Something to do in the rain...

While walking back from the Polling Station this morning I had a look at a line of black poplars in the village here and found a single freshly-vacated pupal case of Hornet Moth protruding from its exit hole at the base of one tree.  The moth is obviously now flying locally so when (if?) the weather proves suitable it will be time once again to dig out the appropriate pheromone and attempt to lure one onto the garden list.  I've lost count of how many years I've tried this and failed, despite the presence of many poplars within 500m of the house!  Still, the pupal case is good enough to constitute a record so it is worth checking around the bases of any nearby poplars now and you might even be lucky enough to find a freshly-emerged adult still sitting in the grass or low down on the trunk.  A phone-camera record shot of today's find appears below:

Hornet Moth exuvia, Westcott 8th June

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks