Westcott, Bucks

Two actinic lights continued to be employed inside their traps out in the garden until 18th November, but since then I've gone into my usual "winter mode" with just one of the twin-30wt actinic light sets being run on the windowsill in a corner inside our conservatory.  The traps themselves have been retired into storage until at least next March.  The double-glazed windows don't seem to affect the attraction of the lights to insects flying in the garden and, while I do have to check outside every now and again each evening and still need to get up before dawn to pot up whatever has arrived, this is certainly easier than dealing with frosty traps and soggy egg-boxes.  The moths that fly at this time of year do seem to stick around once they've landed so I doubt that I lose much (if anything) by not using the trap, although it can sometimes be a challenge identifying those few which land on the glass of the conservatory roof!   

The following 28 species have visited the garden lights since the night of 16th November:  Caloptilia semifascia, Agonopterix arenella, Mompha epilobiella, Mompha subbistrigella, Blastobasis lacticolella, Acleris sparsana, Acleris ferrugana/notana, Acleris schalleriana, Acleris hastiana, Epiphyas postvittana, Udea ferrugalis, Emmelina monodactyla, December Moth, Red-green Carpet, Spruce Carpet, Cypress Carpet, Winter Moth, November Moth agg., Feathered Thorn, Mottled Umber, Scarce Umber, Dark Sword-grass, Sprawler, Satellite, Chestnut, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker & Brick.  That seems like quite a reasonable return for the second half of November, producing two more species than in the first half of the month, and a couple of migrants were thrown in for good measure (Udea ferrugalis on 19th & 20th and a rather poorly-marked Dark Sword-grass on the 22nd).

Udea ferrugalis, Westcott 19th November

Dark Sword-grass, Westcott 22nd November

There was, however, a great deal of fluctuation in numbers from night to night.  The 20th provided the best return with 17 species - including eight different micros - while the worst was the 25th which produced the first blank of the winter.  There are still two nights to go before the end of the month but, from the forecast as it currently stands, both of them may well also give nil returns unless something hardy ventures out immediately after it gets dark. 

Caloptilia semifascia, Westcott 20th November

Acleris ferrugana/notana, Westcott 20th November

Cypress Carpet, Westcott 22nd November

Of the moths flying over this period, Feathered Thorn (148), Scarce Umber (27) and Sprawler (175) have all achieved their highest ever seasonal counts here.  Winter Moth hasn't been as regular a visitor as usual yet but the appearance of eight together on the 27th suggests that the recent colder nights may have prompted an emergence.  Two more appeared last night (28th) alongside a pair of Mottled Umbers.

A few ichneumon wasps as well as an assortment of crane-flies and other diptera are also still turning up to the light but more of a surprise on the 20th was the beetle shown below.  I'd got as far as one of the Chrysolina leaf-beetle species but Martin Harvey kindly identified it for me as Chrysolina oricalcia, a Nationally Scarce species which feeds on umbellifers.  There is certainly no shortage of cow parsley and the like hereabouts, even in the garden.  

Chrysolina oricalcia, Westcott 20th November

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks     

A rather late Arches

I was surprised to encounter this rather late, and pristine, Dark Arches as the sole occupant of the garden trap in Stoke Goldington last night.

E-moth Newsletter

 The latest issue of Butterfly Conservation's E-moth Newsletter is available to download at the link here.

Finely feathered

Rather a beautifully patterned and coloured Feathered Thorn came here last night, along with the usual version and a dozy Sprawler.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Westcott, Bucks

The first half of November has been fairly typical here, with catches by the garden actinic trap ranging quite widely between 41 moths of 12 species (on the 3rd) and two moths of a single species (on the 10th when we had our first proper frost of the winter).  Last night (15th) produced 28 moths of 7 species.  There have as yet been no empty traps but the first of those can't be far off now.  Appearances over these 15 nights have been made by the following 26 species:  micros Agonopterix arenella, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, Epiphyas postvittana, Acleris schalleriana & Udea ferrugalis along with macros December Moth, Red-green Carpet, Winter Moth, November Moth agg, Feathered Thorn, Mottled Umber, Scarce Umber, Figure of Eight, Turnip, Green-brindled Crescent, Merveille du Jour, Sprawler, Satellite, Dark Chestnut, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker, Brick, Beaded Chestnut, Barred Sallow, Pink-barred Sallow & Angle Shades.     

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, Westcott 12th November

December Moth first appeared on the 2nd and a total of 24 have been seen so far, including a female last night, while Feathered Thorn is doing really well (110 counted to date, 121 in 2018 being the total to beat).  Those two species, along with Sprawler, are now providing the majority of each catch alongside occasional appearances by Red-green Carpet, Winter Moth, the Novembers, Mottled Umber & Dark Chestnut.  Scarce Umber made its first visit here last night (15th) with two individuals, both of which had settled on fallen leaves on the lawn a short distance from the trap, and it rounds off the garden year-list as far as expected species are concerned.  Unlike those of its Mottled cousin which will be around well into next year, the males of Scarce Umber have a relatively short flight period and will only be on the wing for the next three or four weeks.

December Moth male, Westcott 2nd November

December Moth female, Westcott 15th November

Feathered Thorns (female left), Westcott 7th November

Scarce Umber, Westcott 15th November

The Sprawler total for this season has now reached 147, currently the second highest count for the garden with only another 8 required to make this its best year ever here.  As Martin pointed out in his post below, they are such a hardy moth!  As usual only a small proportion of the total so far have actually entered the trap and the rest seem quite happy to sit around on the lawn or on nearby dew-soaked vegetation, even if it is raining. 

