Thursday 25 May 2017

Nice moths from this week

Another quick collage below, I'm afraid, containing some of the moth highlights found away from home so far this week, both by day and at night:


My first three Foresters of the year (top left), all male, were found at Bernwood Meadows, Bucks yesterday (24th) along with large numbers of Anania fuscalis and Grass Rivulet.  Other moths recorded there during my brief visit were Cauchas rufimitrella, Glyphipterix fuscoviridella, Elachista argentella, Agapeta hamana, Cochylimorpha straminea, Dichrorampha acuminatana, Scoparia pyralella, Pyrausta purpuralis, Common Swift, Silver Y & Mother Shipton.  On Monday night (22nd) I ran some lights in Hog & Hollowhill Woods, Medmenham, Bucks which are now managed by BBOWT.  I got quite a decent list of species, including several examples of Mocha, but the highlights for me from there were Ancylis upupana and a possible Coleophora lutarea (both top right).  I've searched no end of stitchwort in the daytime looking for lutarea, for which there is only a single previous Bucks record from Buttler's Hangings near High Wycombe.  Ancylis upupana is almost equally as rare in the county with only two previous sightings.  Isotrias rectifasciana (bottom right), Light Feathered Rustic (centre, a very dark female) and Broom Moth (bottom left) were all recorded on the National Trust's Ivinghoe Beacon, Bucks last night (24th).  Isotrias rectifasciana was seen in the garden as well this week and I put it forward as a suggestion for Darren Seaman's sighting back on 16th May but which we later decided wasn't that species but was probably a female Rhopobota stagnana.  It was pleasing to get double-digit counts of Light Feathered Rustic and Broom Moth last night between two very busy traps, although Common Swift, Green Carpet, Grass Rivulet, Shears & Treble Lines made up the majority of the catch!  The final moth in the collage (lower right) is the splendid little Micropterix aruncella which was the best of the bunch caught during a trapping session on the National Trust's Coombe Hill, Bucks on Tuesday night (23rd).

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks             

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