x Large Nutmeg 1x Large Twin-spot Carpet 5x Large Yellow Underwing 2x Light Arches 1x Light Brocade 4x Light Emerald 1x Lobster Moth 1x Maiden's Blush 5x Marbled Minor 2x Marbled White Spot 20x Middle-barred Minor 7x Mottled Beauty 4x Mottled Rustic 3x Peach Blossom 2x Peppered Moth 5x Riband Wave 1x Scorched Wing 2x Setaceous Hebrew Character 1x Shears 4x Shoulder-striped Wainscot 1x Silver-ground Carpet 1x Small Clouded Brindle 5x Small Square-spot 2x Snout 20+ Straw Dot 2x Treble Brown Spot 8x Uncertain 3x White Ermine 1x White-point 1x Willow Beauty 3x Yellow Shell Micro Moths 1x Alabonia geoffrella [NEW!] 1x Blastobasis laticolella 1x Zeiraphera isertana 1x Swammerdamia pyrella 1x Bryotropha terrella 1x Parachronistis albiceps 8x Epinotia abbreviana 1x Ancylis achatana 2x Eucosma hohenwartiana 1x Agonopterix arenella 7x Aphomia sociella 20+ Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 1x Eurrhypara hortulata 1x Hofmannophila pseudospretella 20+ Tortrix viridana 50+ Chrysoteuchia culmella 10x Pabdemis cerasana 5x Pandemis heparana 4x Celypha lacunana 2x Archips podana 1x Archips crataegana 2x Hedya pruniana 10x Hedya nubiferana 2x Clepsis consimilana 1x Acentria ephemerella 2x Argyresthia albistria 1x Argyresthia conjugella 2 Eudonia mercurella 15+ Aleimma loeflingiana 1x Phycita roborella 2x Cnephasia sp 1x Scrobipalpa acuminatella 1x Ditula angustiorana 1x Phlyctaenia perlucidalis 1x Homoeosoma sinuella 1x Orthopygia glaucinalis 2x Crambus perlella 5x Udea olivalis 1x Udea prunalis 1x Lozotaenia forsterana 12x Archips xylosteana 2x Celypha striana 2x Crambus lathoniellus 2x Scoparia ambigualis 2x Anthophila fabriciana 1x Elachista argentella 1x Teleiodes luculella 1x Emmetia marginea 1x Stenoptilia pterodactyla