Mompha langiella

Last Saturday night, 22nd August (our final day of summer?), brought 856 moths of 110 species to the garden here at Westcott, Bucks of which Bucculatrix ulmella, Cochylis dubitana, Bactra lancealana, Galleria mellonella/Wax Moth, Oak Hook-tip & Oak Nycteoline were all new sightings for this year's garden list.  Despite the awful start, 2015 is now proving to be every bit as good as 2014 for moths seen in the garden.  From the migrant point of view it has already been stunning and only now are we approaching the usual migrant 'season'!

Of course, like the weather, since Saturday night things have gone downhill rapidly with 151 moths of 30 species on the 23rd and 121 moths of 28 species on the 24th.  At least last night's paltry collection did include one potentially very interesting moth, found trying to hide in a fold on the final egg-box.  I believe it to be Mompha langiella and if proved correct it would appear to represent the first adult sighting of the moth for vc24.  The three county records to date, all from 2013, were of leaf-mines on the larval food-plant enchanter's nightshade Circaea lutetiana.

Probable Mompha langiella, Westcott 24th August

Dave Wilton