Westcott, Bucks

The garden trap continues to bring in new moths for the year-list and last night's additions take me past 500 adult species here for 2017 (so not including early stages, mines etc), two weeks earlier than I've ever achieved that figure before.

12th July  Agriphila geniculea, Cloaked Minor
13th July  Argyresthia bonnetella, Roeslerstammia erxlebella, Aproaerema anthyllidella, Chionodes
                  fumatella, Epinotia nisella, Dusky Thorn
14th July  Argyresthia goedartella, Agonopterix subpropinquella, Cydia splendana, Sitochroa verticalis
15th July  Phyllonorycter trifasciella, Acleris laterana, Orthotaenia undulana, Tree-lichen Beauty, Copper
                  Underwing, Lychnis, Mouse Moth, Mere Wainscot
16th July  Argyrotaenia ljungiana, Haworth's Pug, Bordered Beauty
17th July  Teleiodes vulgella, Cochylis molliculana, Pandemis corylana, Dioryctria sylvestrella, Bordered
                  Pug, Sallow Kitten
18th July  Swammerdamia pyrella, Coleophora hemerobiella, Acleris aspersana, Ancylis badiana

Tree-lichen Beauty, Westcott 15th July

Mere Wainscot, Westcott 15th July

Bordered Beauty, Westcott 16th July

Bordered Pug, Westcott 17th July

Some of the micros have, of course, been retained for checking.  It is they which keep the interest going because there has been a definite downturn in the number of new macro species turning up, as is only to be expected at this time of year.  Many of the arrivals now are second broods but at least that gives us another opportunity to catch up with species we may have missed earlier in the year (Sallow Kitten here, for example).  Before the blog started, when Peter Hall used to produce stats of what had been reported on the BC Upper Thames Branch website, we reckoned that from the beginning of August to the end of the year there were only about 100 species left to appear locally.  In this "early" year we've probably reached that point already - now there's a depressing thought!

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks