Apologies for very few posts but have been following the forum since I last posted.
Not been able to put the trap out very often and always seems after the event by the time i sort out the ID on my photos. I never seem to get the time to commit to sorting quickly . Only really been getting common stuff by many standards but plenty that have been new to me since my move from Rochdale.
I have now gone past the 100 species macro mark with half-a-dozen micro that I can ID. All are obviously new to the site for me but nice to see new ones.
Highlights of the new ones have been:-
Chinese Character, Little Emerald, Single-dotted Wave, Shoulder Stripe, Barred Straw, Blue-bordered Carpet, Broken-barred Carpet, Green Carpet, Brown Silver-lines, Scorched Wing, Bordered Beauty, Pale-brindled Beauty, Oak Beauty, Lime Hawk-moth, Alder Kitten, Pale Prominent, Lunar Marbled Brown, Chocolate-tip, Yellow Tail, Common Footman, Brown-line Bright-eye, Bird's Wing, Light Arches.
I may of course not be right about some of the ID's, and sometimes it is a best guess but have photos of most (but not all!) so would welcome any comments of dodgy sounding ones!
From a recording point of view, I keep a record of all species but not full counts as I'm only renting this property and will move on. I plan however to more than likely remain in the same 10K square permanently so aim to be a bit more detailed in the future.
I am in SJ 77 and use the Provisional Atlas of the UK's Larger Moths book to check my "dot" to see if it is locally scarce - can anybody say if this is a reasonably reliable way of checking or is there a better way?
I noticed that Chocolate-tip was scarce for here so just to try out posting photos i will post my ragged looking specimen and one I can't ID which I think may be Dingy Shears and hope someone can help!
I will try to post more often to keep the posts shorter!
Last edited by SteveCollins on Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Those of us who use the Mapmate recording package will have access to the most up to date records, otherwise the BC Moths Count maps at http://www.mothscount.org/text/8/maps.html are the most recent, as these are updated at least annually, although the Cheshire records have not been passed on to BC for a few years, so your Atlas should be as up to date as those on the web. I can’t think of anyone else who is currently trapping in SJ77.
The Cheshire Macro-moth checklist was updated last year and uploaded to the forum at http://www.record-lrc.co.uk/forum/viewt ... f=24&t=660. The letter 'P' next to a species indicates those which require photographs. Chocolate-tip did require a photo until last year. It no longer does as it has been spreading through the county for several years and is now being caught regularly at several sites. It’s always good to post anything new or unusual, as it removes any possible doubt and I would encourage everyone to do so. Your Chocolate-tip is new for SJ77 and the furthest it has travelled to the NE. It’s good to see that it’s still on the move , as I’m hoping it will eventually reach me in SJ98.
A quick look through your list and I reckon Bordered Beauty and Brown-line Bright-eye would both require photos before acceptance.
Your Dingy Shears is a Tawny Shears, which is new to SJ77 and the first confirmed county record for a number of years.
Many thanks for your extremely helpful response. Quite a welcome surprise with the Tawny Shears !
I do record on Mapmate but have to admit that's all I do and have yet to use it to its potential. Something for me to work on. I'll keep an eye on the maps for now and post unusual stuff at the time as you suggest. The Tawny Shears was this weekend but the Chocolate-tip, Bordered Beauty and Brown-line Bright-eye were all on the same night 10/08/2012 !!!
We've had second thoughts about the Tawny Shears and now believe it to be just a small Flounced Rustic. Unfortunately we can’t see the hindwings which are pure white on Flounced Rustic but looking at Tawny Shears it has arrow/dart marks on the outermost cross lines and the hairs/tufts appear different on the head/thorax area compared with Flounced Rustic. The jizz also seems different. I’ve uploaded a picture of a small specimen I caught in my garden in 2008 which appears similar to yours. All of which means that Tawny Shears continues to remain elusive in the county.
Thanks for uploading the other two pictures as it makes the validation process so much easier for us.
If you are willing to let us have your records for the county database at some stage, we should be able to let you have a copy of all the other records which have so far been input, which will enable you to see far more detailed maps than you can at present.
It did seem to lack something definite about it and I'd much rather have a nailed on certainty if a get a scarce one!
I'm more familiar with the more marked version of Flounced Rustic which I get but it does look closer to the first moth in Waring & Townsend and your photo. I didn't notice the white hindwing which I usually see on Founced Rustic but I wasn't looking for it - something to note for the future! I've deleted the Tawny Shears from my records.
Recent additions have been Mouse Moth and Orange Swift.
I'd be very happy to forward my records to date. As I said, I do record on Mapmate but have never synced files or used it to its potential. How do I send them to you and where to? Or, should I transfer them to an Excel file which I can send?
A very interesting ID problem (I'd thought it Tawny Shears too) .... the silvery/grey tracery lines running the length of the wing look peculiar for either species too by the way.
Contact me off forum at stevehind32@btinternet.com and I'll put you in touch with Glenn Rostron who runs the Mapmate Hub for Cheshire as I'm sure Glenn will guide you through the procedure.
I can't do any trapping for a week or so, therefore put the trap out last night despite poor weather. I did manage a Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago) new for the garden.
