Insects and other invertebrates - 2010
Sep.3rd A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen.
Aug.30th Two Small Red-eyed Damselflies were seen on the southern Long Pits. 

The striking hoverfly, Volucella zonaria was also seen at the Long Pits.
Aug.26th A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen.
Aug.19th A Red Underwing and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth  were seen. 
Aug.18th Small Tortoiseshell remain at a high level with at least 60 in the area. Moth trapping produced two Dark Sword-grass and two White-points of note.
Aug.12th The highlight of the nights moth trapping was an example of the rare tortricid moth Cydia amplana. A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was also seen.

Cydia amplana

 

At least 34 Wasp Spiders were also found in the rough ground in front of the Observatory.
Aug.11th A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was feeding briefly in the Observatory garden.

Recent days have seen excellent numbers of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies, with up to 22 in the Observatory garden alone. Almost any Buddleja bush in the area seems to be supporting large numbers at present and it is easily one of the best years for this species in a long time.

Ten Wasp Spiders were found in a small area of rough ground in front of the Observatory building. 
Aug.8th  The highlight of the nights moth trapping yet another Channel Islands Pug. 

Four Small Red-eyed Damselflies were seen on the northern Long Pit.
Aug.7th A Bordered Straw was the best of the overnight catch of moths.
Aug.6th A small catch of moths overnight included our fifth record of Double Kidney, a Drinker and a Gold Spot.

Butterflies were much in evidence and included 40 Small Tortoiseshells, four Brown Argus and a Holly Blue.

Holly Blue

Another highlight was the discovery of a small colony of the stunning Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi.

 

Wasp Spider

 

Five male Small Red-eyed Damselflies were seen on the southern Long Pit.
Aug.3rd A quiet night at the moth-traps produced just one notable moth in the form of The Ear (second observatory record).

Six Small Red-eyed Damselflies were seen at the southern of the Southern Long Pit. 
Aug.2nd Another Channel Islands Pug was attracted to the moth trap along with six Sussex Emeralds, a Reed Dagger and a Small Rufous of note.
Aug.1st A Channel Islands Pug (second Observatory record) and a Least Carpet were of note amongst the small numbers of moths trapped last night.

Channel Islands Pug

There were ten male Small Red-eyed Damselflies on the southern Long Pit.  
July 31st A Sand Dart and the pyralid Ancylosis oblitella were the only significant moths trapped overnight.
July 30th The continuing fine weather resulted in a significant increase in the numbers of Small Red-eyed Damselflies at the southern Long Pit with 38 individuals seen and including five ovipositing females.

Moth numbers at the traps were a bit lower than of late but they did include two Sussex Emeralds, a Least Carpet and a Twin-spotted Wainscot and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen by day. 

Over 100 Common Blue and six Brown Argus were also seen.
July 29th Plenty of moths at the traps again but nothing particularly noteworthy. The best we could manage was three Sussex Emeralds. Small Rufous, Omcocera semirubella and Phycita roborella and also 80 Silver Y's captured. Three Hummingbird Hawkmoths were also seen during the day.

A male Lesser Emperor and two Small Red-eyed Damselflies were seen at the southern Log Pit along with large numbers of Migrant Hawkers during the afternoon..
July 28th The first Small Red-eyed Damselflies (six) were seen at the Long Pits where a female Lesser Emperor was also seen ovipositing.

Overnight moth trapping was bit disappointing but did produce four Sussex Emeralds, five Dingy Footman, a Reed Dagger, a Bordered Straw and yet another Oncocera semirubella.

Bordered Straw
July 27th The best of nights moths were four Sussex Emeralds, a Maiden's Blush, a Privet Hawk-moth, three Dingy Footman and Oncocera semirubella.
July 26th The pick of a decent moth catch were Rosy Wave (eighth Observatory record), four Sussex Emeralds, White-spotted Pug, Pine Hawk-moth, Pearly Underwing, Small Rufous and what was presumably a migrant example of the tortrix Lozotaenoides formosanus.

The tortrix Lozotaenoides formosanus and Pine Hawk-moth. 

Also in the moth traps were two Speckled Bush-crickets and four Harlequin Ladybirds whilst large numbers of Migrant Hawkers are now being seen in the bushes.

Three examples of the fly Tachina grossa were also seen.
July 25th The highlight on the insect front was a male Lesser Emperor dragonfly on the southern Long Pit in the afternoon whilst moth trapping produced a Bordered Beauty, a Dark Sword-grass, a Toadflax Brocade and the pyralid Anerastia lotella.
July 23rd Three Sussex Emeralds, a Maiden's Blush and a Shore Wainscot were the most of the moths trapped overnight. A Hummingbird Hawk-moth and three Brown Argus butterflies were of note during the day.
July 22nd A quieter night at the mothtrap produced just three Sussex Emeralds and Oncocera semirubella of note whilst three Hummingbird Hawk-moths and a Clouded Yellow were seen during the day.

In addition, another example of the fly Tachina grossa was also seen.
July 21st Lots of moths at the traps during the night included our third records of V-Pug and better still Mere Wanscot along with five Sussex and one Small Emerald and a Marbled Green and the pyralids Galleria mellonella and Oncocera semirubella.

Two Hummingbird Hawk-moths were seen in the Observatory garden.
July 20th  Large and Small Whites and Red Admirals were seen in god numbers and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth was flying around the Observatory in the evening.
July 19th The highlight of the moth trapping was our first record (and only the second area record) of Royal Mantle. Other notable records included a Small Waved Umber, our first Least Yellow Underwing and Marbled Green of the year and another Oncocera semirubella. Three Hummingbird Hawk-moths were also seen.

Royal Mantle

There was also a significant increase in the numbers of Large Whites and Painted Ladies in the area and a Brown Argus was also seen in front of the Observatory.
July 18th Two Hummingbird Hawk-moths were seen during the day and a Least Carpet at the moth trap was new for the year.
July 17th Two Hummingbird Hawk-moths were seen.
July 15th

Some belated news concerns this spectacular fly. I first saw one of these in 2009 and this year there have been two individuals at Southview Cottage in early July and this third individual which was at the northern end of the Long Pits on 13th July.

It is called Tachina grossa and is a parasitoid of large lepidoptera larva. It appears to be quite scarce in the south-east of England. (Thanks to Chris Bentley at Rye Harbour NR for the identification and background information.)
July 14th Another Small Seraphim, a Hummingbird Hawk-moth and an Oncocera semirubella were the highlights of another decent night at the moth trap.

Oncocera semirubella
July 13th Another good night at the moth trap producing our second record of V-Pug and fourth record of Dark Umber along with other noteworthy records of three Sussex Emeralds, a Bordered Beauty and an Engrailed and the pyralid Oncocera semirubella. A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen during the day and Silver Y's were more in evidence than of late.

Dark Umber and V-Pug
July 12th A Large Emerald, five Sussex Emeralds, a Pine Hawk-moth and a Black-neck were of note from the nights moth-trapping.

Large Emerald
July 11th The best of the large numbers of moths last night was a Pyrausta nigrata, only our third record of this pyralid. In addition, a Sussex Emerald and at least ten Yponomeuta rorella were also of note.

Pyrausta nigrata

Single Harlequin Ladybird and 22-spot Ladybird were also caught.
July 10th The highlight of the day on the insect front was this female Lesser Emperor dragonfly which lingered for a couple of hours around mid-day in gorse bushes just south of the trapping area.

Lesser Emperor

In addition, notable moths trapped overnight included two Sussex Emeralds, an Engrailed, a Sand Dart and a White Satin Moth. The latter species was formerly fairly common but numbers have declined dramatically in recent years.

Sussex Emerald and White Satin Moth
July 9th Notable moths last night included Sussex Emerald, Small Emerald, Maiden's Blush, two Small Seraphims (second Obs trap record) and Obscure Wainscot (third trap record) and the pyralids Eudonia lineola and Ebulea crocealis.

Small Seraphim and Obscure Wainscot
July 8th Our first Sussex Emerald of the year was caught.
July 6th An excellent night at the moth trap with a total of 73 species of "macro" moth noted including another Peach Blossom, our fifth record of The Miller and our 11th record of True-lover's Knot along with Poplar and Common Lutestrings, Buff Arches, Round-winged Muslin, Sand Dart and Bird's Wing of note.

Peach Blossom, The Miller and True-lover's Knot.

Large numbers of Small Skippers and Marbled Whites and a few Essex Skippers are now on the wing.

An Orange Ladybird also came to the moth trap.

Orange Ladybird
July 5th Another decent night of moth trapping produced our third record of Cypress Carpet.

Cypress Carpet

The first Essex Skipper of the year was also seen.
July 4th Quieter in the moth trap but it still produced a Buff Arches and a Black-neck of note.

Ruddy Darter dragonfly was new for the year.
July 3rd Yet another new species for the Observatory last night with a superb Peach Blossom but rarer still on a national level were a Scarce Black Arches and the pyralid Evergestis limbata. A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was also seen during the day.

Peach Blossom, Scarce Black Arches and Evergestis limbata
July 2nd Moth trapping produced another new species for the Observatory in the form of a Brown Scallop and only the third area record.

