Yesterday a concerted effort was made to re-find the rare plume moth
Oxyptilus pilosellae which came to one of my traps on the National Trust estate here at this time last year, that being its first sighting anywhere in the UK since 1964. Martin Albertini, Peter Hall and I, accompanied by plume expert Colin Hart, searched the area unsuccessfully during the afternoon but we did also take the opportunity to look for Striped Lychnis larvae. In excess of 170 were counted, which is quite a good result for the site, although a few were found to be carrying the eggs of a parasite as can be seen in the picture below.
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Parasitized Striped Lychnis larva at
Bradenham, picture taken by Peter Hall |
In the evening we were joined by Mark Telfer and a number of MV lights were run across the site. The target moth did eventually put in an appearance with three males being caught, which was a very pleasing result. Other noteworthy species seen included
Acompsia schmidtiellus,
Pempeliella dilutella, Royal Mantle, Beech-green Carpet, Jersey Tiger, Square-spotted Clay, Rosy Minor and Tree-lichen Beauty.
Dave Wilton
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| Jersey Tiger at Bradenham, picture taken by Peter Hall |
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Oxyptilus pilosellae at Bradenham,
picture taken by Peter Hall |
Good results, Dave - nice that Jersey tiger is slowly spreading north towards Aylesbury, and great result to get the plume.
ReplyDeleteYes, we never expected to find it in reality and to get 3 was a real bonus. Lovely warm night and the traps were heaving with moth numbers. A real treat - apart from my 2 and a half hour driver home afterwards.
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