Hexton Chalk Pit - Field Trip - 01/07/14

Roger and myself ran 3 traps at Hexton Chalk Pit on Tuesday evening, with Steve turning up at dusk for some moral support and staying with us until midnight. The reserve is a lovely habitat with a multitude of wildflowers growing on the chalk grassland. There are patches of bare chalk, but there could be more, as Bramble is starting to take over certain areas of the chalk grassland. The day had been mild and breezy with a high of around 21 degrees, but by dusk the sky was still crystal clear and the breeze was on the cool side and coats were worn pretty much from the off in fact hats wouldn't have felt out of place! with a low of 8 degrees when I was on my way home at 3am we were totally blown away by what we did manage to catch...

For starters I managed 3 new Macro moths for me, Grey Arches, Reddish Light Arches and Royal Mantle (previously seen in Slovenia for the first time).

Even better were some of the Micro's that turned up

Firstly we had two Agonopterix liturosa, which currently is quite scarce in Herts with a handful of records.

Secondly we had I would say 20+ of the Pyralid, Paratalanta hyalinalis. I had two, but one escaped whilst photographing them, typically only a photo of a battered one. One is with Roger. No records since 1937, confirmed! And a very good moth indeed.

Other notable species included Satyr Pug, Dark Umber, Shark and 5 Wood Carpets (Only having previously seen one before, to record 5 in a single trip is quite overwhelming).

On the Pyralid front we got Paratalanta hyalinalis in great numbers, along with 5 Ebulea crocealis and 5 Sitochroa verticalis.

To round this post off, the session was an incredible insight in to just how important this habitat is despite it's small size and relative remoteness.

A micro-climate indeed... I shall be going back!

Catch Report - 01/07/14 - Hexton Chalk Pit - Hexton - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap, 1x 160w MBT Robinson Trap & 1x 80w Actinic Suitcase Trap.

Numbers below are approximate

87 Macros and 44 Micros ( 131 species)

Macro Moths

3x Barred Straw 1x Beautiful Golden-Y 20+ Blackneck 5x Bordered Sallow 7x Bright-line Brown-eye 5x Brimstone Moth 5x Brown Rustic 2x Brown Scallop 4x Brown-line Bright-eye 4x Buff Arches 1x Buff Ermine 1x Buff-tip 3x Burnished Brass 2x Cinnabar 5x Clay 10+ Clouded Border 2x Clouded Brindle 10+ Clouded Silver 5x Common Carpet 6x Common Footman 1x Common Rustic 2x Common Wainscot 1x Common Wave 6x Common White Wave 15+ Dark Arches 1x Dark Umber 1x Dot Moth 10+ Double Square-spot 1x Double-striped Pug 2x Dun-bar 1x Dusky Brocade 4x Dwarf Cream Wave 7x Elephant Hawk-moth 2x Fan-foot 25+ Fern 3x Flame 1x Flame Shoulder 1x Freyer's Pug 1x Garden Carpet 2x Green Pug 1x Grey Arches [NEW!] 3x Haworth's Pug 2x Heart & Club 20+ Heart & Dart 1x Iron Prominent 2x July Highflyer 5x Large Yellow Underwing 1x Lesser Yellow Underwing 10x Light Arches 5x Light Emerald 3x Marbled Minor 1x Marbled White Spot 10x Mottled Beauty 5x Mottled Rustic 2x Peach Blossom 6x Peppered Moth 5x Pretty Chalk Carpet 3x Purple Bar 2x Reddish Light Arches [NEW!] 7x Riband Wave 2x Royal Mantle [NEW!] 1x Ruby Tiger 2x Rustic 1x Satyr Pug 15x Scarce Footman 2x Setaceous Hebrew Character 5x Shaded Pug 1x Shark 8x Shears 4x Short-cloaked Moth 1x Shoulder-striped Wainscot 4x Small Elephant Hawk-moth 2x Small Emerald 4x Small Fan-footed Wave 1x Small Phoenix 1x Small Waved Umber 1x Small Yellow Wave 8x Smoky Wainscot 5x Snout 2x Straw Dot 3x Swallow-tailed Moth 2x Tawny Marbled Minor 2x Tawny-barred Angle 1x Turnip Moth 10x Uncertain 3x Valerian Pug 2x Willow Beauty 5x Wood Carpet

Micro Moths

2x Agonopterix liturosa [NEW!] 1x Bryotropha senectella [NEW!] 2x Epagoge grotiana 1x Stenoptilia pterodactyla 5x Ebulea crocealis 1x Marasmarcha lunaedactyla 4x Udea prunalis 1x Udea olivalis 1x Metzneria metzneriella 5x Celypha lacunana 1x Paraswammerdamia nebulella 1x Elachista atricomella 2x Archips xylosteana 2x Archips podana 2x Eurrhypara hortulata 2x Cnephasia sp 1x Phycitodes binaevella 1x Eucosma hohenwartiana 1x Eucosma cana 1x Cacoecimorpha pronubana 3x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 1x Hedya pruniana 3x Hedya nubiferana 1x Coleophora sp 3x Marasmarcha lunaedactyla 1x Merrifieldia baliodactylus-leucodactyla? 20+ Paratalanta hyalinalis 5x Scoparia ambigualis 1x Tinea semifulvella 3x Acleris forsskaleana 1x Dipleurina lacustrata 2x Ephestia parasitella 1x Blastobasis lacticolella 2x Ancylis achatana 5x Sitochroa verticalis 1x Phycita roborella 1x Epiblema uddmanniana 1x Epiblema trimaculana 1x Agapeta hamana 1x Agapeta zoegana 5x Eudonia mercurella 4x Chrysoteuchia culmella 2x Pandemis cerasana