SussexSussex MothMoth GroupGroup NewsletterNewsletter November 2015
Main features inside this issue: Ringing the Changes by David Burrows 2
A New Ac on Plan for Moths by Steve Wheatley 3
The Force Awakens by Colin Piper 5
Thoughts on Becoming a Moth‐er at 70+ by Pat Brothwell 7
So, What’s New in 2015? by Robin Harris 9
Some Sussex Mothing Highlights for 2015 11
Deadwood Habitat by Heather Mar n 16
A Vec s Ramble by John Maskell 18
Finding Orange Olive Crescents by Steve Wheatley 20 Commi ee members and 2016 indoor mee ng dates Back page Chairman’s Corner
Although winter is fast approaching it s ll feels like early autumn as I write this in mid‐ November, with overnight temperatures hovering around 13oC in recent nights. We have had another year of unusual weather in Sussex which now seems to be becoming the norm, and this is undoubtedly having an effect on the county’s moths as well as the flora that most spe‐ cies feed on as larva. This autumn many leaf mines appeared to be in rather short supply, which could be related to the bad weather condi ons in the first genera on’s flight season earlier in the year. With the changing climate the records from regular garden moth trapping are invaluable for providing the phenology data that can map some of these changes.
The lepidopteral highlights of 2015 were perhaps the breeding Long‐tailed Blue and overwin‐ tering Scarce Tortoiseshell bu erflies – however, for moths, it was not a par cularly notable season. Although a sma ering of migrants were recorded across the county there were no long periods of sustained immigra on during the year, and I don’t remember any traps heav‐ ing with large numbers of moths. On a posi ve note, however, Colin did confirm at least ten species as con nuing to colonise the county.
On the subject of colonisers, this autumn Pen and I finally caught our first Clifden Nonpareil; a species that has been top of our moth ‘wish list’ for a long me. The moth was as beau ful as we had hoped for and it was a delight to watch it feeding at sugar when we released it the following evening.
Although catching unusual immigrant moths can be very exci ng, there is something extra special about a visit from a rare resident or coloniser – par cularly when they have a blue hindwing! Dave Green Clifden Nonpareil
11 Ringing the Changes by David Burrows
Early July 2015 will be remembered for some record breaking warmth, with temper‐ atures on the first of the month reaching the high 30’s cen grade. My regular trap site from late April to early November is in my daughter’s garden in the Brede Valley, about five and a half miles inland from the coast at Has ngs, East Sussex. On the morning of 4th July, a er a night with an overnight shower and a minimum temperature of 17◦c I was about half way through inspec ng the egg trays when I spo ed an unfamiliar geometer with lacy‐pa erned wings, and froze; once this moth was successfully boxed I went through the remaining contents with added ex‐ pecta on. A total count of 162 macros and 61 species, but no other migrants, alt‐ hough five days later (8/7/15) at the same site I recorded Catoptria verellus. Colin Pra , County Moth Recorder for Sussex, said that the Ringed Border was the first County record and is believed to be the fourth U.K. record (S.PC. Atropos, num‐ ber 53). Had this record been a year earlier it would have featured on 2014 moth night.
22 A New Action Plan for Moths
by Steve Wheatley Senior Regional Officer - South East
How can Bu erfly Conserva on best help to conserve moths? What are the priority spe‐ cies? Where are the most important places? And what should we do over the next ten years or so? These are the ques ons Bu erfly Conserva on is asking in order to develop a new Ac on Plan which can deliver the best and most effec ve conserva on ac on. If you have thoughts on what moths and places will be most important and what ac ons will be most valuable in Sussex please do get involved. Back in the late 1990’s Bu erfly Conserva on produced a South East Regional Ac on Plan for Sussex, Kent and Surrey. This included a list of 25 high priority moth species and 75 other priority moths for Sussex. Amongst the moths listed at that me were: Barred Tooth‐striped – which has now been the focus of annual targeted searches at known or historical spots along the Sussex coast and has led to good conserva on advice to land managers in these areas. Toadflax Brocade moth which, a er colonising Britain in the twen eth century, has con nued to spread. Clay Fan‐foot became a major focus of the South East Woodlands Project in East Sus‐ sex and was recorded in record‐breaking numbers across a number of woods. Olive Crescent – which was listed as a rare immigrant just a few decades ago and now seems to have spread across a wide area. Good search methods have been devised and the RSPB (amongst others) has now taken up the reigns of char ng this moth’s progress. It’s not all good news ‐ Orange Upperwing is thought to have been lost from most, if not all of Sussex. Marsh Mallow Moth popula ons remain extremely important na onally, and if we stopped working on this species it could very easily be lost. The State of Britain’s Larger Moths 2013 report showed that two‐thirds of common and widespread moths declined over the 40‐year study. 37% of the 337 species decreased by