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Foggy dew

I thought that something odd and possibly new had arrived last week, above, but it turned out to be a very heavily-dewed Sprawler - you can see the spangling of waterdrops still on its wings below - the bottom left moth - when I moved it to join three relatives in an eggbox. Fascinating that they can put up with this. Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

two more 'late' species

Rusty Dot Pearl - which does have a second generation into winter - and a late Lesser Yellow Underwing to mv in Denham 9-11th November.

Robin

Exapate congelatella

 Not really expecting to add anything to this year's garden list apart from Winter moth and maybe a Satellite I was pleased to record Exapate congelatella last night which is new for the garden.

Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.

Garden Carpet

The night of 6th November yielded ten moths of six species.  They all came to my LED light - the twin 15W actinic delivered its first blank night since late January.

One of the moths to the LED light was another late record for my garden.  The Garden Carpet was fifteen days later than my previous latest record.

Garden Carpet
Newton Longville, 6th November 2023

Tim Arnold
Newton Longville, Bucks

Sprawler

I'm pretty certain that this is a Sprawler but do the antennae tell us it's a male? Came to trap at home in Tackley.

Alan Diver

7 Nov.

 

Metzneria species

 In the past I have identified all the Metzneria species I have caught in this area as metzneriella. This year I had a couple that looked a little different and on checking Peter identified both as lappella.

Images 1 and 2 are of the moth identified as lappella 

I think images 3 and 4 are of metzneriella. If this is confirmed I could upload the images to the atlas.

Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.

Sure enough

Dave noted on Wednesday that the December Moth and Scarce Umber should appear soon at Westcott. They duly made it here amid the fireworks last night. My first this year (the moths I mean) in both cases. Update: whoops! please excuse my age. The second moth is a Feathered Thorn. Sorry.  I hope you'll forgive the intrusion of a butterfly as well but I've always wanted a prolonged encounter with a Two-tailed Pasha, often called Europe's largest butterfly species, and a week in Provence has just given me that happy experience.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Upper Thames on-line Moth Atlas

Good news!  Our on-line Atlas here has today been updated with records up to the end of 2022 from all three counties.  The micro-moths are now mapped as well, although in the majority of cases the species accounts have yet to be added (that work will hopefully be completed over the coming winter months).

We would now welcome contributions of good quality images, especially for those species which at present are not illustrated (micros mainly, but there are still a handful of macro-moths for which we do not as yet have acceptable photos).  Pictures should preferably be taken in one of our three counties but that isn't necessarily a barrier to them being included. 

Westcott, Bucks

Between 16th and 31st October a total of 54 different moth species came to light in the garden (16 micro, 38 macro) and even on the coolest nights, of which there were several, there has always been something in the actinic trap by morning.  Last night's catch (31st) was quite reasonable for the period, comprising Blastobasis lacticolella (1), Emmelina monodactyla (1), Red-green Carpet (2), Cypress Carpet (2), Winter Moth (1), November Moth agg. (19), Feathered Thorn (7), Figure of Eight (1), Merveille du Jour (1), Sprawler (1), Red-line Quaker (1), Brick (2) & Barred Sallow (1).   Notables over the two weeks have included further examples of Udea ferrugalis (several occasions), Delicate (17th), L-album Wainscot (17th, 22nd) & Dark Sword-grass (20th), while newcomers to the garden year-list comprised the following:

     (19th)  Acleris hastiana, Musotima nitidalis, Sprawler

     (23rd)  Phyllonorycter messaniella

     (31st)  Cypress Carpet

Of the above, the rather pretty Musotima nitidalis is completely new for the site (Westcott garden moth species number 1,073).  An adventive fern-feeder first recorded in Europe in Dorset in 2009, it is a native of Australia and New Zealand which is thought to have been imported by the horticultural trade.  Allocated ABH number 63.119, it doesn't get a mention in the first edition of the Micro-moth Field Guide (although I'm sure will be in the second edition due out imminently), but it does feature in the splendid Guide to Pyralid and Crambid Moths of Britain and Ireland by Mark Parsons and Sean Clancy which was published last month.  From there we learn that it has spread to all counties in the south-east of the UK, with particular strongholds now in south London and in Essex.  It was first noted in Bucks in November 2020 (Chorleywood) and there have now been several subsequent records, mostly in the south of the county.  In the UK it is supposed to be particularly associated with bracken, but there is none of it out here on the clay so the moth may also be using cultivated ferns in gardens.  

Musotima nitidalis, Westcott 19th October

Cypress Carpet first appeared in the garden in November 2021 when a single individual managed to avoid the camera by landing on our conservatory roof (it was identified from an upstairs bedroom window using binoculars!).  Last night's appearance was the site's second record, and the fact that two of them turned up together suggests that they may at last have found the multiple leylandii in other gardens in our road.  This is another recent UK colonist, first found in Sussex in the 1980s, and has since spread throughout the south-east of the country and beyond.  It took quite a while to reach Bucks (first recorded in 2005), where until the current decade it was confined to the southern half of the county, but there have now been several records further north.   

Cypress Carpet, Westcott 31st October

Other garden firsts for the season although not for the year-list during the second half of October were Mottled Umber (24th) and Winter Moth (26th).  December Moth and Scarce Umber should start appearing any day now.

Mottled Umber, Westcott 24th October

Winter Moth, Westcott 26th October

Noteworthy amongst the common species flying here at the moment are Figure of Eight (27 seen to date, the highest count ever, numbers have been steadily increasing in the garden year-on-year since 2018), Green-brindled Crescent (148 to date, the highest count ever, beating 141 in 2018) and Merveille du Jour (42 to date, second highest count ever, approaching the 46 seen in 2018).  It is good to see that some species are doing well!

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks