(13th August) Ypsolopha horridella, Epinotia ramella, Lathronympha strigana, Achroia grisella
(17th August) Small Mottled Willow
(18th August) Pammene aurita, Small Waved Umber, Bulrush Wainscot
(21st August) Agriphila geniculea, Cypress Pug
(22nd August) Cameraria ohridella, Oncocera semirubella, Cabbage Moth, Webb's Wainscot
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| Ypsolopha horridella, Westcott 13th August |
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| Cypress Pug, Westcott 21st August |
I mentioned Webb's Wainscot as a good candidate for the garden list only last week and it was brilliant that one should obligingly turn up so quickly! That's the second new macro-moth here for 2016. Oncocera semirubella was also new for the garden and will have wandered in from the Chilterns, where its spread over the past few years has been nothing short of phenomenal.
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| Webb's Wainscot, Westcott 22nd August |
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| Oncocera semirubella, Westcott 22nd August |
Last night (22nd) was definitely a good night for numbers too, with 350 individuals of just short of 80 species caught, not including the little Water Veneer Acentria ephemerella of which there were at least 100 flapping around in the grass around the trap when I checked it just before midnight. They in turn were outnumbered by a very small (circa 5mm length) reddish-black ground beetle of which there were swarms both inside and outside the trap. They were considerably smaller than the dung beetle Aphodius rufipes, of which I also had about 20. The most numerous macro-moth here at the moment is Small Square-spot (43 last night), followed by Brimstone Moth (36), Straw Dot (20) & Flame Shoulder (19). Large Yellow Underwing is finally showing signs of an increase with 15 last night, which I'm fairly sure stands as this year's highest nightly total for me so far, but Square-spot Rustic hasn't really got going at all here yet.
Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
So how do your Brimstone numbers compare to previous seasons? Last night it was the commonest moth in my garden trap and I can't think of any occasion when that has happened before.
ReplyDeleteAugust counts for Brimstone here are often quite high, certainly much higher than the earlier brood, and I've got a little way to go yet to equal some counts from the recent past. These are the peak nightly garden counts from the previous four years: 50 (22Aug15), 25 (05Aug14), 52 (23Aug13), 52 (18Aug12).
DeleteYour beetle could well have been Bradycellus verbasci. It does turn up in moth traps regularly and occasionally in numbers.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Martin - it looks to be a very good match for what I had. I did take a picture of one but, as usual, it was covered in moth scales. Must wash pots more than once a year!
DeleteIncidentally, I see one of those little beetles also made a guest appearance on the picture of Acrobasis advenella taken by Mark Griffiths in the previous post.
DeleteEverywhere I've trapped recently, including in garden nightly, there have been tens to hundreds of these beetles. I see them every year but never this many. Something similar happened earlier in the year with Harpalus rufipes which for a few nights turned up in mass wherever I trapped including in South Wales, so not just locally. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteAlso catching lots of the cool leafhopper Ledra aurita. Often catch the odd one here and there but had over ten the other night at SCEEC in one MV trap. Had a few the night after at Bagley as well.
ReplyDelete