33 Con nued….
50% or more. It’s now me to create the new Ac on Plan. The first step is to devise priority lists and plan out what we can achieve. We’re already working with our County Recorder, Colin Pra , to produce a shortlist of poten ally high priority species. This me around we want to keep the list as short and focussed as possible, bearing in mind the limited resources available. But clearly Bu erfly Conserva on and Sussex Moth Group can’t reverse these declines and achieve everything alone. We need to engage and inspire others to help deliver the things we want. Some partners will hopefully be easy to work with, such as Sussex Wildlife Trust with whom we obviously already have strong working links. Bu erfly Conserva on also has good links with Natural England and the Forestry Commission and we can work to focus their efforts be er. But we also need to engage many other groups and organisa ons, including conserva on or‐ ganisa ons and land managers such as the Na onal Trust and RSPB, and local authori es such as County and District Councils. Their increasingly limited conserva on budgets mean they are under more pressure than ever to focus and target their efforts for the best outcomes. This new ac on plan will help them to do this, plus we have the exper se and poten al to survey and record their successes, feeding back posi ve stories. Where specific areas can be iden fied for unique and fascina ng moths, local pride, inter‐ est and enthusiasm can be encouraged and developed. Local champions will be wel‐ comed, whether this be an organisa on, an individual or even the local MP. Our message needs to be clear and targeted to the person or group we’re engaging with. That’s why it’s so important to define the key areas for each priority moth and know the ac ons we are asking for. I hope this will also help to inspire some targeted ac ons by Sussex Moth Group members – looking for specific priority species or inspiring others to get involved. The ac on plan is being developed now and will be published in the spring. Then it will be a key part of my day job to engage with organisa ons and promote the ac ons that will ma er. More informa on about the Ac on Plan will follow. If you have sugges ons for priority species, important places or useful ac ons we can promote, please contact Dave Green, Jim Barre (Sussex Ac on Plan coordinator) or me (Bu erfly Conserva on’s Re‐ gional Officer). swheatley@bu erfly‐conserva on.org
44 The Force Awakens
by Colin Piper
Some me in 1992 Barry Spence caught a Deaths' Head Hawk Moth at Spurn Bird Observa‐ tory. I thought it one of the most extraordinary creatures I had ever seen, par cularly when it squeaked as you stroked it: I was hooked. When I moved to Southwick in 1996 one of the Spurn regulars made me a MV trap. Amazingly a second atropos turned up soon a er but not in the Southwick garden, it was on the school field at my workplace in Bognor Regis.
Being new to the county I went on any wildlife trips I could. On one such ou ng I met a young man kneeling on all fours in Brighton Cemetery ‐ it was the middle of the night and he was peering at the ground. My Yorkshire friends had told me Brighton would be differ‐ ent. It turned out his name was Simon Curson, he worked for the Sussex Wildlife Trust and he was looking at a moth. We became good friends, and if Wendy searches through the cobweb covered scrolls in her a c I think she will discover that Simon and I were the first chair and secretary respec vely of Sussex Moth Group ‐ not that I knew one end of a moth from the other (I s ll don't). It was a sort of deal, Simon helped me to learn salsa and I agreed to write up the minutes of SMG mee ngs in return.
Life moved on: Simon moved to the New Forest and I bought a bachelor pad and had to get rid of the trap. The recent move to part‐ me working means more me and energy to re‐connect with old hobbies, however, and in some ways I feel I'm back where I was 20 years ago.
Which brings me to the SMG Spring mee ng, with its excellent talk and extremely friendly welcome. That was followed by the purchase of a generator and trap, the la er being set up on the bathroom windowsill. The upstairs neighbours don't seem to mind and the only real problems have been nocturnal visits from cats, and interes ng shower experiences the following morning.
There are advantages to running the trap indoors, for one thing the moths cannot escape if you've shut the window. I don't get the variety or numbers I got in Southwick 20 years ago but that may be due to geography and habitat, as much as the traps loca on. There were no hawk‐moths this year and I wonder if that is because the larger moths are deflected by the window. I've no ced that large moths o en do a number of fly‐bys before entering a trap and I suspect they just don't make it through the opening. I check the outside wall but have so far only ever found geometer moths there, itself an interes ng observa on.
55 Con nued…. In my first season I've trapped no less than four new species for my 10km square, accord‐ ing to the SMG web site anyway. I suspect this has more to do with the difficul es of maintaining websites and databases than anything else, but underlies the role we can all play in expanding and improving our knowledge of what's out there. For the record my four species are: Treble Brown Spot, Clouded Border, Green Silver‐lines and Burnished Brass.
Unlike in Southwick I'm trying to iden fy everything I catch. There are therefore days when I'm quite glad there aren't many new ones and the pugs o en 'escape' before I've had a chance to sort them out. Does anyone else think the pug plate in Skinner is actually out of focus?
There has also been my first SMG field trip for nearly 20 years, 'sleeping' in my car at East Head and then trying to iden fy moths at 4 o'clock in the morning. That's my excuse for ge ng them wrong.
It's been fun, thank you to all the SMG members who helped get me back out there.
The Future of the SMG Newsletter
I’d like to moot the idea of making the moth group newsle er digital ‐ as this will save us over £160 a year in prin ng costs and postage etc. I am of course happy to provide paper copies for those without access to the internet but can you let me know if you are happy for this to go digital as of Spring 2016? If I don't hear from you I will presume you're happy for it to be in a digital format (PDF). Or the other op on is that we just have one issue of the newsle er a year. Any thoughts wel‐ come. If you would like to con nue receiving a paper copy please let me know: [email protected] . If you don’t have an email address in our database then I will automa cally send you a paper copy, so no need to let me know if you don’t have email.
66 Thoughts on becoming a Moth-er at 70+
by Pat Brothwell
Many moons ago – in the early 70s – we spent quite a bit of me in the Orkney Islands and made the acquaintance of Ian Lorimer whom we designated “The Moth Man”. His wife, Daphne, was helping on an archaeological excava on pro‐ ject – our reason for being there – and so we met the en re family.
Their residence was The Manse in Orphir and Ian asked whether he could put a trap in our garden in Deerness and so, I and my children, with the aid of two old copies of South, learnt to iden fy “some moths”. I say “some moths” because we were really beginners and it was Ian who came over and checked them all out. We were immediately entranced, not only by the beauty of moths, but also by their names. Although my children are now, let’s say, “considerably older” they s ll recall some of the magical names, like True Lover’s Knot, Golden Plu‐ sia, Angle Shades, Burnished Brass, Elephants, Tigers ‐ but our chief recollec on was the invasion one evening of an army of Large Yellow Underwings! It is s ll known in our family as “The Night of the Large Yellow Underwings” when we had clouds of them inside the co age and the efforts began to get them all out‐ side!
Later, Ian lent us a trap so we could con nue our efforts in Surrey. Bearing in mind that internet did not exist to provide access to good iden fica on sites, nor did digital cameras and we had no decent moth books apart from South, we had to note down what we saw – thought we saw – and no fy Ian. One day, we found a moth we didn’t know and tried hard to find a similarity with something and all we could think of was a Feathered Ear. We asked Ian about it and he got very excited, sent us a mounted sample and asked us to try to catch another one. Needless to say we failed. But we had a visit from Bernard Skinner who dropped in with his wife and we sat and talked moths, garden ponds, toad spawn and general wildlife etc but s ll we never found anything like the one we had seen. But then, moths are like that – you find something which looks totally different from anything else and turns out to be something very common – maybe just old or pale or a different colour.
