This page is dedicated to the work carried out on sites that I have sole access to and some are deemed sensitive. This work is possible thanks to CEDaR and their environmental recorders small grant scheme.
Project Scope
The aim is to use multiple light traps across a range of previously unrecorded sites to record, document and study all invertebrates attracted to light. These will be mostly lepidopteran, but all other non-lepidopteran invertebrates will be identified, recorded and logged with CEDaR. Building a picture of what invertebrates are on a site is fundamentally important to understanding the complete biodiversity available, and accurate data can show importance of keeping sites in the current state or feed into proposals for change.
Sites to be surveyed throughout the year:
- Poyntzpass rural garden
- Poyntzpass laekside woodland area
- Moira farmland
- Moira suburban garden
Project Equipment
Two light traps will be used throughout the project to record all invertebrates encountered. These are collapsible Heath traps, with 6W bulbs and capture veins. and are easily transported off and on to the sites. 18ah Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFe PO4) batteries will provide enough power to run each trap for 3-4 nights without needing recharged. Other equipment required to carry out the data recording will be:
- Specimen pots to maintain specimens for further study. 60mm for moths/beetles/caddis flies and 30ml for micro-moths and other smaller inverts
- Field guides to groups likely to be encountered
- OBS Identify mobile app
- GPS location marker
- Charging equipment for LiFe PO4 batteries
- Hand lenses
Project Data
Current data captured, without any analysis will feature here. Lists, images, and reports will be made available as soon as possible after capture. All data is also uploaded immediately to the CEDaR online recording scheme website for wider analysis and mapping there.
Breakdown of Families for all sites:
Top 10 Species for Project:
NI Moth Trap 