MOTH MORNING AT ALDER CARR FARM, NEEDHAM MARKET
20th AUGUST 2005

It was rather wet and windy on the day preceding this event so much so that more than one member was rather surprised that we still planned going ahead with the meeting the following morning. Conditions improved slightly for the evening and two moth traps were operated at Joan Hardingham's farm - one under a lean-to farm building next to a copse in case of further rain and the second trap further into the copse. On the morning several members attended including Matthew Deans who had already been through two sets of his own moth traps at Rendham and Bawdsey before coming along for a third set.

The traps were filled with more moths than I expected given the conditions and there was plenty of interest to see. From the two traps we managed to record 53 species with nine species new to the site. Of particular interest was Sharp-angled Peacock, a species more normally recorded in the coastal areas of the county but with the larvae feeding on sallows and willows (amongst other things) there was no shortage of the food plant nearby. Dog's Tooth is a species often associated with fens and is not frequently recorded from the middle of the county, so another good record. For records of the White-point it is hard to be sure whether these are migrants or residents. Colonies appear to have existed for some time along the coast with odd records further inland but recently it seems that they may have colonised further inland as well. It was a good year in general for this species with it being regularly recorded at Suffolk Moth Group evenings in late summer.

The full species list for the night was:
Orange Swift, Ypsolopha parenthesella, Ypsolopha sequella, Agonopterix arenella, Blastobasis lignea, Agapeta hamana, Cochylis dubitana, Pandemis heparana, Clepsis spectrana, Acleris emargana, Celypha lacunana, Bactra lancealana, Epinotia nisella, Epiblema scutulana,Cydia pomonella, Agriphila tristella, Agriphila geniculea, Elophila nymphaeata, Parapoynx stratiotata, Pleuroptya ruralis ,
Pebble Hook-tip, Single-dotted Wave, Purple Bar, Small Waved Umber, Double-striped Pug, Clouded Border, Sharpangled Peacock, Brimstone Moth, Willow Beauty, Common White Wave, Common Wave, Light Emerald, Poplar Hawk-moth, Iron Prominent, Pebble Prominent, Ruby Tiger, Turnip Moth, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Small Square-spot, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Square-spot Rustic, Dog's Tooth, White-point, Common Wainscot, Brown Rustic, Common Rustic agg., Flounced Rustic, Vine's Rustic, Spectacle and Straw Dot.

I would like to thank Joan Hardingham for allowing us to hold the meeting on her farm.

Tony Prichard