So the children grew up, Ian passed away and I also grew old (er!) but s ll the
77 Con nued…. memories of these exquisite insects stuck with me and finally, urged on by a re‐ quest in the BTO’s “Garden Bird Watch” magazine reques ng people to partake in a Garden Moth Scheme in 2012 as well, I decided to go for it and I bought myself a moth trap.
Apart from anything else, I am really interested to know what inhabits my wild‐ life garden which has been developed since I moved in here in 1996 from just a mountainous heap of soil to a somewhat crowded garden full of scented, col‐ ourful, sturdy plants designed to give interest the whole year round and a ract as much interest from wildlife as possible. So as my mothing has progressed I am thrilled to find I can now list over 300 species and recognise things a bit more easily than at the first a empt.
Some mes, it’s a bit of an effort: carrying the trap up from the shed to my top terrace near the outdoor electric supply and checking the forecast to make sure it’s not going to blow a gale and deposit torren al rain in the trap (I’m in the di‐ rect target line of the prevailing South‐Westerlies). Then, on cold mornings, ge ng very chilly in the conservatory iden fying everything. Some mes, it’s all in vain – weeks with “0 Moths” and back to the shed again. But then – a boun ful trap with some love‐ ly temporary residents! And many thanks to Bob and Colin who have put up with lots of “What’s this?” ques ons which, I hope, are ge ng a somewhat fewer as me goes on!
I know it’s ridiculous but I actually can’t resist talking to them as I find them: “Wow, look at you. Aren’t you gorgeous?” “I don’t care if you are a “COMMON” Marbled Carpet! “Common! – I think you are beau ful”. And as for the Dingy Shell – never saw anything less din‐ gy. I’d love to know how some of these lovely insects got their names – why a Conformist? Why an Old Lady? But then who else can say “I got up this morning and found 16 elephants in my gar‐ den!” Now, I’m ge ng hooked on micros. Looking at them through the magni‐ fying glass you just can’t believe how beau ful they are and I don’t care if they do plunder my roses, my not‐very‐produc ve fruit trees or make holes in the leaves of my hardy geraniums.
And excitement mounts when I discover a new one not seen before in my gar‐ den and if it’s got a “no fiable” mark a er it, it’s even more special – even
88 Con nued…. though some of the most spectacular, colourful and beau ful are as usual, simply “COMMON”.
My interested next‐door neighbour is ge ng used to me dropping round at un‐ earthly hours of the morning saying “Just have a look at this before I let it go!”
So I shall con nue as long as possible. Maybe one day I’ll have to request the council to install a Stannah Li from the shed up the ramp and back again…some hope! But each morning, no ma er how cold or how much the back aches – each opening of the trap is like Christmas! Just wish I had a be er camera and some instruc ons on how to use one to get even close to those fantas c photos as seen on the websites.
So, What’s New in 2015? by Robin Harris
I suppose for many of us one of the best parts of being involved in the world of moths is finding a species which is new to wherever it is that we do our trap‐ ping. For me that’s my rural back garden, which is about eight miles inland from the coast between Has ngs and Bexhill as the moth flies (or is blown) and some 130 feet above sea level.
For the past six years, for around 70 nights each year, 40w of ac nic light has shone above my Heath‐type trap. As years pass so the numbers of NFG (New For Garden) species is pre y much sure to decline year on year. But s ll they come, perhaps more of a trickle now than the flood of early years. And s ll, for me, there is a real excitement in finding one of these newcomers.
Among the more interes ng first‐ me visitors was a single Platytes alpinella on 3 August. Volume 4 of Colin’s masterwork states (p207) “Establishments of this Na onally
99 Con nued….
Scarce Class B species, which generally favours coastal sand‐dunes and vegetat‐ ed shingle beaches, have been restricted to the west of Worthing and to the east of St Leonard’s (sic) throughout this century” and in the next paragraph men ons only two inland records ‐ at Walberton in 2012 (J T Radford) and at Etchingham in 2014 (C Moore). Maybe more records of this a rac ve micro will emerge in 2015.
Another new micro, in the form of a Cochylis dubitana (kindly confirmed by Colin Pra ) turned up on 29 August. This moth is seemingly thinly spread in Sus‐ sex and at the me of wri ng is apparently keen to remain incognito as it has declined to allow a photo to appear on our website!
