Newbie tiggerish enthusiasm

 The first year of identifying moths must be one of the most exciting things to do without leaving home!

I'm sure the excitement wears off as the years cycle round and there isn't so much new, but at the moment there are new species on most nights. Some are striking in appearance, others are more mundane but still intricate in their pattern detail and some just exquisite without being spectacular - I'm thinking in particular of the Feathered Gothic that appeared a cople of nights ago, followed by the Frosted Orange and Black Rustic (much as Dave W's list). The only disappointment is that such beautiful species are all designated as common - which they might be in numbers and distribution - but not in their appearance.

Survivor

 

This little chap fell on to the windscreen in Wolvercote's Port Meadow car park, initially un-noticed, and then survived the 50mph stretch along Frieze Way and a visit to Kidlington Tesco's before ending up snugly in the wipers, above. I think it's a young Lime Hawk cattie but would be glad to know if I am wrong.  Thanks as always. Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Gap filling

The last two nights have seen me trapping at two private sites within SP82 (the least well recorded 10km square in Bucks), both of which I've been visiting monthly since April in order to try and give the area's species list a boost.  One site is near Soulbury and the other near Stewkley.  Last night's visit to the latter location was particularly good with close to 80 species seen, more than acceptable in late-August for what is basically hedgerow habitat (certainly a better result over three hours than what was achieved all night in my garden!).  There was nothing particularly noteworthy but some of the counts were good, the highest being Small Square-spot (90), Green Carpet (63), Square-spot Rustic (57), Common Wainscot (56) & Large Yellow Underwing (51).  It was interesting to see autumnal species appearing, with Feathered Gothic (4) and Brindled Green (2) recorded in addition to Centre-barred Sallow (14) which has been out for a week or two now.  The Brindled Greens were my first ever August sightings of that species.  

Brindled Green, near Stewkley 28th August

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks  

A rather smart addition...

 ...to the garden list! 

Clouded Magpie Stowe 28 August 2024

The Atlas seems to indicate that there have been no records of Clouded Magpie in Bucks north of  Aylesbury for over 50 years!.
I do have some small Wych Elms in the garden, so possibly locally bred? It certainly looks fairly fresh. 

Hello Again

Look who's come back to Thrupp after a year away - classically under the second-last eggbox in a trap otherwise rather thinly-populated by Brimstones, Light Emeralds, Green Carpets and especially Snouts.  This is much my earliest, I think, but I will check my records which saw the first Nonpareil on 16 September 2019. The following year I had ten!  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Update: my previous records are: 3 Sept 2020 (2), 4 Sept 2020, 5 Sept 2020, 10 Sept 2020, 15 Sept 2020 (2), 18 Sept 2020, 21 Sept 2020, 2 Oct 2020, 21 Sept 2021(3) and 5 Sept 2022.  I always remember that in that first run of dates in Sept 2020, Marc Botham had six in one night. M

Treble bar?

 Query on what i think is a female treble bar,can you confirm for me please,179 of 29 species last night including a nice fresh gold spot,my best total for this year but over half were large yellow underwings,

mike Banbury

Wood Carpet?

 This is the second night running I've had what I think is a Wood Carpet. No grey line on the white cross band and more pronounced projection on dark cross band. Cholsey. SU56941 Or is it a Common?

Thanks

Andy

Fat-hen leaf-miner - Chrysoesthia sexguttella (Gelechidae)

A leafmine to look for at the moment is Chrysoesthia sexguttella (Gelechidae).  This is a rarely recorded species, I was astonished to find that it was a county first (for VC24) when I found it in 2013.  I suspect that it is simply very under-recorded

It mines the leaves of Goosefoots Atriplex sp. and Oraches Chenopodium sp.  

I found it again last week on my allotment in the leaves of Fat-hen Chenopodium album.  

Note that the Beds moth site says that a tenanted mine is required for acceptance (in Beds), because of possible confusion with fly mines.  Because my mine was vacated, but did not look like a fly mine, I checked with Andy Banthorpe and he confirmed this was C. sexguttella.

Fat-hen can be a common plant, particularly on waste ground and manure heaps, worth checking it if you find any.   Look out also for mines of Chrysoesthia drurella which also mines Fat-hen.

Neil Fletcher
Walter's Ash (VC24)

 

Possible Coleophora follicularis?

I know it can only be reliably identified by dissection, but is this plausible as Coleophora follicularis? It was in my trap in west Oxon this morning (26th Aug). I do have Hemp Agrimony in my garden.

David Hastings

Oblique Carpet

I had what I think is an Oblique Carpet in my actinic trap in west Oxon this morning (26th August). This seems pretty uncommon in VC23.

David Hastings

Oblique Carpet © David Hastings

 

Two thoughts and a possible Scythris

 In my Oxford garden on 23 August came these three that I was not sure of:

1. Dusky brocade? It was with a common rustic and had noticeably longer wings.

2. Zeiraphera isertana?

3. I wonder if this is Scythris limbella, a species I got on 9 August last year as the first for the area for a few years.

 

Worth checking

 

A couple of nice arrivals here on the very wet night and morning yesterday, I was going through the soggy eggboxes with my granddaughter who got a bit dispirited, so I had a second check some hours later, Finally I did a third audit in the late afternoon and only then found the Pinion-streaked Snout above, which has only visited me once before (or else I have overlooked or Straw Dotted it on other occasions).  It was also nice to have an Old Lady, a moth which I suspect may be renamed before too many years go by. Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Eudemis profundana?

