GMS News

Late Summer 2015

Weeks 19-27

Contents

Editorial Norman Lowe 1 Overview GMS 2015 3rd Quarter Evan Lynn 2 Jumping to conclusions!! David Baker 9 Crossword No. 7 Nonconformist 11 Tailpiece Norman Lowe 12 Communications & links 13 GMS sponsors 14

Editorial – Norman Lowe

First, congratulations to John Wilson who has written a brilliant article on our Garden Scheme results that has been peer-reviewed and published in a well-respected entomological journal, the Journal of Conservation. Entitled “Climate association with fluctuation in annual abundance of fifty widely distributed in England and Wales: a citizen-science study”, it is packed with information resulting from your records. Let me know if you’d like to read the article. (By the way, I’ve just heard from John that he’s already working on a follow-up article!).

And we can now give you outline information on the 2016 GMS Annual Conference which will be held at the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust Wolseley Centre on Sunday 13 March 2016. The Wolseley Centre is about 8 miles east of Stafford. Unfortunately since Mapmate, our Conference sponsor for many years, have had to pull out, we will have to make a small charge of £5 per head to cover our costs. More details later, but please put 13 March in your 2016 diaries now.

In this newsletter we have a particularly interesting report from Evan on how our moths are doing, this time comparing how the different parts of our area are doing, especially in relation to temperature variations, and also having a closer look at Large Yellow Underwing numbers. David Baker has confessed how easy it is to be confused by some of our more difficult and raises the question of how much to rely on the first impression of “jizz” and how much to move on to second thoughts. And “Nonconformist” has contributed another of his crosswords, which this time I was able to complete! I hope you find it all enjoyable.

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Overview GMS 2015 3rd Quarter – Evan Lynn

Having described some rather poor results in my two earlier quarterly reports this year I am now pleased to be able to indicate that moth numbers in this quarter appear to be showing some improvement (fig 1). Of the records received this year, 2015 appears to be similar to 2010 and 2013. Furthermore the total number of species has also increased (fig 2).

Figure 1: GMS 3rd Quarter 2010 – 2015 moths per garden

Moths 1200

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0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Moths Per Garden

Figure 2: GMS 3rd Quarter 2010 – 2015 total number of species

Species 390 380 370 360 350 340 330 320 310 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

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Despite the apparent increase in total moth numbers it has not been a steady quarter as the roller coaster ride in Figure 3 shows. After a promising start (week 19) there was a steady drop in moth numbers to week 22. Thereafter numbers show some recovery, peaking at week 25 with another slump towards the end of the quarter.

Figure 3: GMS 3rd Quarter 2015 – moth numbers per week

Moths 50000 45000 40000 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Weeks

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Perhaps one explanation for this may be the fluctuating minimum night-time temperature (fig 4).

Figure 4: GMS 3rd quarter total number of moths with mean night time temperatures

Moths 50000 16 Temperature (deg C) 45000 14 40000 12 35000 10 30000 Moths 25000 8 Temp 20000 6 15000 4 10000 2 5000

0 0 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Week

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In this respect it is interesting to look at the national maps of the minimum temperature for this quarter (fig 5).

Figure 5 UK mean minimum temperatures for July & August 2015 (with permission of the Meteorological Office)

The number of moths caught per garden in each region compared with the mean minimum temperature (MMT) is shown in figure 6. This has to be interpreted with caution because the regions with higher temperatures do not necessarily trap more moths. The catches vary because other forces may be at work, such as windy and clear moonlit nights. There have been some comments from recorders concerning the wind affecting their catches. Certainly this was a major factor for me when surveying moths in a local cemetery. Some of the traps had to be moved to more sheltered sites – an option that is not available for the GMS recorders who have to use the same site regardless of the weather conditions.

Figure 6 GMS 3rd quarter - number of moths per garden with MMT in each region

1500 15

1000 10

500 5

0 0 SC NE Y&H NW IRL EE EM WA WM SE SW Mean Temp°C

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The Channel Islands were not included with only one garden and no temperature data available.

Top 20 moths (mean/garden) for this quarter are shown in table 1. Interestingly only two macro species show a significant increase compared with 2014 – Common Rustic agg & Uncertain/Rustic agg. The three grass veneers all show an increase, possibly resulting from improved micro moth ID guides. Some species have shown big reductions including Heart and Dart, Flame Shoulder Light Brown Apple Moth and Brimstone Moth, all of which have declined by over 50%.

