Small catches in Wolvercote, Oxon, of late, partly because we've mainly been using an actinic lamp - still a few new records for the year (and pleasingly, on 1st October, a new record for the garden, Autumnal Rustic). Near, rather than in, the trap last night was the rather battered and poorly photographed specimen below, which I think is a rather pale Brick, but I'd appreciate confirmation or other suggestions. Steve and Xander Goddard.
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| Autumnal Rustic, 1/10/14 |
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| Possible Brick, 17/10/14 |
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| Possible Brick, 17/10/14 |
Hi Steve, I think that one may have to be confined to the list of "I don't knows". It doesn't strike me as being very Brick-like and, if anything, there's a hint of a striped abdomen which would point more towards a very tired and faded Lunar Underwing, but I wouldn't commit to that either without seeing the moth itself.
ReplyDeleteI should say well done on the Autumnal Rustic, though! It is an unlikely garden visitor in our area and, certainly in Bucks, gets recorded only three or four times a year at most. It seems to be one of those moths which has undergone a dramatic decline.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dave: that's fair enough on the not-Brick. I'd gathered Autumnal Rustic had declined: the Bible refers to its being red-listed, and having declined 90% between 1968 and 2002 -- and looking at it, its habitats don't seem to include gardens: probably the habitat near us which is closest to what's mentioned is open woodland. I nearly dismissed it as a poorly-marked Setaceous Hebrew Character or similar: it was Xander who spotted it was definitely something unfamiliar.
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