Upper Thames Moths

In the mid-week at Philipshill Wood, Bucks, two lights took a fairly regulation catch, but that's an improvement over what has been caught  in the recent past. Notable, perhaps, were singles of Bird's Wing and Satin Beauty; but for me my favourites were a pair of pristine Large Emeralds which arrived just before packing-up time:

 

Although they're not new to me, I'm not familiar with them and so I was pleased to see another, two nights later in Hertfordshire. It seems to me they are a bit like Brimstones - circling around and not going into the traps.

Two species which did attend in numbers, although not necessarily in good quality, were Archips xylosteana and A crataegana, giving an opportunity of compare and contrast photos:

crataegana is first and xylosteana second. Some text books describe the latter as 'more variegated' - I'm not sure what that means, unless it means 'the xylosteana generally has brighter colours'.
Andy.