Westcott, Bucks

All good things come to an end!  The last four or five nights here have seen a significant reduction in moths caught in the garden.  Last night's total was par for the course now with 215 moths of 62 species, of which Agriphila straminella, Flame Shoulder, Common/Lesser Common Rustic and Straw Dot were the only species to achieve a double-digit count.  However, Tree-lichen Beauty is still appearing regularly and Gold Spot continues to do far better than it ever has before with another six caught last night. 

There has as yet been very little sign of immigration because the regular supply of Silver Ys are almost certainly home-grown examples, even the smaller ones of which there have been many (lots of other species are producing sub-standard individuals as well at the moment).  A couple of appearances by Dark Sword-grass over the past few nights has been the only possible indication here of moths from foreign parts.

The 2018 garden year-list currently stands at 529 species which is co-incidentally just one more than the total achieved by 31st July last year.  The last month has been particularly good for completely new garden species, producing 13 of the 20 known additions so far this year.  In total there have been nine new macros here in 2018, equalling last year's macro additions for the full twelve months.  Micros are another matter but who would have thought that after 14 years of recording at this site I would still be getting that many extra macros in a year - and I'm still waiting for Toadflax Brocade! 

Amongst last night's moths were another two species new for the year list, Bucculatrix albedinella (a regular here from our elm) and the first garden record of Jersey Tiger.  There's been no shortage of Jersey Tiger pictures on these pages as this lovely moth seems to be turning up everywhere just now, but I've included one more here for Martin Albertini's benefit because last night's visitor was a smart form lutescens, the first I've seen in Bucks with yellow hind-wings.  Getting a pot-free photograph of it showing them was no mean feat because the moth took flight within seconds every time the container was removed! 

Bucculatrix albedinella, Westcott 31st July

Jersey Tiger f. lutescens, Westcott 31st July

As usual I've been getting Maple Pug here regularly since mid-month.  It is a fairly nondescript member of the smaller Pugs and can easily be confused with Slender Pug so, as ever, I've retained one or two for Peter Hall to check.  The example below from last night seems to me to be a very fresh typical female but will also get checked to make doubly sure.

Maple Pug, Westcott 31st July

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks