Mayfield Park private garden Moths and night creatures 3rd July 2026

By kind invite of Pat and Di, friends of Cath Corney, seven of us ran a UV light over the sheet on a lawn immediately next to the woodland at Mayfield Park. It was a typical warm and calm summer evening. First we observed the roosting pipistrelle bats emerging from the house, then we concentrated on the moth lamp. 72 moth species were seen, the highlight being Dark Umber Moth – a species whose larvae feed on buckthorn, an equally scarce plant in Southampton. We were entertained by no less than five pretty carnation pink and lime green elephant hawkmoths (a ridiculous name for the moth until you see the caterpillar), but the biggest numbers were the caddis flies and numerous small flies, mainly identified to genus. Some micro-moths were numerous too, such as the oak longhorn, the beech-mast piercer, the ash-bark knot-horn and both the apple and horse chestnut leaf miners.