GIFT SUGGESTIONS

Osier Willow cuttings S. viminalis

Years ago we planted a stick that was floating down a river in Wiltshire.  That was in 1954! It grew – rapidly – producing a wealth of leaves.  We tried it as a foodplant and discovered that not only did British species do well on it, but exotic silkmoth larvae as well.

This stick was the daddy of hosts of willow thickets that we have established in Dorset, Cornwall and in France.

Osier is Basket Willow, the flexible essential for basket weaving. It makes a wonderful woven hedge. It can form living sculptures. Winter or summer, Osier makes wonderful screens and windbreaks. Cover for wildlife and game. Osier is grown as a crop for energy production. In short it is a blessing to the environment, and very pleasant on the eye in landscaping schemes.

 We are offering a bunch of 10 cuttings for you to try not only as probably the most universal foodplant for larvae, but a great addition to your garden and grounds. 

Probably the easiest cuttings to strike and grow. You simply push them into the ground, during autumn or spring. Leaves will appear within the first fortnight if planted in spring, roots quickly follow. In the first year they will more than double in size. Next year, in normal drought free conditions,  if you winter prune very hard, you will have perhaps 2 metres of growth on every branch, providing masses of foodplant. You may even be able to feed some in the first year.

You can store cuttings before planting, either in a polythene bag in the fridge, or standing in water. In water they often start to root. It is advisable to plant them before the roots actually burst out of the bark.
 

This plant is a complete success story – you will be pleased you tried it!  

Beginner's Field Net

A simple and well-designed net, suitable for first forays out into the fields and woods. In order to identify for sure, it may often be necessary to capture an insect, and then release it if not required. You get net bag, frame and fixed 30mm 12 inch handle.

The new Moonlander Moth Trap 

Compact and portable. Designed and tested by Robert Goodden. The Moonlander has been re-designed with spring-loaded supports and integral legs. It has a convenient new carry bag that accommodates trap, cone, moth shelters, supports with legs, and the new compact Goodden GemLight SUPER. This is not just a bag: it enables you to pack away the trap with the contents all arranged inside, ready for immediate use next time. Yet the bag is only 50mm or 2" deep.

The new Moonlander packs into a small postal container. The Moonlander, with all equipment including the GemLight Super can be sent together by International Letter Post. No other trap and light is compact and light enough to do this. Mail a trap to contacts abroad to use it remotely for you!

Sufficient room for large catches, anywhere in the world. Folds absolutely flat. Carry in hand luggage, on a bike or hike. Neat carrying case: carry several in the field in one hand. Set up in seconds. See your catch as the moths fly in – this trap combines the advantages of both sheet for observation and trap to retain the moths which enter from the base not the top. Other traps lose their catch through the top opening  in the morning – the Moonlander is closed at the top and holds its catch. Ideal for sampling in remote areas on nothing more than tiny torch batteries.

A cone of reticulated foam in the base, and a set of foam moth shelters are included. These are a modern improvement on egg boxes. Given a choice, more moths are found in the foam than in egg boxes. Click photo to enlarge and see the moths' preference! If wet the foam is simply shaken and quickly dries in the air. Foam can be rolled compactly and springs back into shape when required for use.

Dimensions: 38cm diameter, 45cm tall (+ height of legs). The Moonlander with Goodden GemLight Super, Cone and Moth Shelters, all arranged in the carrying bag, for instant use, weighs less than a Kilo, and the bag is only approximately 50mm 4" deep.

Click main photo to see lots more. Hover over a picture and an arrow comes up left or right so you can view all the pictures in rotation. See moths in good numbers attracted to the Moonlander, and working in remote sites. The Moonlander attracts moths even above the snow line. Conventional sceptics sometimes express doubt that moths fly upwards into the trap, and believe that moths only rest on the outside. Indeed the Moonlander is designed to view your catch as it comes in, as if using a white sheet, but they also pile in through the base entrance, as the photographs on this site testify. The Moonlander is an unconventional and innovative trap, designed for convenience and excellent results on field studies. See the advanced new Goodden GemLight Super which has been designed specially to suit the Moonlander - the most compact light that requires no brick for a battery, just 8 AA torch batteries!

Hanging Moonlander There can be advantages in suspending the Moonlander from a branch. With the new Goodden GemLight Super, the whole trap with light and contained batteries, is a fraction of the weight of other traps and batteries. See separate description of the Goodden GemLight SUPER.

The Moonlander can be suspended at different heights, even hoisted up trees, which may sometimes result in attracting different species. A suspended trap is very quick to assemble and pack away. It overcomes difficult or sloping terrain, and resists bad weather. The Moonlander can even be adapted for use by day as a BUTTERFLY TRAP! Just add a suspended bait platform below the base opening and it will catch Charaxes and other Nymphalid butterflies in countries where they occur. When you want the trap to be free standing you can use the new spring-loaded compact supports with integrated legs.

Completely re-designed supports and legs are now available for the Moonlander for use where a free-standing trap is required. The new supports are spring loaded so they automatically adjust height when damp conditions necessitate longer supports. Equally, if warm and dry, the supports may need shortening (by moving a screw to a new position) rather then create excess tension which could damage the netting. Check this before fitting the supports. These supports are a great improvement on the originals. They are very slender and pack away in little space.

Designed for total convenience both in transit and in the field. Multiple traps are easily transported and quickly set up in remote places. Re-charging can be done quickly from a vehicle and you can even re-charge using solar energy.

Any light can be used. The trap is sold with the battery powered Goodden GemLight Super.  It can also be used with any other light.  We no longer offer actinic lights because test results are well below those with the Goodden GemLight Super, and their batteries are heavy. 

Everything about both trap and light is TOTALLY INNOVATIVE and new to Entomology.

Moonlander complete, Carry Bag, Cone and Moth Shelters, Goodden GemLight SUPER and new self-adjusting supports with legs  

Please see notes and advice on selecting suitable sites, and how to use the light

in the GemLight SUPER description in this section.

PATENT PENDING for both the new GOODDEN GemLight SUPER and the MOONLANDER MOTH TRAP.

Duraluminium Telescopic Net Handle Small Size G 33-70cm

A compact telescopic handle that is almost pocket size and ideal for inconspicuous use. Lightweight. Positive locking action at any set length between max and min. Well made, with good hand grip.

The net frame screws into the M6 thread at the end.

Perfect for travel and easily transported in the field and as air baggage.

SLEEVE PACK One each of Sizes 1, 3 and 4 together with Velcro for securing.

These three sizes are the most used sleeves. A PACK of Sleeves is a useful standby for the serious breeder, both for oneself or as a gift for an enthusiast. 

Sleeving larvae is the preferred rearing method for many breeders. The larvae live very naturally on growing foodplant. At the same time they are both protected from predators and prevented from straying. Sleeves can even be used as an economical substitute for cages on growing or cut foodplant. 

With closed ends, these sleeves have the innovation of a zip along the side that gives instant access for inspection, and popping back any larvae that may appear on your arm after tending the sleeve! The Zipped Sleeves are amazingly useful and we wonder why we didn't have them before!  In addition, there is a shorter zip at the closed end, which enables removal of litter and frass. The SLEEVE PACK is a welcome addition to the WWB range and is serious equipment for the enthusiast.

THE MINI SILK FARM

A complete outfit for rearing silkworms from egg to cocoon, and reeling your own raw silk. Everything is provided: a small batch of eggs, food for the entire life of 20 silkworms, all the rearing equipment, detailed educational documentation and instructions, and a simple reeling device.

There is even a small bag of cocoons so that you can practise reeling, and don't have to wait to rear the cocoons from the egg.

Normally Silkworms feed on Mulberry leaves. This is an uncommon tree that is not always readily available, so we are providing a substitute food, which is a powder that comes with the necessary instructions for preparing the artificial diet in the kitchen. You will have a supply of fresh food always available for the silkworms throughout their life of about a month.

The Mini Silk Farm can be bought at any time of the year. The eggs are stored in a fridge until incubation. Although rearing in summer is easier because of temperature, you can rear silkworms almost throughout the year, if you can keep them at about 25º-28ºC. Eggs supplied in winter will need to be refrigerated for 8-12 weeks before incubation.

The instructions guide you through easy rearing, preparation of the artificial diet and the reeling process. The Mini Silk Farm is fun and unusually educational.

TRAVEL CAGE 30 cm diameter 20 cm high.

This cage is quite an innovation. It has been designed for convenience when travelling. But not just for travelling - this cage is very adaptable and can be used over plants indoors or outside, potted or in the ground.  It folds absolutely flat. Access is by a smiley zip in the side. In the base is another zip which allows the cage to be stood on a pot of growing foodplant, or a jar of cut food and flowers. The cage has two supports so it can be stood, but it can also be hung and used as a pairing cage. The design has evolved from needs when travelling and gathering all sorts of species to breed. Half a dozen cages occupy very little space, but they give amazing facility as a cage for pupae emerging, keeping larvae, pairing, egg-laying, butterflies or moths, Stick Insects and other creatures. The Travel Cage is very versatile!

NEW Zipped Bag Sleeve with side opening for instant access. 

This size is ideal for rearing to pupation about ten larvae, or for keeping larger numbers of younger larvae. The end of the bag is sewn closed. The open end is slipped over a branch and tied or fastened with velcro strip.

The side zip gives wide access for inspection, photography or removal of frass and any dead leaves. Also ideal when you find that a caterpillar has hitched a lift on your arm!  When you use a Zipped Bag Sleeve you will wonder why it has taken until now to use such an innovation!

Spring Frame Pocket Net - new superior design

This net is better made and designed than any other pocket net we have ever seen.    

The compact folded size is most convenient for lightweight travel and is ideal for unencumbered field work, when you need both hands free for photography and examination. From pocket to open net is achieved in seconds.

The design is based on an ideal design from Japan that was in the WWB range over 50 years ago, but became unobtainable. After a long absence we have now sourced this updated and even sturdier quality frame, that will last indefinitely and provide a most important aid to field study.

The short handle is nicely balanced, and all that is usually needed, but an adaptor is supplied to allow the use of one of the telescopic handles (available separately and not with this net), when required.

The diameter is an ample 35cm or 14", folding down to only 13cm or 5", easily fitting a trouser pocket.

TO FOLD hold the frame at arm's length (to keep the spring steel away from the face) with both hands, and twist in opposite directions, forming a figure of eight. Draw both hands together, which forms the frame into a small circle. The spring steel can be held in place by hooking it under the knurled knob at the join to the handle. The bag is then wrapped round and tucked into itself, to keep the frame from springing open.

The net bag is fitted by threading the spring steel frame through the net bag rim. The drilled ends of the spring steel are overlapped and secured by a knurled knob that screws into the metal Y-piece with short handle. Included is a thread converter that should be kept in a safe place for use if you wish to use a telescopic handle that uses a 6mm screw thread. 

Please note that the above description and illustrations are given here for reference when you wish to fit the bag and learn to fold it. Printed instructions are not sent with the net, so if you are buying for somebody else, they may need to refer to the above.

Scroll right to see all the pictures.

The same figure of eight fold is shown without the net bag:

Collins Butterfly Guide     Tom Tolman and Richard Lewington

This new guide covers over 400 species, 2000 colour illustrations and distribution maps for each species.

Very comprehensive text covering flight periods, variation, habitat, behaviour, life cycle and nomenclature.  384 pages. New Softback edition. 

Moths of the British Isles. Colour Identification Guide     Bernard Skinner

One of the best works on British Moths, compact text and cross-references simplify identification. Third revised and updated edition April 2009..

A colour identification with 42 plates, illustrating over 1600 species. 

Current assessment of breeding species and genuine migrants, their status, habits and distribution.  Hardcover.  325 pages. 9.5 x 7.5"  

Butterflies of Britain Chart   Richard Lewington

 Four-folded highly colourful chart illustrating all the British butterflies natural size, by the artist Richard Lewington. Stiff card, approx A4 size, gloss laminate protected both sides. The reverse has informative texts on life cycles, Parasites, behaviour, conservation and organisations involved with butterflies.