Brown Scallop
June 30th Another good night at the moth trap with the highlight being our first-ever record of Silver Barred along with a Haworth's Pug, a Barred Yellow and a Sand Dart.

Silver Barred
June 29th Good numbers of moths were trapped overnight again and included Haworth's Pug, Currant Pug, Barred Yellow, Lime hawk-moth, two Archer's Darts and the pyralid Trachycera advenella. 
June 28th A Lesser Emperor dragonfly was seen perched in vegetation in front of the Observatory this morning along with several Emperor dragonflies and the first Brown Hawker of the year was also seen.

Overnight moth trapping produced some notable records in the form of our second Nephopteryx angustella and seventh Clouded Silver and also a Galium Carpet, three July Belles and a Sand Dart. Butterflies included our first Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns of the year and large numbers of Small Skippers.

Nephopteryx angustella
June 24th A Brown Silver-lines moth was trapped overnight.
June 23rd A Scorched Wing moth was trapped overnight and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen during the day.

Scorched Wing
June 21st The first Small Skipper of the year was seen.
June 19th A remarkable nights moth-trapping produced six Rannoch Loopers, a new species for the Observatory, and on the night, the second most abundant species in the trap.

Rannoch Looper
June 17th A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen.
June 13th The first Large Skipper of the year and a Brown Argus were seen. 
June 12th Two Grizzled Skippers were seen. 
June 9th Large numbers of Silver Y's can been seen throughout the area and as least ten Mother Shipton moths were flying over the rough ground in front of the Observatory. Five Painted Ladies were also seen.

Mother Shipton
June 8th Three Painted Ladies and a Grizzled Skipper and the first Black-tailed Skimmer were seen. Small numbers of Silver Y's are also being seen by day.
June 7th Three Grizzled Skippers, a Brown Argus and two Painted Ladies were seen. Dragonflies included five Emperors and 125 Four-spotted Chasers.
June 6th Overnight moth-trapping produced singles of Poplar Grey and Udea ferrugalis and two Plutella xylostella.
June 4th Two Grizzled Skippers and a Brown Argus were seen.
May 30th Seven Grizzled Skippers were seen.
May 28th Eight Grizzled Skippers, two Brown Argus and our first Wall Brown butterfly for six years were seen. Eight Hairy Dragonflies were also seen in the trapping area.
May 27th A large gathering of Four-spotted Chasers was found in a short section of the reed bed with at least 190 individuals counted.
May 25th A Variable Damselfly and good numbers of Four-spotted Chasers were seen at the Long Pits.
May 24th A good day for butterflies with an excellent count of 16 Grizzled Skippers been seen along with the first Brown Argus and Small Heath of the year.
May 21st A warm day at last and a decent emergence of dragonflies included two Variable Damselflies.
May 16th The first (but very late) Hairy Dragonfly of the year was seen in the area.  
May 15th Following on the theme of butterfly aberrations a pale Small Copper (see below) was seen at the Long Pits and is believed to be of the form know as schmidtii.

In addition the first Four-spotted Chaser was seen having just emerged at the Long Pits.
May 12th A Green-veined White and five Grizzled Skippers were seen including this slightly unusual individual with a more typical individual below.

May 6th The first Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies of the year were seen.
May 5th A very late start to the dragonfly season finally began with the first Red-eyed Damselfly of the year.
May 2nd A Small Waved Umber was trapped overnight.
Apr.30th Moth-trapping produced two Diamond-backed Moths Plutella xylostella and the first Angle Shades of the year. Good numbers of Red Admirals and a Painted Lady were seen during the day.
Apr.29th New moths for the year included The Streamer and Clouded Drab. Large White butterfly was also new for the year.
Apr.28th New moths for the year included Brimstone, Light Feathered Rustic and Knotgrass.
Apr.27th The first Tawny Shears and Powdered Quaker of the year were trapped and the first Grizzled Skipper and Speckled Wood of the year were seen in the area.
Apr.26th The nights moth trapping produced a Small Quaker and an Early Grey of note.
Apr.23rd The first Small Copper butterfly was seen and a Light Orange Underwing was seen at the Long Pits..
Apr.12th A Light Orange Underwing moth was seen in the trapping area.
Apr.3rd The first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly was seen.
Mar.26th The first Comma butterfly of the year was seen.
Mar.25th One moth was caught overnight, a Rush Veneer Nomophila noctuella.
Mar.20th This unusual looking beetle was found at Southview Cottage. It is an Ant Beetle Thanasimus formicarius.

Mar.15th The first butterfly of the year, a Peacock, was seen.