On three nights during the year more than one NFG appeared. 25th June saw Bordered Straw and Eucosma hohenwar ana (kindly confirmed by Caroline Moore) make their debut. Two nights later two more species joined the club: Small Elephant Hawkmoth and Small Mo led Willow. But these were topped by three NFGs presen ng themselves on 17 August – Birch Mocha (why has it tak‐ en so long?), Olive and Jersey Tiger. The Jersey Tiger may be the most inter‐ es ng of the three. Inland records seem by no means common. And, if we go back 20 years, who among the more seasoned of our members would have ex‐ pected me to have trapped this species whilst Garden Tiger re‐ mains unrecorded?
I can’t finish without men oning two giants – one an NFG and one not. The NFG? Red Underwing. The not? My second‐ever Blue Underwing!
1010 Some Sussex Mothing Highlights in 2015
Derek Lee caught this beau ful Cream‐spot in Tiger at Bracklesham May.
ed This Forester was spo hilst by Keith Alexander, w
caterpillar hun ng at Devil’s Dyke in May.
The local Nematopogon
metaxella was caught by
Caroline Moore at
Etchingham in May. Look at those antennae!
1111
e The Na onally Notabl hila micro‐moth Commop d by aeneana was recorde lley Bob Eade at Cradle Va in May.
Tim Wilton discovered a er Pammene agnotana ound a bit of rummaging ar in Hawthorn in May — ies producing a new spec for VC14
Olly Ellis’ Steyning trap
and Derek Lee’s Bracklesham trap both produced Ni Moths in . June. This is Olly’s photo
1212
ere Striped Hawkmoths w inc. caught across Sussex, Saltdean, Steyning, d Wisborough Green an
Bracklesham in June. Photo by Olly Ellis.
t Caroline Moore caugh t in this Obscure Wainsco n & her Etchingham garde in Bob Foreman had one oth his Lindfield garden. B in June. Bob’s photo.
Tim Wilton spo ed this na onally notable, and
very funky‐looking,
Ochsenheimeria taurella on a footpath in Peacehaven in July.
1313
Bob Foreman had a nd pleasant surprise to fi ing this Red‐belted Clearw
in his Lindfield garden rap trap. He had run the t under an apple tree.
his Gideon Knight spied t ucha na onally scarce Ente b cetosae at Moulscoom a train sta on in July.
y Has ngs Branch had a da & trip to Galley Hill, Bexhill were successful in their hunt for the Six‐belted n, Clearwing. Ten were see including egg‐laying.
p David Burrows Brede tra produced a
Ringed Border. See page 2 of this news‐ le er for the full story!
1414
t a Keith Alexander caugh ill Blackneck in his Bexh trap in July.
d for Derek Lee got a secon t West Sussex, a migran his Sub‐angled Wave, in Bracklesham trap.
Clifden Nonpareils x popped up all over Susse
including Moun ield, Has ngs, Wisborough Green and Etchingham.
Mike Snelling had an a unexpected Jersey Moch in in his Findon Valley trap e August (photo). Derek Le
had one in September in his Bracklesham trap.
1515 Deadwood Habitat by Heather Martin
Retaining standing or fallen deadwood in situ in a woodland is the ideal way to provide habitat for small mammals, birds, numerous insects, fungi, mosses and lichens, but this is not always prac cal or possible. When coppicing is carried out, leaving some lengths of wood stacked in piles on the site can ar ficially increase the volume of deadwood availa‐ ble for wildlife to inhabit.
During the winter of 2008 Rodney began work in our wood which was classified as ‘uneconomic coppicing’ under a grant from the Forestry Commission, further enhanced by a contribu on from Bu erfly Conserva on. Some of the felled trunks of hornbeam, birch, chestnut, hazel, willow and oak cut into 2.5 – 3 metre lengths were stacked at the edge of the main ride in piles averaging a metre high where they could be le undisturbed. We hoped to be able to witness any signs of life in or on these ‘habitat piles’ and as me passed observe the material they were constructed from, slowly degenerate as it was con‐ sumed, burrowed into and weathered.
