data
citizen science
wildlife
Brackagh Moss NNR - Night of 14/06/2025
With temperatures of 9° at home, the bog had its own temperatures as it does at 12° all night.
We put one 6w trap in a wet woodland that borders the peat bog, and it had a good return for the evening:
| Mottled Beauty | 4 |
| Clouded Border | 12 |
| Scoparia ambigualis | 1 |
| Celypha lacunana | 1 |
| Common White Wave | 1 |
| White Ermine | 1 |
| Buff Ermine | 6 |
| Common Lutestring | 1 |
| Lilac Beauty | 1 |
| Pebble Prominent | 1 |
| Valerian Pug | 1 |
| TOTAL SPECIES | 11 |
| TOTAL MOTHS | 30 |
The Clouded Borders were most numerous, and the site has always been a stronghold with easy viewing of these moths both by day and to light.
The markings on these striking black and white moths vary greatly, but consistently the black borders the white wings.
Foodplants for the caterpillars include Aspen, Poplars, Willows and Hazel. Willow is on the site in vast quantities and this is the likely food source here.
The highlight for me was the target species, Valerian Pug Eupithecia valerianata. First recorded in NI at this site in 1995 it has been one of the only places to see this moth in the province. Feeding on Common Valerian, it is rarely recorded and always nice to see when it shows up - this is my second record of the species.
Valerian Pug taken to 6W light in the wet woodland area of Brackagh Bog
I was delighted to take my first ever Lilac Beauty Apeira syringaria. This is a truly beautiful moth that masterfully resembles a curling leaf when at rest. Honeysuckle and Privet provide the main food sources, with Honeysuckle present on site. The colours are subtle but striking and I was excited to get a few decent images of the moth. Wind is always a factor when photographing outdoors so I employed a trusty macro light tent to get the shots:
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A 10-image stack of the Lilac Beauty using a light tent
Single image using diffused flash
The second trap went into the dense woodland, under a canopy of Alder and Willow and stands of Royal and Common ferns. This 20W lamp does rather well under the canopy of the woods, and attracts a good range of species.
| Clouded Border | 12 |
| Common White Wave | 2 |
| Common Carpet | 1 |
| Flame Carpet | 1 |
| Brussels Lace | 1 |
| Grey Dagger | 1 |
| Celypha lacunana | 1 |
| July Highflyer | 1 |
| Clepsis spectrana | 1 |
| Poplar hawk-moth | 11 |
| Pebble Prominent | 1 |
| TOTAL SPECIES | 11 |
| TOTAL MOTHS | 46 |
The Poplar hawk-moths made a good appearance and its always good to see this common, yet beautiful moth in the traps.
The markings and wing shape mimic a leaf at rest and colours vary from browns to a purple tinge in fresher specimens.
Foodplants include all the Poplar species, and Willows, especially Goat Willow that is present on the site.
Overall the mothing is slowly improving but not anywhere near where it should be for this time of year. this night produced 18 species over the two traps and a total of 76 moths.
