The first new macro-moth for this year's garden list at
Westcott, Bucks since Square-spot Rustic nearly two weeks ago turned up last night in the shape of a male Pale Eggar. Despite supposedly being a common species, in Bucks it has always been restricted to the northern half of the county. Take away the records from three 'hot-spots' (Bernwood Forest, the Marsh Gibbon RIS trap and my garden!) and there are only a handful of sightings in the county each year nowadays. This fits with the BC/Rothamsted report "The State of Britain's Larger Moths 2013" which states that it had declined by 90% between 1968 and 2007.
The slightly warmer overnight temperatures (and just a few spots of drizzle in contrast to what was forecast) produced an increase in the actinic trap's catch to 116 moths of 36 species. Large Yellow Underwing has finally started to wake up here with 20 caught.
Dave Wilton
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| Pale Eggar, Westcott 21st August |
I've only ever found one here in Aylesbury, Dave, just round the corner from your daughter's house! Back in the 80's i used to find the larvae over in Bernwood forest fairly frequently.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, back in the 80's when I trapped over on the Broughton Estate, they were fairly regular visitors to the garden.
ReplyDelete