Westcott, Bucks

Here at Westcott the garden year-list is now well past 500 species, even without taking into account the additions expected from eventual dissections.  That total was passed on 16th July in 2020 & 2021 and on 11th July in 2019 so I'm perhaps slightly ahead of the game for this point in the season.  We're either in for a bumper crop in 2022 or (more likely!) a very quiet rest of the year.  Remember that locally only around 100 species remain to be seen from the beginning of August onwards.  New arrivals since the start of this month have included the following:

     (1st)  Common/Lesser Common Rustic agg., Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing.
     (2nd)  Bryotropha terrella, Spilonota ocellana, Drinker, Ear Moth agg.

     (3rd)  Acleris variegana, Crambus pascuella, Lunar Hornet Moth (to LUN lure), Shark

     (4th)  Sallow Clearwing (to SAL lure)

     (5th)  Aethes rubigana, Yarrow Pug

     (6th)  Yponomeuta rorrella, Argyresthia brockeella, Limnaecia phragmitella, Gelechia senticetella, Gelechia sororculella, Blastobasis adustella, Gypsonoma dealbana, Agriphila tristella, Brown Scallop, Wormwood Pug, August Thorn, Dusky Sallow

     (7th)  Acrobasis advenella, Acrobasis suavella, Dotted Fan-foot

     (8th)  Argyresthia albistria, Athrips mouffetella, Zelotherses paleana, Epiblema foenella, Small Scallop, Vestal, Double Lobed

     (9th)  Metalampra italica, Acleris forsskaleana, Acrobasis consociella, Shaded Broad-bar, Maple Pug, Magpie Moth

     (10th)  Chionodes fumatella, Gillmeria pallidactyla, Rhopobota naevana, Phycitodes binaevella, Hypsopygia costalis, Anania crocealis, Udea ferrugalis, Catoptria falsella, Bordered Sallow, Slender Brindle, Double Dart

     (11th)  Acrocercops brongniardella, Argyresthia goedartella, Anacampsis populella, Phtheochroa inopiana, Eucosma conterminana, Rhyacionia pinicolana, Oncocera semirubella, Acrobasis repandana, Nomophila noctuella, Scoparia basistrigalis, Catoptria pinella, Lesser Cream Wave, Dark Umber, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Vapourer

     (12th)  Monochroa lutulentella, Eudemis profundana, Dioryctria abietella, Agriphila straminella, Small Blood-vein, Tree-lichen Beauty, Small Wainscot

Yarrow Pug, Westcott 5th July

August Thorn Westcott 6th July

Vestal, Westcott 8th July

Epiblema foenella, Westcott 8th July

Acrocercops brongniardella, Westcott 11th July

Oncocera semirubella, Westcott 11th July

The well-marked August Thorn shows clearly both its resting position (with wings held almost flat) as well as the almost parallel cross-lines which help to distinguish it from September Thorn.  Of those two species, September Thorn is by far the most frequent garden visitor here.  The migrant Vestal was probably the most washed-out example I've ever recorded.  It was nice to see, though, being the first to visit the garden for three years (other recent migrants have been limited to Rusty-dot Pearl on the 10th, Rush Veneer on the 11th and Diamond-back Moth on the 12th).  Sallow Clearwing (4th) and the almost unpronounceable Acrocercops brongniardella (11th) with its beady red eyes were completely new for the garden and take the moth list here to 1,050 species. 

Common Footman is currently the most frequent moth coming to the two traps.  There were 110 altogether last night, three-quarters of them to the actinic where they are mostly found around the outside and on the vanes.  There has been a ground beetle invasion over the past few nights which means that the bottom of each trap (but again mostly the actinic) is an uncomfortable place to be for any moth.  Luckily the only ones which tend to end up there are Acentria ephemerella and, being such flimsy things, they rarely survive the night anyway.  The various Yponomeuta species are accounting for 50 or more individuals each session but nothing else is appearing in any significant numbers, with even the Uncertain/Rustic combo starting to wind down a bit in the hot weather.  However, Elephant Hawk-moth continues to have its best year ever here, with another four last night taking the current total to 219.  The previous high in the garden was 130 in 2018.

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks