Upper Thames Moths: Half Way Point

Friday 1 July 2016

Half Way Point

Although the species count here at Westcott, Bucks was keeping up with the average at the end of May, June hasn't been a particularly good month and the current garden total for the year of 288 species is now falling behind, especially when compared to the same point in the previous two years (341 by 30th June 2015, 343 by 30th June 2014). However, all is not lost because it is significantly better than the same point in the two years before that (223 in 2013, 238 in 2012). Let's hope that we get some decent warm nights over the next couple of months to give numbers a boost, especially the micro-moths which seem to be well down at the moment.

New for the year in the garden on the 29th were Udea prunalis, Dark Arches and Beautiful Golden Y, while last night (30th) I got Aethes rubigana, Archips xylosteana, Epinotia abbreviana, Acrobasis consociella, Blue-bordered Carpet and Dot Moth. Beautiful Golden Y doesn't appear here every year whereas Plain Golden Y is a very regular customer at the trap. As I got both species on the 29th I thought it might be worth adding their pictures here because they do sometimes get confused when seen on their own. Beautiful Golden Y is a rather more ornate species with a purple-ish ground colour and the 'Y' marking lies within a square block reminiscent of plain chocolate, while Plain Golden Y has more of a pinkish ground colour and the 'Y' marking is within a lighter brown square more like milk chocolate. Bourneville and Dairy Milk, if you like...