To begin with the heaps, excep ng two close to our wood shelter, were in full sun and we enjoyed creeping slowly along the track on a sunny day to watch common lizards basking. I made notes of, and o en managed to photograph, the many species of insects found si ng on the wood and even successfully trained bank voles to emerge when called, in return for li le edible treats! Over the years as the coppiced stools re‐grew, some of the habitat piles became shaded and as the condi ons altered, so did the range of associated species – animal, plant and fungal.
A home in a musty‐smelling, shaded, decomposing, fungi‐ riddled mound of wood might not sound very appealing ‐ but some things just love those condi ons. This year (2015) on the 1st May, late in the a ernoon as I po ered along the main ride, I no ced what appeared to be a weevil si ng on the end of a log. On closer inspec on I dis‐ covered it was a very nice weevil indeed – Platystomos albinus, a fungus weevil. There was another on the next woodpile and a third on the top of the pile behind the log store. In spite of looking carefully at the same me on subsequent days, I failed to find any more of these a rac ve weevils but what I did no ce on the 28th May were a couple of ny moths flu ering
1616 Con nued…. around low vegeta on at the edge of the stack near the shelter. With white spots on a dark blackish‐brown back‐ ground I knew I hadn’t seen this spe‐ cies before, and spent a very frus‐ tra ng few minutes a emp ng to catch one, then Rodney managed to pot a second. At home I iden fied them as Triaxomera fulvimitrella (many thanks to Colin Pra for con‐ firming this) a moth belonging to the Tineidae family whose larvae mainly feed on animal detritus, vegetable ma er, lichens and fungi.
Prowling along the edge of the wood piles became a must‐do ac vity late in the day. On the 7th June I was delighted to see several small moths flying around the stack next to our shelter. Seeing is one thing – catching to iden fy, quite another! These weren’t as pa erned as T. fulvimitrella and when they landed on the ro ng lengths of wood in the shaded gloom, either disappeared into cracks and crevices or were so well camouflaged that I began to despair. Perse‐ verance was eventually rewarded and Colin Pra confirmed the species as Nemapogon wolffiella, another member of the Tineidae family whose larvae feed on fungus, and dead and decaying wood.
In literature and lectures on the subject of woodland management, crea ng dead‐ wood habitat piles is something that is o en men oned in passing as a way of making a posi ve contribu on to biodiversity but to be able to see and iden fy some crea‐ tures actually using this resource is very sa sfying indeed.
When Rodney and I took our moth trap to the wood on the 11th June, two Telechrysis tripuncta flew into the log shelter and sat on the casing of the fluorescent tube. I can‐ not prove yet one more infrequently seen species had taken advantage of our home‐ building project, but the fact they require dead or decaying wood as a food source serves to highlight the importance of a retaining a substance that can o en be regard‐ ed as ‘rubbish’ in need of dying up and burning.
1717 A Vectis Ramble by John Maskell
As men oned before in the SMG newsle er I’m sure that I’m not alone in having mothing as one of several hobbies. It con nues to give me pleasure when these varied interests can be combined; and so it was in May this year.
Having been born and bred on the Isle of Wight I was fortunate to have a Mother who en‐ couraged my interest in Nature and a Father who was keen on walking. So by the age of 10 I knew much of the Island in a very in mate way. Yet despite many youthful coastal ram‐ bles in suitable habitat it always irked me that I had never seen the Island’s star lepidoptera species, the Glanville Fri llary. (The bu erfly is named a er Lady Eleanor Glanville who was the first to capture Bri sh specimens in Lincolnshire during the 1690s.) However, when an Island literary event that Shena and I were a ending coincided with a Bu erfly Conserva‐ on walk that same morning all that changed. Mee ng the small group at Wheeler’s Bay, Ventnor we were enthusias cally led by Andy Butler, the Island’s Bu erfly Recorder. Amaz‐ ingly the first Glanville we saw was in Andy’s nearby coastal garden! During our leisurely stroll we saw up to 20 individuals including a ma ng pair. Andy also runs a regular moth trap and has an impressive garden list.
Whilst walking along the foot of the cliffs there was an opportunity to compare notes with some of the local par cipants and several were keen moth‐ers. It wasn’t long before we were also looking for moths and an Oak Eggar caterpillar and our first Adela reaumurella were duly logged.
