In my last batch of moths checked by Peter there was a Coleophora lassella. The moth was caught in my garden light trap back in July. It looks to me as if it is quite a good record although I don't know how many records there are from the region.
Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteThat's a good record. The species is listed as Nationally Scarce and feeds on Toad Rush (Juncus bufonius) which is widespread throughout the UK. John Langmaid's maps, now well out-of-date, show no previous records of the moth for Oxfordshire. Martin Harvey's newly-updated list of Berkshire records shows nine between 2010 and 2022. In Bucks we have eight adult records from four sites between 2005 and 2020, all dissected (the species definitely needs dissection). What strikes me about the locations of the Bucks records (Burnham Beeches, Stoke Common, Chorleywood & Westcott) is that they come from people/places where all unknowns are kept for close inspection so the species could easily be more widespread than the records suggest.
Thank you. I keep thinking that perhaps I should stop sending so many unknown Coleophora and Phyllonorycter species to Peter and then something new turns up!
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