During the evening of 11th August 1998, along with fellow moth trappers Robert Wilton and Robert Holmes, we set up a moth trap in my garden in Oxford Road, Lowestoft (TM 546943) to record the nocturnal species that inhabit this area.

The most common of the moths caught was the Marbled Beauty (Cryphia domestica), of which we had nine. It is a common moth of urban areas and is a member of the Noctuid family. It is a particularly small moth with small grey shapes on the wings similar to the figure eight. By day these moths rest on lichen and are difficult to spot as they are very well camouflaged.

Other Noctuids that visited the trap were a Lesser Yellow Underwing (Noctua comes) and two Lesser Broad-Bordered Yellow Underwings (Noctua janthina). These are slightly smaller than the Large Yellow Underwing and the black on the underwing extends further from the edge than in the latter species. By 23.00 hrs the egg boxes were full of moths and two hours later, amongst others, we had identified a Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata), a common visitor to gardens, a Yellow Shell (Camptogramma bilineata) and up to three migrant Silver Y's (Autographa gamma).

As far as I know moths are under-recorded here in the Lowestoft area and next season we will be trapping more often. We would welcome anyone else interested in moth trapping in the north east of the County and if anybody could give us access to their gardens to trap we would be very grateful as we need to trap in as many habitats as possible. It is also hoped that we can get together an informal moth trapping group. Please contact me on (01502) 569136 if you are interested.

Colin Jacobs