Table 1 3rd quarter GMS 2015 top 20 core species

2015 2014 Position Species Mean per trap Mean per trap % change 1 Large Yellow Underwing 163.7 155.5 5% 2 Common Rustic agg. 64.8 43.7 48% 3 Dark Arches 43.2 50.9 -15% 4 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 34.3 11.4 202% 5 Heart and Dart 34.2 91.9 -63% 6 Garden Grass-veneer 32.6 37.6 -13% 7 LB-b Yellow Underwing 31.3 29 8% 8 tristella 23.7 14.4 65% 9 Riband Wave 19.8 33 -40% 10 Common Footman 18.4 28.9 -36% 11 17.7 14.1 26% 12 Lesser Yellow Underwing 16.4 18.1 -9% 13 Square-spot Rustic 16.2 27.2 -40% 14 Flame Shoulder 14.5 33.5 -57% 15 Light Brown Apple Moth 14.2 35.5 -60% 16 Setaceous Hebrew Character 13.9 28 -50% 17 Mother of Pearl 13 13 0% 18 12.7 6 111% 19 Brimstone Moth 10.8 24.6 -56% 20 Willow Beauty 10 13.8 -28% Note 2015 - 298 gardens 2014 - 367 gardens

Large Yellow Underwing numbers were similar to last year’s and the profile for this species the last six years is given in Figure 7. After an initial decline from 2010 there has been a modest rise in numbers following the disastrous year of 2012.

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Figure 7 GMS 2010 -2015 Large Yellow Underwing Numbers

Moths 60000

50000

40000

30000

20000

10000

0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Large Yellow Underwing has occurred in all the regions to a greater or lesser degree. Figure 8 shows the mean numbers of this moth per region.

Figure 8 3rd quarter GMS Large Yellow Underwing mean numbers for all the regions

Regions SC NE Y&H NW IRL EE EM WA WM SE SW CI Mean 72 262 302 237 64 70 243 184 118 63 194 23

When you look at the top ten moths for the regions (table 2 below) the Large Yellow Underwing is number one for all except the Channel Islands where it does not feature. Its place has been taken by the Shuttle-shaped Dart which in other regions is ranked below number 20. In this table the numbers in brackets are the number of recorders.

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Table 2 GMS 3rd Quarter 2015 Comparison of the top 10 moths per region

Scotland (14) Mean North East (12) Mean North West (36) Mean Large Y Underwing 72 Large Y Underwing 262 Large Y Underwing 237 Dark Arches 58 Dark Arches 61 Dark Arches 71 True Lover's Knot 38 Common Rustic agg. 60 Common Rustic agg. 71 Common Rustic agg. 26 Lesser Y Underwing 31 Heart and Dart 31 Lesser Y Underwing 23 Heart and Dart 30 L B-b Y Underwing 30 L B-b Y Underwing 22 L B-b Y Underwing 28 Lesser Y Underwing 24 Dotted Clay 11 Smoky Wainscot 17 17 Agriphila tristella 10 Agriphila tristella 11 Garden Grass-veneer 15 Smoky Wainscot 9 Garden Grass-veneer 10 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 14 Antler Moth 7 Common Wainscot 10 Riband Wave 14 Yorks & Humber (13) Mean Ireland (23) Mean East England (26) Mean Large Y Underwing 302 Large Y Underwing 64 Large Y Underwing 70 Common Rustic agg. 83 Common Rustic agg. 57 Setaceous Hebrew Character 47 Agriphila straminella 54 Heart and Dart 34 Garden Grass-veneer 44 Dark Arches 44 L B-b Y Underwing 33 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 42 Heart and Dart 30 Dark Arches 29 Common Rustic agg. 35 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 29 Square-spot Rustic 23 Dark Arches 33 Lesser Y Underwing 28 Lesser Y Underwing 22 L B-b Y Underwing 29 Common Footman 25 Small Square-spot 16 Common Footman 26 Garden Grass-veneer 25 Agriphila tristella 14 Mother of Pearl 20 Square-spot Rustic 20 Smoky Wainscot 12 Agriphila straminella 18 East Midlands (31) Mean West Midlands (24) Mean Wales (39) Mean Large Y Underwing 243 Large Y Underwing 192 Large Y Underwing 113 Common Rustic agg. 84 Common Rustic agg. 52 Heart and Dart 50 Dark Arches 55 Heart and Dart 36 Dark Arches 32 Heart and Dart 38 L B-b Y Underwing 32 Common Rustic agg. 23 Garden Grass-veneer 35 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 31 Garden Grass-veneer 23 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 35 Garden Grass-veneer 26 Common Footman 20 Riband Wave 31 Agriphila straminella 24 L B-b Y Underwing 20 Agriphila tristella 28 Dark Arches 21 Flame Shoulder 19 L B-b Y Underwing 27 Agriphila tristella 20 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 18 Square-spot Rustic 25 Mother of Pearl 19 Dingy Footman 16 South East (44) Mean South West (35) Mean Channel Islands (1) Mean Large Y Underwing 126 Large Y Underwing 194 Shuttle-shaped Dart 135 Common Rustic agg. 101 Common Rustic agg. 88 Common Rustic agg. 84 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 83 Uncertain/Rustic agg. 49 L B-b Y Underwing 64 Garden Grass-veneer 70 Garden Grass-veneer 46 Buff Ermine 58 Riband Wave 52 Heart and Dart 42 Rush Veneer 47 L B-b Y Underwing 49 Agriphila tristella 38 Flounced Rustic 44 Dark Arches 48 L B-b Y Underwing 35 Rusty-dot Pearl 40 Agriphila geniculea 44 Dark Arches 32 Flame Shoulder 40 Lt Brown Apple Moth 43 Common Footman 31 Marbled Minor agg. 34 Agriphila tristella 42 Flame Shoulder 25 Least Carpet 34

