http://www.justsofestival.org.uk/moth-hotel/
The moth hotel itself was basically a big shed with a Robinson-style funnel trap attached to the roof, with a very bright light mounted above (I think probably a 250W MV bulb):
- The moth hotel at night
- Festival goers arriving in the morning
Trapping conditions seemed pretty good, but the wind was a bit of a problem; on both nights it blew directly through the curtains at either end of the trap, creating a bit of a wind tunnel effect. As a result, numbers of moths caught were quite a bit down on what might have been expected.
However, that didn't really matter - lots of people turned up at night to peer through the windows at the innards of the trap, and then came round in the morning to look at the catch and learn something about moths and moth trapping. They were queueing at the entrance, and everyone, including lots of kids, seemed pretty interested! The phrase "We've got to get a moth trap" was uttered more than once.
I snapped a few of the micros with my phone:
- Caloptilia alchimiella/robustella
- Hawthorn Moth
- Ypsolopha scabrella
- Unknown, pic 1 - flew off before I could take a proper photo!
- Unknown, pic 2 - same moth. Thought maybe another Ypsolopha, with those forward pointing antennae? Shape might not be right though.
- Unknown, pic 3 - same moth
20 Setaceous Hebrew Character
11 Large Yellow Underwing
10 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
4 Blastobasis adustella
3 Acrobasis advenella
3 September Thorn
3 Dun-bar
3 Agriphila tristella
3 Cydia splendana
2 Flame Shoulder
2 Shuttle-shaped Dart
2 Swallow Prominent
2 Dusky Thorn
2 Small Square-spot
2 Ypsolopha scabrella
1 Centre-barred Sallow
1 Copper Underwing agg
1 Common Rustic agg
1 Heart and Dart
1 Hawthorn Moth
Overall a very enjoyable experience - and the festival was great too!
Cheers
Paul