The Ups and Downs of Moth Identification

I can't be bothered to look up the exact figure, but I know there are 600-and-something birds on the British List. Faced with almost any of them in the field, I could put a name to it. Several decades of experience has put me in this happy position. Even so, I do say 'almost' for good reason, because there are plenty of species which could potentially catch me out. That said, I am pretty confident that a day's local birding is unlikely to present me with a bird I cannot identify.

Yep, give me a bird and I am snugly in my comfort zone.

I can't be bothered to look up the exact figure, but I know there are a zillion-and-something moths on the British List. Faced with almost any of them in the field, I most definitely could not put a name to it. One year of experience has put me in this unhappy position. Even so, I do say 'almost' for good reason, because there are a few species which finally I have got to grips with. That said, I am pretty confident that a night's local moth-trapping is unlikely to present me with less than a hatful of moths that I cannot identify.

Yep, give me a moth and I am a floundering ignoramus.

There are roughly four times as many moths as birds on the British List, and learning how to identify them has been - and still is - a glorious lesson in humility. Just when you think you are sufficiently familiar with a species to nonchalently 'call' it from just a momentary glance, you discover it has a much scarcer doppelgänger that you could easily have overlooked, and your new-found confidence crumbles to dust.

However, on the off-chance I haven't mentioned this previously, being miles out of my comfort zone is actually a huge amount of fun. And, although I am still fairly useless, I detect a slow but steady improvement in my moth ID abilities. Especially gratifying is when you turn to the correct section of the field guide when faced with an unfamilar micro.

'YESSSS-S-S-S!! I knew it was a Gelichiid!'

Hard to beat that feeling...

Anyway, the last couple of nights have been quite fascinating, as per usual...

Sunday night

85 moths of 48 species, with just a single new for year; none new for garden.

A decent haul, and good variety, but disappointingly short on new species. Still, any catch with Blair's Mocha in it is okay by me...

Blair's Mocha #6 for 2023

Currant Pug

First Barred Straw of the year.

A tiny, almost immaculate Small Yellow Wave.

If getting moths to settle for a pic were on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 was 'like a dead slug' and 10 was 'absolute pig', this species is a good 9.

Monday night

A superb night's mothing, with a final tally of 142 moths and 63 species; 10 new for year, of which 5 new for garden.

One highlight was another reminder of my first experience of 'in the field' trapping, a year ago at Mapperton. As I've mentioned before, I managed to photograph two of the five nationally scarce species caught that night. One of them, I unexpectedly caught here in Bridport last week (the Cloaked Carpet featured in this post). The other seemed an equally unlikely garden turn-up, but...

Argolamprotes micella (Nationally Scarce B) perched on the lip of a Robinson MV trap at Mapperton a year ago.

As in the case of Cloaked Carpet, for some reason both the name and appearance of this tiny moth stuck in my brain. So, when I potted a well-marked little beastie off the top of our bucket trap last night, a quick glance through my lens told me exactly where in the index to check. And I was right. Lo and behold...

A delightful addition to the garden list.

The identification of another new moth for the garden didn't go quite as swimmingly...

A diminutive pug (slightly less than 9mm wing length) pitched up on the cabin wall and was quickly potted. Subtly marked, with a slit-shaped discal spot, I realised it was almost certainly a new species for me.

The mystery pug. Last night's in-the-garage pot shot.

For some reason I carefully checked all the possibilities except the one it clearly matched! Not sure how I overlooked the most obvious candidate, but there we are. When I eventually resorted to ObsIdentify, its strongest suggestion was Valerian Pug (about 70%) with a backup option of Slender Pug. Neither looked right. I kept coming back to Thyme Pug, but that species' range made it extremely unlikely to turn up in our garden. Stranger things have happened though. And then I found the mystery pug's twin in the trap at dawn. Two Thyme Pugs definitely was not a realistic possibility, so what on earth had I got here? Luke Phillips to the rescue: 'It's a Channel Islands Pug', he said. I checked the field guide and online photos. Sure enough, Channel Islands Pug was an obvious fit. And apparently there has been a recent emergence, and they are prone to wandering. Excellent! Currently there is just one Living Record dot of this Tamarisk-feeding species in the Bridport area. So, a very decent record.

Channel Islands Pug. A nice garden first, but slightly frustrating that I didn't arrive at the correct ID unaided.

Both of last night's Channel Islands Pugs.

Other highlights from last night...

One very large 'micro', and another first for the garden.

The year's first Elephant Hawk-moth. Outrageous livery! If this was a rarity, it would attract a lot more superlatives than most.

When completely at rest, this tiny moth basically stands on its head. A garden first which popped out of the wildlife hedge and into my net. Its larvae feed on Blackthorn, so I'm going to count this one as hedge-bred!

Double Square-spot. I love the geometrically neat blocks on this species. We had something like 13 records last year, and this is the first of 2023.

L-album Wainscot. Not new for the garden or for the year, just one of my favourite moths.

A pristine Coronet. Just gorgeous.

'What on earth is this?' was my reaction on picking it out of the net last night. Barred Red is the answer. A conifer feeder, so I'm not sure where it's from. A few Bridport records though, and this is our first.

Crowd pleaser. Our third Eyed Hawk-moth of the year, sneakily peeking.

Including aggregates, the 2023 moth tally stands at 254 now. The hours of lost sleep tally is probably similar...