Monmouthshire Moth & Butterfly Group
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MONMOUTHSHIRE MOTH & BUTTERFLY GROUP NEWSLETTER No 101 May 2014. A monthly newsletter covering Gwent and Monmouthshire Vice County 35 Editor: Martin Anthoney Areas In Gwent To Target For Lepidoptera Recording This is a summary of the talk I gave to the MMBG meeting at Usk in March. I use macromoths as an example, but butterfly recording follows a similar pattern. Gwent Recording Area (pale blue) Gwent Sites For Which Moth Records Exist In the right-hand diagram, each cross represents a site where moths have been recorded, but without comparing the number of records in each case. After taking the number of records per site into consideration, I would suggest the following areas would benefit most from targeted recording of both moths and butterflies. West Gwent The western boundary of VC35 largely follows the course of the River Rhymney. In the south-west corner, this means the tip of Cardiff comes into VC35, with potentially interesting sites such as St Mellons and Hendre Lake Park short on records. Moving north, old “Glamorgan” areas to the north-east of Caerphilly also come into VC35. This includes such as Bedwas and Trethomas. Further north, New Tredegar, parts of Bargoed and Rhymney lie east 1 of the River Rhymney and there has been little recording. Similarly for the Hollybush and Markham areas in the next valley to the east. North Gwent By far the worst recorded part of Gwent is the north, probably due to a combination of low population in rural areas leading to fewer recorders and problems with accessibility for some upland areas. In recent years, a lot of effort has gone into recording some of the older coal mining and industrial areas in the north west, with significant coverage achieved and many interesting sites found. There still remain areas around Tredegar and Ebbw Vale which are under-recorded and potentially interesting for Lepidoptera. Because of limited road access, many of the better known montane areas such as the Sugar Loaf and the Blorenge are poorly recorded, with most recording centred on well-known tourist sites. The “chimney” of Gwent, east of the Grwynne Fawr river, but including the Llanthony Valley and the Hatterrall Ridge on the border with Herefordshire, have also received few visits from lepidopterists over the years. Records from the very northern tip of Gwent, the small portion of SO23 falling in the county, can be counted on the fingers of one hand! As the discovery of a Silurian moth colony on Hatterrall Ridge in 2011 shows, there could be important finds still to be made by those willing and able to make the effort to reach isolated sites. The north east of Gwent, around towns such as Skenfrith and Grosmont, is also poorly recorded. A largely rural area with low population, but readily accessible by road, the main reason is probably the preponderance of farmland, with limited range of habitats and sites suitable for public access, walking etc. Anyone with access opportunities to record Lepidoptera on farms in the area could make a valuable contribution to filling some of the gaps. East Gwent The rivers Wye and Monnow form the eastern boundary for much of the county. Whilst the Wye Valley woodlands are a favourite haunt for lepidopterists, most attention is centred on the well-known “honeypots” such as Wyndcliff. There are some less accessible sites right on the riverside, such as Piercefield Park and the Livox Estate which could richly reward investigation. Even the large expanse of Chepstow Park Wood tends to produce records concentrated around car parking sites. To the north, the part of the Forest of Dean which comes into Gwent to the north east of Monmouth comprises a large area of interesting, mixed woodland, but problems of accessibility have limited the number of recent records received. Anyone willing to put in the effort to visit Ladypark Wood, Reddings Inclosure or High Meadows could add significantly to our knowledge. Slightly to the west, the Trellech Ridge, Angidy Valley and up to the Llandogo area contain such a mosaic of woodlands, meadows, slopes and gulleys with so many tucked-away interesting little sites as to keep us busy for years! South Gwent The large population in and around Newport ensures that the coastal belt and the Gwent Levels receive a lot of attention. The only advice is that the further away you get from Newport, the less well-recorded a coastal site is likely to be. Martin Anthoney 2 Recent Highlights May was an up and down month, with short warm spells interspersed with cooler easterly winds and often linked by spells of heavy rain or showers. Basking in warm sunshine one day, soaked to the skin the next day – typical British weather? It was very much a case of grab the opportunity when it arose for both butterflies and moths. In