Having had a good first year with Clearwing lures and caught all the species I felt I could reasonably expect I decided to have one last go with the HYL lure as it wasn't going to attract anything sitting in the freezer.
There was nothing in the trap last night at 7pm but much to my surprise this individual was there by 7:30 this morning.
Then in the MV trap there was this very large (19mm length) Dioryctria which looks to me more like sylvestrella than abietella. An expert opinion would be welcome.
Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteWell done with the Raspberry Clearwing, one I haven't seen yet. The fact that you've now had it in north Oxon (perhaps even a first for the county?) means that I should definitely keep trying...!
I think you are correct with the Dioryctria. At that size it can only be a choice between abietella and sylvestrella (which is usually the largest) but they are notoriously difficult to separate on sight and only the males can be done by dissection - and of course we nearly always seem to get females to light! I had what I think should be one of each last night and I'll post some comparison shots shortly.
From this experience it seems worth leaving the lure out overnight or at least dawn till dusk as this one definitely went into the trap well outside the suggested flight times.
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