Ian Fletcher, the Island’s Assistant Moth Recorder, related his discovery of a Narrow‐ bordered Bee Hawk Moth at Cranmore in 2014. Not seen for 60 years, it is believed that the last person to record one on the Island was Dr K.G. Blair (1882‐ 1952), a former curator of the Bri sh Museum, who lived in re rement in Freshwater adjacent to A on Marsh. He had several moths named a er him including Blair’s Shoulder‐knot, Blair’s Mocha and Blair’s Wainscot. The la er has been caught on several occasions at A on Marsh in recent years and it is reasonable to believe that it may again be resident here. Surveys by James Halsey in the same wetland area since 2010 have also revealed a colony of the very rare Sclerocona acutellus which Blair does not appear to have recorded. (Whilst Blair’s Shoulder‐ knot has been recorded in our Worthing garden on six occasions Blair’s Mocha was only added to our list this autumn.)
1818 Con nued….
As a geographer by training I always make an effort to feast my eyes on the Vec s land‐ scape that first inspired my interest. The south‐west coast of the Island is one of my favour‐ ite loca ons and it was Brook Hill House that the writer J.B.Priestley (1894‐ 1984) made his home from 1948 un l 1959. His wife, Jacque a Hawkes (1910‐ 1996), wrote several popu‐ lar books on archaeology and early history. ‘A Land’, first published in 1951, is recognised as a classic piece of nature wri ng that tells the geological and historical story of our isles. I have found it a deligh ul lyrical read and was pleased to see it re‐published in 2012. But Ms Hawkes was also a noted poet. One of my preferred short poems is ‘Cinebar (sic) Moth Caught By the Wind’. So on our May visit when we made a brief visit to a blustery Brook I recalled her words,
“Torn from its ragwort tower By the invisible pursuer, The long wind on the level sand; On and on with the stride of the wind Towards the untroubled blue where the sea sleeps….” and imagined Mrs.Priestley watching a Cinnabar Moth being blown towards the English Channel below her hill‐top home.
I may be biologically biased but the Isle of Wight has a lot to offer the visitor seeking a slow‐ er pace and a warm welcome and if you’ve me to spare there are some rare lepidoptera species to be found and a small enthusias c group of moth‐ers diligently recording their status.
References: Atropos 54 (2015) Goater, B. & Norriss, T., Moths of Hampshire & the Isle of Wight. Pisces, 2001 Hampshire & Isle of Wight Bu erfly & Moth Reports 2013 and 2014 Hawkes, J., Symbols & Specula ons. The Cresset Press, 1949. Hawkes, J. A Land. Penguin, 1959.
1919 Finding Orange Olive Crescents
by Steve Wheatley Senior Regional Officer - South East
In June 2008 Tony Davis asked me to snap some oak branches and hang them in Beckley Woods near Rye, leave them there for four months, then go back and look for a rare moth caterpillar. I have to admit I thought this was going to be a fruitless (should that be mothless) exercise. I wasn’t sure I was hanging the branches in the right way, or in the right place or that they were the right kinds of branches. Even so, I did it as requested. I returned to Beckley Woods in October, whacked the branches with a s ck and found a couple of dis nc ve orange Olive Crescent larvae drop out and land on the sheet placed below. Defini ve proof of breeding in East Sussex! The following season Tony Davis and Mark Parsons joined Michael Blencowe and me at Fris‐ ton Forest on the Downs near Eastbourne. We went looking for similarly dry dead oak leaves and gave them whack. Sure enough we found Olive Crescent larvae. I’ve now tried this method in a number of woods across Sussex and I have found the moth every me. In 2013 we successfully tried this search method at the Broadwater Forest, on the RSPB’s Broadwater Warren reserve and Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Eridge Rocks reserve. At least twelve larvae were found very quickly. I returned to Broadwater Warren this year and we quickly found another nine larvae in two very small search areas of this 450 acre reserve. It suggests the forest must be teeming with these secre ve orange caterpillars. I’ve now asked the RSPB to start adop ng this search method at other reserves, not just in Sussex but across the South East. The ques on is: how far has this once rare moth spread? Give it a go in your local woodland, especially in West Sussex, and help to put more dots on the map. You might feel a bit cra‐ zy while you’re doing it but the results can be surprising and magical. (All Olive Crescent larvae found were returned to the bundles of dead leaves where they were found and none were harmed in the undertaking of this survey).
2020 National Atlas Trapping Plans for 2016
In a last ditch a empt to help fill some of the under‐recorded squares of Sussex for the forthcoming na onal moth atlas, we’re looking for volunteers to be ‘champions’ for a 10km square near to where they live, in 2016. We published some sugges ons of where to trap in the Spring 2014 newsle er, which I’ve repeated below, and here is a map showing under recorded squares:
If you can run a field trip or two in one of these under‐recorded 10km squares, please let me know and we can publish the detail in the spring 2016 newsle er so that others can come and join in. SU71 ‐ The Stansted Forest/Southleigh Forest complex is known to be a significant moth‐ ing site with a number of rari es and the poten al for more. SU72 ‐ Rogate was worked by an expert resident at the end of the 20th century. A very exci ng area with a huge volume of species present, which includes Durford Wood/Heath and Rogate Common. SU93 ‐ Black Down would be top class.
2121 National Atlas Trapping Plans for 2016
TQ03 ‐ All of the woods hold a good number of species. Hog Wood has quite a history. TQ22 ‐ All of the large woods are a rac ve, especially in the north around Slaugham. TQ30 ‐ Southease has been visited by the UK's great and good for the quality of its wetland and reed‐loving moths since between the two world wars. Any of the untouched parts of the downs would be worthwhile. TQ31 ‐ Ditchling Common used to boast several na onally important micros and their redis‐ covery would be a great coup. While over the years the area has been regularly searched by day, nocturnal visits using light have always been rare. Great poten al. The Chailey Com‐ mon complex is historic and heathery but under‐worked; also has poten al. The downs at Ditchling Beacon are nocturnally unknown (recently). TQ42 ‐ Any of the woods and commons in the north‐west of the square would be advanta‐ geous. TQ43 ‐ Any of the woods and heathery tracts on this part of Ashdown Forest would be ad‐ vantageous. TQ51 ‐ The Vert Wood complex is historic and always produces a good volume of moths. Parts of the Rowland Wood sec on now look highly invi ng. TQ52 ‐ Possingworth is now being regularly trapped by a resident but there is nowhere spe‐ cial to recommend. TQ53 ‐ Crowborough is now being regularly trapped by a resident but any of the woods and heathery tracts on Ashdown Forest would be advantageous. TQ60 ‐ What li le survives of the excep onally important Crumbles is surrounded by hous‐ ing and so difficult to nocturnally work with light. Pevensey Levels is another historic site for wetland and reed‐loving moths, and there are miles of reed‐lines lanes to choose from. TQ61 ‐ Holds part of Pevensey Levels. TQ62 ‐ Nowhere special to recommend ‐ this is the Burwash / Bateman’s area.
If you are thinking of trapping at any of these sites it is important that you gain landowner permission beforehand.
2222 Sussex Moth Group Committee
Chairman Dave Green [email protected] 01403 701014 Secretary Wendy Alexander wkalexander@b nternet.com 01424 212894 Recorder Colin Pra colin.pra @talk21.com 01273 586780 Webmaster Bob Foreman bob@li lesnails.com 01444 483745 Treasurer Alice Parfi aliceparfi @sussexwt.org.uk 01903 740212 Newsle er Editor Penny Green [email protected] 01403 701014
Moth group meetings 2016
All mee ngs held at 7.30pm at Henfield Village Hall:
Tuesday 16th February: Ashen Oleander, pheromone monitoring of rare and declining moths Wednesday 20th April: AGM and speaker TBC Tuesday 19th July: Conversazione! Tuesday 15th November: Round up of 2016 mothing
All mee ngs are now at the Henfield Village Hall, Henfield, West Sussex, BN5 9DB, in the Garden Suite. The Village Hall is just off of the High Street (behind the Budgens supermarket) at TQ21571592 or look on their website: h p://www.henfieldhall.co.uk/contact_us.html
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