general, species appeared about three weeks earlier than last year. 2nd May Mullein moth to light at Abergavenny. (Mike Hoult and Val Deisler) 3rd May Cypress Carpet and Puss Moth to light at Chepstow (Nick Felstead) Lime Hawk at Melbourne Way, Newport (Roger James) Marbled Brown to light at the Cwm. A new site. (Martin Anthoney and Roger James) 4th May Buttoned Snout to light at Rogerstone. (Arthur Pitcher) Great Prominent at Llandogo (Gail Reynolds) 5th May Netted Pug to light at Undy. Only the seventh county record. (Keith Jones) Little Thorn at Bishton. A new site. (Martin Anthoney, Roger James and Arthur Pitcher) Netted Pug (Keith Jones) 6th May On a wet night, Marbled Brown at the MMBG event at Pontypool Park. A new site. (MMBG) 3 Dingy Skipper (rising to 47 by 16th May) and Fox Moth at Cwm Du, the Blorenge (Nick Felstead) Orange Footman at Risca. This pretty moth continues to increase across the county. (Martin Anthoney) 8th May Grass Rivulet at Penallt (Stephanie Tyler) 3 9th May Red Sword-grass to light at Rassau. (Rodney Morris) Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak at Blackrock Quarry, Clydach (Martin Anthoney and Roger James) Grizzled Skipper at the known Caerwent Quarry site. (Nick Felstead) 14th May Alder Kitten to light at Blackwood. This species has had an excellent season, with the highest ever number of records in a single year. (Kevin Hewitt) Small Yellow Underwing at Penallt – a new site record. (Ian Rabjohns) 14th -16th May 12 Dingy Skipper and 30 Grizzled Skipper butterflies counted at MoD Caerwent, together with 49 moths of the UK Priority species, Drab Looper. (Martin Anthoney and Roger James) 15th May 81 Drab Looper at Llanmelin Hill Fort. Adjacent to MoD Caerwent, the combined count for both sites makes this the largest Welsh colony of this rare moth. Also a single Grizzled Skipper. (Martin Anthoney and Roger James) 6 Drab Looper, a Mocha and the micro Eucosma aspidiscana during the day at Slade Wood and Small Yellow Underwing at the adjacent Minnetts Field reserve. 3 Drab Looper at Limekiln Wood, Hendre Wood, and at St Pierre’s Great Wood, Chepstow, 4 Drab Looper and a single of the tiny plume Adaina microdactyla. (George Tordoff) 15th May Burnet Companion flying at Blaenserchan (Rupert Perkins), Minnetts Field (George Tordoff) and MoD Caerwent (Martin Anthoney and Roger James). Another species which is having a very good season. 16th May Beautiful Yellow Underwing and Mother Shipton at Cwm Du, the Blorenge (Nick Felstead) Dog’s Tooth to light at St Brides (Diana Westmoreland and John Morgan) Sharp-angled Carpet at Penallt (Stephanie Tyler) 17th May 121 Grass Rivulet counted flying above New Grove Meadows, Trellech. Eyed Hawk at Chepstow (Nick Felstead) Brown Argus butterfly at Rogiet Country Park. (Steve Williams) 14 Dingy Skipper and 3 Green Hairstreak at Tirpentwys LNR, Pontypool. (Richard Clarke) The first Marsh Fritillaries seen at Aberbargoed Grasslands, rising to a count of 407 by 21st May. (Mark Allen) 18th May Obscure Wainscot and Silky Wainscot at Newport Wetlands Reserve (Kevin Dupé) Wall Brown butterfly at New Tredegar (Nick Felstead) At a disused limestone quarry near to Freehold Wood, Abersychan, were two Dingy Skipper. (Steve Williams) 19th May Grizzled Skipper at Livox Quarry near Chepstow. A new site. (Nick Felstead) Elephant Hawk, Campion and Coronet moths to light at Newport Wetlands Reserve (Kevin Dupé) Another Coronet to light at Blackwood. (Kevin Hewitt) 4 Small Eggar web - Note the strong construction and characteristic shape of the web 20th May One Small Eggar larval web on Newport Wetlands Reserve. Despite a search of the area around and within the Wetlands Reserve, Kevin failed to find any other webs – the worst result for many years. It would help if people could look for the distinctive web built on hawthorn or blackthorn bushes on the Gwent levels in the next few weeks (see picture above). (Kevin Dupé) 21st May 5 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Aberbargoed Grasslands (Mark Allen) 25th May Alder Moth and Cypress Carpet among 34 macro species at Melbourne Close, Newport (Roger James) 27th May Dark Brocade to light at Rassau. (Rodney Morris) Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Cwm Merddog (Tom Eyles) 31st May Two new Little Thorn sites at Penallt; (Ian Rabjohns) and at Park Wood, Bassaleg. (Richard Clarke) Dates for your Diary 2014 Saturday 14th June Go Wild Show, this year at Parc Bryn Bach, Tredegar, 10am -3pm. South Wales’ biggest wildlife event, a good day out for the family. Friday 4th July National Moth Night. Courtesy of the MoD DTE(Wales & West), a light trapping event will be held at the Caerwent Training Area. Meet at 9.30pm at the West Gate entrance to the site, off the A48 at ST466909. For further details contact Martin Anthoney: (01633612272 or [email protected]).