In my weekly summary yesterday I listed the species still expected in the garden this year and mentioned that anything else would be a bonus. Well, one of those bonus moths turned up last night! This Radford's Flame Shoulder Ochropleura leucogaster (a first for VC24) was amongst just over 100 moths attracted to the actinic light, of which the only other migrant was a single Nomophila noctuella (Rush Veneer).
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| Radford's Flame Shoulder, Westcott 8th October |
While records of Radford's Flame Shoulder always seem to occur in the autumn migrant season, the second brood of Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta is usually over by the end of September but it can sometimes be found later than that. I've added a comparison shot below of a particularly late-flying example which may help to highlight some of the differences, in particular the wing length (those on Radford's are longer), the size and shape of the oval and kidney mark (both notably smaller on Radford's) and to my mind the scruffier appearance (Radford's generally shows cleaner lines).
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| Flame Shoulder, Westcott 3rd November 2015 |
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
Hi Dave, yet another example of what a hot spot for moths your garden is! The list just keeps getting longer. Congrats, Steve.
ReplyDeleteApparently one was recorded in Warwickshire last night. A county first as well I believe.
ReplyDeleteYet another to add to my wish list!