As good as it gets

Thursday night's haul of moths in the garden came to 231 individuals of 83 species, probably as good as it ever gets in May.  Thanks to the wind, last night's collection was nowhere near as good (102 of 40 species) but that was still an acceptable count for the time of year.  The following were added to the year-list over those two nights:

(21st)  Monopis laevigella, Isotrias rectifasciana, Scoparia pyralella, Eudonia pallida, Rhodophaea formosa,
           Common Wave, Burnished Brass, Brown Rustic, Light Brocade, Shoulder-striped Wainscot, Flame,
           Setaceous Hebrew Character
(22nd)  Ephestia woodiella (awaiting dissection)

Continuing the trend of ever earlier appearances, Rhodophaea formosa has only been recorded here once before in May and that was back in 2007 when it was seen on the 23rd. 

As expected, on the 21st it was Treble Lines which provided the highest count with 52.  However, next in line that night were some unusual species which don't often appear here in large numbers, Mottled Pug (21) and Broken-barred Carpet (10), while the previous night (20th) had seen a count of ten Common Pugs.  Pugs in general seem to be doing very well here this year with Lime-speck, Currant, White-spotted, Freyer's and Grey now appearing regularly while Oak-tree is still hanging on even though Brindled seems to have faded away.  I haven't yet seen Dwarf or Green here although they've been mentioned elsewhere.  Following the surprise visit of a Pinion-spotted Pug on Wednesday night I had two more on Thursday and a fourth last night.  Unbelievable!  They've all been a bit worn but then again the species starts flying in April so it must be coming towards the end of its flight period now.

Pinion-spotted Pug, Westcott 22nd May

Grey Pug, Westcott 22nd May

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks