We got back on Sunday and despite the jet-lag I was keen to start catching up at what should be the busiest time of the mothing year, so the garden trap was run that night. It did prove rather difficult getting up again at 3.30am to secure the catch from the birds! Just short of 70 species seemed a reasonable return, especially as 30 of them were new for the year list. There was nothing particularly exciting but the catch included Eudonia pallida, Myelois circumvoluta, Leopard Moth, Peach Blossom, Blotched Emerald, White-pinion Spotted (unusual here, only the fifth record for the garden), White-point & Gold Spot (the latter being my earliest ever, although I see there are several Bucks records from the second half of May).
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| Leopard Moth, Westcott 10th June |
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| Gold Spot, Westcott 10th June |
The trap was run again last night and produced the garden's first 100+ species count for 2018. A further 34 species were new for the year list, taking it to just over 250 which is better than the average for 11th June. Again, there was nothing unexpected, but amongst the newcomers were Cochylis hybridella, Aphelia paleana, Aleimma loeflingiana, Archips podana, Clepsis consimilana, Eucosma obumbratana, Crambus pascuella, Rhodophaea formosa, Pine Hawk-moth, Small Elephant Hawk-moth, Four-dotted Footman, Heart & Club, Ingrailed Clay, Double Square-spot, Dark Arches, Light Arches & Dusky Brocade.
Having seen the posts about Hornet Moth over the past 24 hours, today I had a look at the bases of some of the black poplars in the village here but the best I could do was a single newly-vacated pupal case. Despite being virtually surrounded by Hornet Moth-infested trees I have yet to succeed in luring one into the garden. It is obviously time to extract the appropriate pheromone from the freezer once again...
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| Hornet Moth exuvia, Westcott 12th June |
Westcott, Bucks
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