Yesterday (Thursday) I spent the sunny afternoon sitting with three virgin female Emperor Moths at potential sites in SU99, this being the only 10km square wholly within Bucks without records for the species. The main locations I looked at were the Field Studies Council site at Mop End near Amersham and BC's Holtspur Bottom reserve near Beaconsfield. Unfortunately males didn't appear at all in an hour spent at either site, so this remains an unrecorded hectad. Thus if any recorders who live in Amersham, Holmer Green, Penn, Beaconsfield, Seer Green or the Chalfonts come across an Emperor we'd be very pleased to hear from you! The moth must be there somewhere because it can be found just about everywhere else in the county. The map below shows hectads in VC24 with post-millennium records:
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| VC24 records for Emperor Moth post-2000 |
It is brilliant to see other people out and about in adjacent counties either with pheromone lures or with virgin females, but please note how widespread the moth is in Bucks. I'm sure the same will be true in Berks and Oxon so please don't restrict your searches to so-called 'typical' habitat on heather heathland - scrubby areas with bramble or blackthorn are just as likely to be productive.
Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
I've never seen an Emperor Moth and now I know why.
ReplyDeleteDave Ferguson (SU99 resident)
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteI have tried the lure a couple of times in my parents back garden at Chalfont Heights without success. I plan to try again when I can, I may try a few other sites in the vicinity to see what happens. Is the Forester site worth a punt do you think?
Thanks for trying, Rob! I would have thought the Forester site was ideal.
ReplyDelete