Empressive!

Since the millennium I've had 15 female Emperor Moths to light in Bucks, of which half a dozen have been here in the garden.  That number increased by one last night with this arrival at about 10pm to the actinic trap.  As usual she was in egg-laying mode and damaged herself somewhat inside the Robinson until eventually settling down to lay around 100 eggs in two batches on the egg cartons.  After a couple of years off it looks as though I'll be rearing them again in 2020 - well, I've not got a lot else to do.  The larvae should emerge in a couple of weeks and will all have pupated by the end of June, by which time we might hopefully be out of lockdown! 

Emperor Moth, Westcott 15th April

Emperor Moth and eggs, Westcott 15th April

Emperor Moth eggs, Westcott 15th April

I'll then be looking forward to next year's emergence because, having tried the pheromone lure for a couple of years, I've found that it is not quite as good as having a proper female or two.  The males seem to realise very quickly that they are being conned by the lure whereas they are always far more persistent when there's a real female involved.

Apart from the Empress and a Shoulder Stripe, last night's catch was again entirely of Orthosias so far as macro-moths were concerned.  However this time I did get a single micro, Scrobipalpa costella which was new for the year-list.  With Esperia sulphurella found active in the garden yesterday afternoon, the year-list has now reached 72 species.  Looking back I see that this total wasn't achieved until 20th April last year so things seem to be ticking along quite nicely at the moment.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks