Garden Trap Improvements

I suspect that, with the warmer nights forecast over the next week, it won't be long before we've forgotten about how few moths there have been in gardens up until now.  While it would take much longer to analyse overall numbers, which I imagine could well have been hit quite hard, the species count in my garden by 31st May this year was actually bang on the average at 142.  I've looked back quickly as far as 2010 to get previous species counts here by that date: 
 

Year:	Species:	Weather:
2015	144	Average winter, dry spring
2014	173	Very wet winter, average spring
2013	93	Average winter, exceptionally cold spring
2012	138	Dry winter, exceptionally wet spring
2011	194	Average winter, warm spring
2010	144	Cold winter, very dry spring

      
When moaning about 2016, we may have forgotten about just how dire things were in 2013!

Last night's collection to the garden actinic was again dominated by Plutella xylostella (although only 19 of them this time) but there were 26 other species of which Hedya pruniana and Grey Pug were new for the year.  There was also one other drab-looking micro which I thought on first sight was going to be Achroia grisella (Lesser Wax Moth), but the photographs proved otherwise because the three very indistinct dark spots on the forewing became clear in the images and indicate that it is actually a Pseudatemelia species (probably flavifrontella at this time of year but has been retained for closer inspection).  Whichever it proves to be, this is my first completely new addition to the garden list for 2016.

Pseudatemelia species, Westcott 3rd June

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks