Once again it has been a case of no blanks but just six adult moth species recorded here over the past seven nights. In between bouts of heavy rain, last night (Tuesday 22nd) proved to be the best of the bunch, bringing in four moths of three species which comprised Epiphyas postvittana (2), Winter Moth (1) & Pale Brindled Beauty (1, first of the season here), while the other species seen during the week were Acleris ferrugana/ notana (one on the 16th), Mottled Umber (16th, 17th, 18th & 21st) and December Moth (one on the 20th, only the second this month).
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| Epiphyas postvittana male, Westcott 22nd December |
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| Epiphyas postvittana female, Westcott 22nd December |
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| Pale Brindled Beauty, Westcott 22nd December |
I don't get anywhere near the numbers of Epiphyas postvittana in the garden that others do but its totals have been creeping ever upwards over the past few years, 2020 being the first where they've topped 100 individuals. I've had records for every month in the year now.
Not a moth, I know, but worth mentioning from last night was the large diving beetle Dytiscus semisulcatus. I get its even larger relative D.marginalis here regularly to light (for example, six in 2018, nine in 2019 and three in 2020) but on flipping this one over to check the coxal process I found that the undersides were entirely black rather than yellow. Like marginalis I think that it is supposed to be relatively common locally but this was a first record for the garden.
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| Dytiscus semisulcatus, Westcott 22nd December |
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
I had one of those Dytiscus semisulcatus some years ago one night moth trapping in central Bucks. It landed with an almighty crash onto my car and I thought at one point it had dented the body. It survived, including its identification. Sounded like a rifle shot.
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