Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Another quiet night in Cookham

It has been a quiet couple of weeks in my Cookham garden, with low moth numbers and nothing very exciting. I have come to the conclusion that all my moths have gone on a long vacation - to Westcott. There are quite a number of absentees - I have yet to see a Brick, Yellow-line Quaker or Sprawler this year to name just three.
Last night's trap had just 11 macro moths of 6 species - Red-green carpet (3), November Moth agg. (3), Lesser Yellow Underwing (2), Black Rustic (1), Red-line Quaker (1) and Beaded Chestnut (1).
However, there were also 7 micros, which is the most for quite awhile. There were 2 Epiphyas postvittana, 1 Plutella xylostella, 1 Acleris variegana and 3 other Acleris individuals. Of these, I am fairly sure that 2 are Acleris sparsana. The fw measures 9mm, and the appearance to the naked eye is more silvery grey than is apparent in the photo below.


The final moth is smaller and narrower than the one above, with a fw of 7mm. I thought possibly A. schalleriana, but that is only a guess.


Steve Trigg, Cookham
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2 comments:

  1. Dave Wilton28 October 2015 at 17:21

    Hi Steve, your two queries look good to me for Acleris sparsana and Acleris schalleriana. You still stand a good chance of getting those three missing macros you mention because all three continue flying into November and warmish nights seem to be with us for a little while yet.

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    1. Steve Trigg29 October 2015 at 08:24

      Thanks Dave. I shall remain optimistic with regard to the missing macros.

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