We were away for most of the latter part of August, but our catches since then in Wolvercote, Oxon, have largely reflected what others have observed, though usually on a smaller scale. So with us, too, Large Yellow Underwings have finally started to turn up in decent numbers - 28 on 31st August - and there's been a mini-surge of Chinese Characters (not in comparable numbers to other peoples', but regularly, and with a couple on one occasion). A few new species for the year have shown up - a couple of Copper Underwings on 30th August and an Angle Shades on 2nd September - and there have been a couple of surprises: notably what I'm pretty sure is an Engrailed on 31st August - is a second generation usual around here? There have been (only) a couple of real uncertainties, shown below. The first, which has shown up on a couple of evenings, seems likely to be
Gracillaria syringella; the second presumably a snout species of some sort, but I can't decide which (if any). All suggestions gratefully received. Steve and Xander Goddard.
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| Presumed Engrailed, 31/8/14 |
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| Possible Gracillaria syringella, 31/8/14 |
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| Unknown, 1/9/14 |
Welcome back, yes your first one is an Engailed, your second one is Caloptilia syringella (or whatever it is called these days) and the third is a Pinion-streaked Snout.
ReplyDeleteExcellent -- many thanks, Peter.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve - to answer your Engrailed query, yes they do have a second generation. My records is S. Bucks are often more numerous for the second generation, which usually peaks in July and tails off rapidly with the odd early August record. I do have one record for 31st August, which I wonder like yours might be third generation.
ReplyDelete