Shandy Hall Moths
7 February 2015
7 February 2015 – Miniatures
The woodpecker has been drumming all morning. It has found a spot on a telegraph pole where some sort of metal plate is fixed, high up. The plate amplifies the sound and presumably the bird is deeply satisfied. Snowdrops and aconites are scattered over the garden. No moths though. A trap has been moved to […]
22 January 2015
22 January 2015 – News from Japan
Death’s-head Hawk-moth (Acherontia atropus) Here is the image that started it all. The Death’s-head Hawk-moth (Acherontia atrophus) is so extraordinary and so strangely beautiful that it attracts and repels in equal measure. This particular one was hatched at Shandy Hall in 2006 and (along with half-a-dozen others) proved to be a lure for local school-children […]
21 January 2015
21 January 2014 – Haiku by Maura Dooley
Sandy Carpet (Perizoma flavofasciata) Sandy Carpet A cockle-shell wing opens like the memory of a seaside town. Maura Dooley
8 January 2015
8 January 2015 – New for Yorkshire Region – and Billy Collins Haiku
(Calybites phasianipennella) This slight and highly decorative insect flew into the trap in the Museum Gardens in York last July where it was identified as (Calybites phasianipennella) and posted on the blog. What we didn’t know was that it hadn’t been recorded in this neck of the woods before. For statistical purposes, Yorkshire is divided […]
11 November 2014
11 November 2014 – Autumnal Shade
(Oxypate gelatella) Autumnal Dagger Is the moth in the hand-coloured print above the same species as the moth in the photograph below? If that is so, the Autumnal Dagger has a history of changed and altered nomenclature out of all proportion to its size. This species of micro moth was recorded at Shandy Hall on […]
3 November 2014
3 November 2014 – Eggs for December
December Moth eggs Throughout the year the egg-cartons in the bottom of the trap have been checked (the inside and outside of the trap as well), just in case a moth has decided to lay a batch of eggs during its temporary confinement. This has happened in the past and the responsibility then rests on […]
31 October 2014
31 October 2014 – Wandering Migrant
Rusty Dot Pearl (Udea ferrugalis) A new species for Shandy Hall as October comes to a close. The Rusty Dot Pearl (Udea ferrugalis) has made an appearance at last. A neat little jet-fighter of a moth that is not easy to photograph as its movements are rapid when disturbed. It was persuaded onto this autumnal setting and […]
28 October 2014
28 October 2014 – See You Again in the Spring
Pale Pinion (Lithophane socia) The Pale Pinion was last seen in April. If the ‘search’ facility on the website is used it can be seen that last Spring the moth was recorded under a different scientific name – Lithophane hepatica. It seems to have been labelled anew as Lithophane socia. Either way the example identified […]
24 October 2014
24 October 2014 – Yorkshire Moths Flying Last Night
Dark Chestnut (Conistra ligula) Last night was warmer, the wind had dropped a little and there was good cloud cover. A thick pile of midges beneath the lamp and an extraordinary number of caddis flies – between thirty and forty in total – hiding somewhat malevolently on the underside of the egg cartons. A number […]
13 October 2014
13 October 2014 – Cryptic Moths
Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) and Brick (Agrochola circellaris) The Chesnut is easy to see but the Brick has almost disappeared into the leaf. Two good examples of moths that fly in October and on landing, merge into the background of dun and sallow colours and so break up their visual outline. The moon was near full last […]
6 October 2014
6 October 2014 – The Most Beautiful of Moths
Merveille du Jour (Dichonia aprilina) The forecast warned of heavy rain at 7am so the trap had to be gathered in by 6am. Fortunatley the relatively warm night had brought a reasonable catch of moths. A visit to the museum and gardens had been booked by a group of German ‘garden tourists’ and it seemed […]
4 October 2014
4 October 2014 – A Hard Return
Gold Triangle (Hypsopygia costalis) The warmer evening and night of the last day of September brought dozens of moths to the trap and a total of twenty species. I am certain I missed a couple of shapes and colours that I hadn’t seen before – gone with a whirr of wings. Of those that remained […]
Recent Moths
- Rise of the AI Naturalist
- Best Moths for a Haunted Abbey
- The Real and Fake Deaths of Moths
- The Colonizers of Yorkshire
- Glamour in the Dark: Two Newcomers Arrive at Shandy Hall
- 25 July 2023 – Collective Noun for Hawkmoths
- MOTH LIST to August 2023 with links
- 28 July 2023 – TRIPLE New Species Alert!
- 18 July 2023 – A Golden…Plusia!
- 13 July 2023 – Arts and Sciences
- 10 July 2023 – Rise of the Yellow Underwings
- 4 July 2023 – Cold-weather Catch
