Maybe next week...

If next week's forecast lives up to expectations then we should be due to have a heatwave (but knowing the Met Office it'll probably snow instead!).  Something is certainly needed to give species numbers a boost.  Here at Westcott, Bucks the garden trap continues to plod along, providing new species for the year, but numbers are still well down and even species such as Heart & Dart and Uncertain are only just getting into double figures.  New for the year over the past few days have been Narycia duplicella, Prays fraxinella, Enarmonia formosana & Smoky Wainscot (23rd), Pammene regiana, Barred Straw & Fan-foot (24th), Grapholita funebrana & Lackey (25th) and Common Emerald & Dotted Fan-foot (26th).

Narycia duplicella, Westcott 23rd June

Pammene regiana, Westcott 24th June

Dotted Fan-foot, Westcott 26th June

This is the second occasion that I've had the scruffy "bag-worm" moth Narycia duplicella to light in the garden but despite much searching I've never managed to find larval cases for any of that family of moths here.  Pammene regiana is new for the garden list and, having caught one at Bradenham the previous night, it concerned me that this might be the same individual which I'd brought home to photograph (even though I was sure I'd released it some miles away!).  However, there are clear differences in the markings when compared to the image uploaded on 24th June.  Despite the lack of obvious habitat for it in this area, the male Dotted Fan-foot is clearly from a local colony as this is the third year running I've had it in the garden.

Dave Wilton