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Finally, table 3 shows the minimum and maximum catches obtained by recorders in each region. Explanations for the wide variations in catch within a region can include the locality, type of trap, weather conditions, as well as missed trapping days.

Table 3 GMS 2015 minimum and maximum catches per region

Moths Caught per Region Mean % trapping days Recorder Min Max SC (14) 458 190 1252 91 NE(12) 761 157 3743 81 Y&H (13) 1072 235 3074 96 NW (36) 833 135 2730 94 IRL (36) 1114 59 2285 95 EE (26) 863 45 2422 95 EM (31) 1192 357 2363 94 WA (39) 402 99 1092 89 WM (24) 838 174 2053 94 SE (44) 354 65 895 94 SW (35) 1073 222 2486 94 CI (1) N/A N/A 2055 100

An example of this wide variation is shown in this histogram of catches per recorder in the South West region.

Figure 9 GMS 3rd quarter catches for each recorder in the South West region

3000 Moths

2500

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0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35

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Jumping to conclusions!! – David Baker

How many times do we make a snap decision over an identification without really having a good long thought. I was recently discussing with a friend the finding of a new species of moth which I recorded in Galloway, Scotland this summer. We were resting with our cups of Earl Grey when a Common Carpet, or possibly Silver Ground, fluttered amongst the heath- land grasses nearby, and perhaps if we had seen large numbers about it would have been ignored as “just another” one.

However, I followed it, cup in hand, and noticed from a safe distance that the “jizz” was wrong. Friend Colin quickly brought a net and we were rewarded with a new species which has few records back home in God’s Own County, excepting in the Pennines, Dales and Moors areas. The moth in question was an upland species, being a Small Argent and Sable. The chequered wing edges made all the difference.

In this year’s mid July period whilst occupied by the increasing numbers of Common Rustics and, possibly, Lesser Common Rustics (which we are now asked to log as aggregates) I spotted an unusual, for me, specimen. It turned out to be only my fourth sighting of a Clouded Brindle. The size should have left me in no doubt, but it shows the real need to inspect closely. I believe the images below show some variations of Common Rustic which have appeared in my traps.

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Variations of Common Rustics and Lesser Common Rustic (or agg. ????)

Clouded Brindle August query?

Another usurper turned up in August and after much head-scratching I had to turn to our County recorder for his verification, or not as the case often is. I suspected that I had a late, small Clouded Brindle but had, eventually, to agree that it was another variation of the dreaded Common Rustic.

Therefore, I am offering this short article about my shortcomings to the Editor with the hope that similar situations may have arisen during your moth trapping and which you could also write about.

Please use your winter break to put pen to paper, or fingers to laptops, and let’s hear from you. After all it is your newsletter! (Thanks, David – I agree absolutely – Ed)

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Crossword No 7 – Nonconformist

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12

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28 29 30

31 32 33

34 35 36

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Across 1 What to call my manservant, he's always missing? 6, 7

9 Vernacular name for one of 17a, but not Tom. 7

13 Ancient, but the moth is without a female follower 3

14 Bear with me, I'm sure it sounds as though they are here. 3

16 All this is clear to me, no familial problem here. 7

17 No wonder they are tortured and twisted with a carrot tied to them. 11

19 We often use a late I.D. to help us record some species. 6

20 Fine, but be careful handling this flimsy moth. 8

24 &33a This moth eats on a whim, kale being a regular selection. 4,4 A sly Inca had no problem in recording this family from 17a. 25 8 26 A stage of odonata life. 5

28 &3d. Not it's vernacular name but found when saying goodbye to friends at Cardiff. 7,8 30 Romany traveller using the Tardis, particularly nowadays. 6

31 When caught, is it usually in a UV lair or dead grass…. 6

33 See 24a. 34 Possibly extinct but could be living on the cusp Iris tells us. 6 37 See32d. 38 Not beautiful, dotted or silky, just so-so, like Jane. 5 39 A moth of the internet era? 3 40 Is it found in an ephemeral dayflier, a big or even ordinary one. 7

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41 Dull garden implements. Why! It's all Greek to me! 8 42 Garden moths which may well help each other on the food plant. 3

Down 1 I saw the three leaves before finding this moth. 7,6 2 Damp-loving moth found even after real derision by others. 5 3 See 28a. 4 French plough , can really puzzle us. 3 5 Find another alternative name for these pine lovers. 5 6 They sometimes take the pith and have a great rapport with Granny Smith. 4 7 Caught or bowled, no never! Absolutely the reverse. 2 8 In, out and specifically applicable to Juno et al. 2 10 Colloquial workman, not dull or dingy but, perhaps, dusty. 6 11 Generically, we have to go back in our fairy-tales to discover this grassland moth 5 12 Oh, those happy solo days before joining this family. 9 15 A woodland habitat to long for? 4 18 A moth of grasses wisely missing out but commonly sounding like 24a. 5 21 Salix lover, could be dusky or pale colour. 5 22 Could this be the one that's eatin' your vestments? 5 23 This could help me find my Denis's family. 8 26 Where? Perhaps borealis, winter, dismal or even Popeye may help. 8 27 Would English Kings have used this as a foodplant. 8 29 Although a moth of the moon, it may take a lease in other areas. 7 When Victor went to Roedean he found this very unusual assortment of 32 &37a. headgear. 6,7 34 The place where I keep my unusual dusty records. 5 35 Singular underwear describing several . 5 36 In turning this family had to wait about. 5 38 Did Lady Macbeth see this letter in 41a. 3

Tailpiece

You’ve been a bit quiet recently, apart from one of two regular stalwarts, so can I suggest that you think about sending me your thoughts, experiences or anything that you think might be interesting? Maybe you think that your experiences wouldn’t be sufficiently different from everyone else’s, but I can assure you that it’s good to know how things are going over the length and breadth of GMS-land. Or maybe you think your writing skills aren’t going to be good enough. This really isn’t a problem – if you want to send brief notes I can always titivate them up a bit. So do get in touch.

And I look forward to meeting up with as many of you as possible on March 13th.

Norman Lowe [email protected]

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Communications & Links.

Communications & Links. Garden Moth Scheme website: http://www.gardenmoths.org.uk/ For all your GMS contact information; download section for forms, instructions, newsletters and identification guides; links to UKMoths for individual GMS species.

Garden Moth Scheme Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/GardenMothScheme Over 600 ‘Likes’; shares general information on the GMS and other moth-related topics.

Garden Moth Scheme Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/438806469608527/ Currently 967 members (not all active GMS participants); the best place to post your messages and photos; files section containing forms, instructions, newsletters and identification guides.

Garden Moth Scheme Yahoo Group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Gardenmoths/info Members-only forum for discussion; files section containing forms, instructions, newsletters and identification guides.

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GMS Sponsors

For all your equipment requirements from moth traps and pots to nets – quality products at affordable prices. www.angleps.com Station Road, Hindolveston, Norfolk, NR20 5DE 01263 862068 [email protected]

Atropos, the journal for butterfly, moth and dragonfly enthusiasts. www.atropos.info Provides resources for moth recorders, including the online Flight Arrivals news page.

Mail order book service offers key titles for moth recorders at competitive prices: www.atroposbooks.co.uk

The Boat House, Church Cove, Lizard, Cornwall, TR12 7PH 01326 290287 [email protected]

MapMate is a biological recording system designed for enthusiasts to record, map, analyse and share their natural history sightings. It was originally developed for moth recording and has now expanded to include most of the UK fauna and flora. It is being used by some 20,000 individuals and institutions in the UK including very large groups like the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. www.mapmate.co.uk

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