France Trip - Las Descargues - 27/06/16 to 01/07/16 - Part One - Macro's Hello all. I recently got back from a really enjoyable 5 nights of Moth trapping, Butterfly and Bird watching in the Midi-Pyrenees. I went with good friends Roger and Steve whom accompany me on many trips out in our County of Hertfordshire. It was decided at the end of last year that we should go for a short week away to sample some of the Moths that would be on offer in South-West France.

The article below is copied from Robin Howard's Lot Moths website. He describes it perfectly so I didn't feel the need to re-write it!

"The Gite that we stayed in lies in a stunningly beautiful part of the Haute Quercy in the Lot southwest France. Located at the end of a ridge overlooking the Bave Valley it is surrounded by rolling, wooded hills, deep, river-cut gorges and on the nearby Causse, limestone pavement. The proximity of the limestone Causse de Gramat and volcanic Massif Central have produced a complex local geology that has formed the basis for a mosaic of habitats supporting a diverse flora with a rich moth and butterfly fauna. Over 1820 species have been recorded so far from the immediate area with more than 1600 species taken from the environs of the farm alone. Mercury vapour and actinic traps are run throughout the year in and around the farm with weekly forays made onto the limestone pavement and local poplar plantations, whilst the nearby volcanic peaks are regularly visited during the summer months for the more esoteric species. For further information regarding holidays and research opportunities at our farm and for a full description of the area and available accommodation please visit our sister site at www.lasdescargues.com or email us for a comprehensive information pack".

Robin and Sue are both fantastic hosts and could not do enough for you, I urge anyone to go there and experience the amazing wildlife that is on offer there.

The species site list is in excess of an incredible 2000 species of Moth! In 16 years that is incredible, and shows how special this habitat really is.

Our target was 300 species and with over 200 Macro's we may just get to the 300 mark with the Micro's still to sort.

We ran 2 static traps in the garden (Both MV 125s) and I brought my 160w MBT Blended bulb on a tripod. We then had access to a further two traps, an MV Robinson and an Actinic Midi-Robinson which we could take further afield, in fact we tried three further sites.

Macro Moths listed so far... Species in red are completely new to me The Micro's are still pending and a lot are so far unnamed!

212 Species

Adactylotis contaminaria Alchymist Alder Kitten Alder Moth Alychmist Anaplectoides prasina Angle Shades Angle-striped Sallow Atypha pulmonaris Balsam Carpet Barred Hook-tip Barred Red Barred Yellow (only at Causse) Beautiful Golden-Y Beautiful Hook-tip Bird's Wing Black Arches Black V-moth Blood-vein Bordered Beauty Bright-line Brown-eye Brimstone Moth Brindled White-spot Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing Broken-barred Carpet Brown Rustic Brown Silver-lines Brussels Lace Buff Arches Buff Ermine Buff Footman Buff-tip Burnished Brass Caradrina aspersa Chequered Wave Clay Fan-foot Clouded Border Clouded Magpie Clouded Silver Common Carpet Common Emerald Common Footman Common Wainscot Common White Wave Coronet Cream Wave Cream-spot Tiger Dagger sp Dark Arches Dark Umber Delicate Dingy Footman Double Square-spot Double-striped Pug Dun-bar Dwarf Cream Wave Eastern Bordered Straw Elephant Hawk-moth Engrailed sp Fan-foot Feathered Footman Festoon Fiery Clearwing Flame Flame Shoulder Four-dotted Footman (only at Causse) Four-spotted Footman Fox Moth Foxglove Pug Gnophos furcatus Goat Moth Grass Emerald Great Oak Beauty Green Arches Green Pug Green Silver-lines Grey Arches Grey Pug Grey-pine Carpet Guernsey Underwing Handmaid Heart & Club Heart & Dart Heart Moth Herald Hoary Footman Hoplodrina respersa Horse Chestnut Humming-bird Hawk-moth Idaea deversaria Idaea macilentaria Idaea moniliata Idia calvaria Iron Prominent Isle of Wight Wave Ivory Footman Jubilee Fan-foot Lace Border Lackey Lamprosticta culta Large Emerald Large Yellow Underwing Latin Latticed Heath Least Carpet Least Carpet Leopard Moth Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing Lesser Cream Wave Lesser Swallow Prominent Lesser Treble-bar Lesser Yellow Underwing Lewes Wave Light Emerald Lilac Beauty Lobster Moth Lycophotia erythrina Marbled Brown Marbled Minor Marbled White-spot Mediterranean lace border Miller Minor Shoulder-knot Mottled Rustic Nut-tree Tussock Oak Hawk-moth Oak Hook-tip Orache Moth Orange Footman Orange Moth Pale Mottled Willow Pale Oak Beauty Pale Oak Beauty Pale Shoulder Passenger Peach Blossom Pebble Prominent Pebble Prominent Peppered Moth Perigune narbonea Perizoma lugdunaria Petrophora narbonea Phalera bucephaloides Pine Hawk-moth Pine Processionary Pine-tree Lappet Plain Wave Plum Lappet Poplar Lappet Portland Riband Wave Powdered Rustic Privet Hawk-moth Purple Bar Red-necked Footman Rhodostrophia calabra Riband Wave Rosy Footman Rosy Marbled Ruby Tiger Rufous Minor Rustic Scallop Shell Scarce Blackneck Scarce Footman Scarce Merveille du-jour Scarce Silver-lines Scarlet Tiger Scorched Carpet Scorched Wing September Thorn Setaceous Hebrew Character Shaded Annulet Shaded Fan-foot Shark Shears Short-cloaked Moth (only at Causse) Silver-Y Single-dotted Wave Single-dotted Wave Small Angle Shades Small Blood-vein Small Dusty Wave Small Emerald Small Fan-foot Small Fan-footed Wave Small Purple-barred Small Ranunculus Small White Wave Snout Southern Wainscot Speckled Beauty Speckled Yellow Spectacle Straw Belle Swallow-tailed Moth Swarthy Annulet Tawny Prominent Tawny Wave Tawny-barred Angle Tephronia sepiaria Toadflax Brocade Treble Brown Spot Turnip Moth Uncertain Vine's Rustic V-moth V-Pug White Ermine White-point Willow Beauty Yellow Shell