Thank goodness April and May are finally over with. I begin to wonder if things are ever going to get back to normal this year after two months when the weather was so diabolical. While the last few days have certainly seen an improvement I'm currently way behind the usual garden species total for the end of May (244 achieved by 31st May in 2019, 272 in 2020 but only 152 in 2021) and I dread to think how poor the individual moth count will be. Here's how the fourth week and final few days of May panned out here:
(22nd) 2 moths of 2 species, nothing new for the garden year-list.
(23rd) 2 moths of 2 species, again nothing new.
(24th) 6 moths of 5 species, again nothing new.
(25th) 8 moths of 8 species, Seraphim new for the year.
(26th) 14 moths of 11 species, Notocelia cynosbatella new for the year.
(27th) 46 moths of 33 species, Tinea trinotella, Monopis weaverella, Aethes smeathmanniana, Celypha lacunana, Pammene argyrana, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Broken-barred Carpet, Green Carpet, Lesser Treble-bar, Cinnabar & Heart and Dart all new for the year (first Cockchafer too).
(28th) 72 moths of 41 species, Monopis laevigella, Bucculatrix nigricomella, Argyresthia trifasciata, Epinotia immundana, Crambus lathoniellus, Oak Hook-tip, Figure of Eighty, Common Carpet, Narrow-winged Pug, Freyer's Pug, Mottled Pug, Scorched Wing, Common Footman, Dagger sp, Coronet, Rustic Shoulder-knot, White-point & Turnip all new for the year.
(29th) 25 moths of 17 species, Pinion-spotted Pug new for the year.
(30th) 26 moths of 12 species, Bright-line Brown-eye new for the year.
(31st) 48 moths of 28 species, Evergestis forficalis, Common Swift, Scalloped Hook-tip, Oak-tree Pug, Clouded Silver & Buff Ermine all new for the year.
There were some noteworthy items amongst the new arrivals, by far the best of them being a likely Pammene argyrana (27th) which has not been recorded here before. It will go off to be checked in the event that it is actually one of the confusion species like albuginana (which would also be new here) but when confirmed will become moth species number 1,021 for the garden at Westcott and the first newcomer of the year. The Common Footman (28th) is my earliest ever sighting of that species and there would have been a photo here if I hadn't accidentally trodden on it while securing the trap at 4am. The rather tired-looking Narrow-winged Pug (28th) was well away from its normal habitat although I have had it previously in 2012 and 2019, but even better was the smart Pinion-spotted Pug (29th) which first joined the garden list in 2018 (two visitors) and then follow-up appearances came in 2020 (four), not bad for a moth which is supposedly reluctant to come to light. Finally the Scalloped Hook-tip (31st) is another rarity here with previous visits only in 2013 and 2018.
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| Likely Pammene argyrana, Westcott 27th May |
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| Narrow-winged Pug, Westcott 28th May |
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| Pinion-spotted Pug, Westcott 29th May |
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| Scalloped Hook-tip, Westcott 31st May |
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
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