I didn't expect a completely new addition to the garden list so early in the year, but this smart example of
Acleris literana was a very welcome arrival last night. I've seen it about ten times at assorted sites in Bucks since one recorded at Rushbeds Wood in 2009, but this was a first for the garden here at Westcott. According to John Langmaid's map (and therefore the tiny distribution map in the micro field guide) this species is found in just about every county in England apart from Bucks! However, that is actually an "administrative error" because, as correctly annotated below John's map, the first for VC24 was seen by the late George Higgs in 1971 and there have been about 60 further sightings in the county since then.
 |
| Acleris literana, Westcott 11th March |
Despite heavy rain for much of last night I still managed to get into double figures again, the remainder of the catch being Shoulder Stripe (1), Common Quaker (6), Clouded Drab (2) & Hebrew Character (2).
Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
Just noticed that on p.35 of MoGBI Vol.5(1) it says that Acleris literana is "seldom seen after hibernation". In Bucks we'd have to take issue with that because more than 80% of our sightings have been post-hibernation!
ReplyDelete