Does this tortrix look good for Eudemis profundana? It is not as well marked as other examples I have recorded.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Pheromone power!

 This year I tried for Gypsy Moth using a pheromone lure, and having successfully trapped one in the garden, and also used it to establish the species' presence locally in another two 1km squares, I returned the lure to the freezer, washed the basket, and put the empty trap back in the garage. I was therefore rather surprised when I found a Gypsy Moth in the trap (in the garage) a couple of days later! I decided that there must be traces of pheromone on the trap itself and washed that too. 

But just out of curiosity, I put the washed trap with empty washed basket out overnight last night...only to find a Gypsy Moth in it this morning! Clearly these pheromones are pretty persistent!

County first on Bucks Invertebrate Group meeting at Stowe NT

I led a Bucks Invertebrate Group meeting at Stowe Park and Gardens (National Trust) last Saturday.  We were fortunate to be joined by Andy and Melissa Banthorpe, VC30 moth recorders and very keen on leaf-miners.  

Late in the day, we came across a Cornelian Cherry Cornus mas and Andy & Melissa found (vacated) mines of Antispila treitschkiella, which is a county first for Bucks (VC24). 
(The name treitschkiella was formerly applied in error to what is now known to be Antispila petryi.)

Vacated mine of Antispila treitschkiella, Stowe NT, 17 August 2024

Despite this being the first Bucks record, it is probably easy to find, if you can locate the foodplant, Cornelian Cherry Cornus mas, which is widely planted in gardens and parks.  It is a Dogwood but it has red fruit, see photo below.  If you know of any plants, it would be a good time to check them for mines. 

Cornelian Cherry Cornus mas, Stowe NT, 17 August 2024

If you don't know of any, but want to find them, the best time is in spring when they flower.  

Cornelian Cherry Cornus mas (c) Andy Banthorpe

Some other good finds: a larva of Triple-spotted Pug Eupithecia trisignaria was found by Melissa in the seedhead of Wild Angelica Angelica sylvestris, this may be the first county record of the larva of this local and uncommon species.

Triple-spotted Pug Eupithecia trisignaria Stowe NT 17 August 2024 (c) Melissa Banthorpe

Sycamore Acronicta aceris larva, Stowe NT, 17 Aug 2024

Phyllocnistis unipunctella on Black Poplar Populus nigra sens. lat.

We recorded another 137 species on the day (and still counting!) of which 54 were moths (mostly leafmines).  

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Buckinghamshire Invertebrate Group and joining us on future field trips (it's free!) just go to our Contact us page.

Upcoming trips (with main focus):
31 Aug/1 Sept   College Lake (set moth traps and show to the public next day)
12 October        Bernwod Forest (leaf-mines and galls) 

Neil Fletcher
Buckinghamshire Invertebrate Group

Choreutis nemorana in Denham

Following my own advice in my last post I looked for Figs trees along the local village road and almost immediately spotted the larval workings; stopped the car and sampled from the pavement! So second Bucks site after Wooburn Green last year (and this). No surprise at all! Keep looking!

Choreutis nemorana, new to VC22

 Larval workings (occupied) on an 8 year old fig in my sister-in-law's garden in Maidenhead Court. First record for VC22. Easily spotted, even at a distance! Get looking!

Plenty of Red

 

One moth which doesn't seem to be in short supply this year is the Red Underwing which has been making its presence felt here. A neighbour asked about the pair shown top left and then I opened our back door and the fine specimen shown at the top right fell down, dislodged, and was apparently stunned, something I've not come across before. As a result, it spread its underwings and obligingly allowed itself to be transferred happily to the gargoyle. Shortly afterwards another appeared and sat contentedly on the wall for over three hours in the afternoon sun. All were found by daylight. None in the trap yet.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

The Gem in Denham

 A male on14th August to mv when catch numbers were still high, cf last night - 16th. First since two here in September 2019.

Apotomis and Dichrorampha queries

I think this first micro is Apotomis betuletana, but I wondered if it needed checking?

Also, I have this probable Dichrorampha species, but I imagine it needs dissection to confirm the species?

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Westcott, Bucks

Catches since the beginning of the month by the two garden traps (I'm still using one 125w MV and one twin-30w actinic) have been typical of August and show that we're now well past the season's peak.  Thanks in part to second broods, a few nights have brought in close to 100 species but there have been comparatively few additions to the year-list.  We always used to say that between the beginning of August and the end of the year you'd be lucky to add 100 further species at any site locally and that still holds true.  Perversely, the number of individual moths in the traps could well start to rise now, dominated by species such as Large Yellow Underwing which have been largely dormant over the past couple of months as they undergo a period of aestivation.

Amongst the macros it is Flame Shoulder, the Common/Lesser Common Rustic pair and Straw Dot which are currently dominating catches in the garden, while species such as Oak Processionary, Gypsy Moth, Jersey Tiger, Webb's Wainscot and Tree-lichen Beauty, none of which would have been seen here even ten years ago, are appearing in small numbers nightly.  For the micros it is mostly grass moths (Agriphila straminella and Agriphila tristella now) which are keeping the numbers up, although the Yponomeuta group of Ermines are still giving them a run for their money.  Newcomers have included the following:     

     (1st)   - nil -

     (2nd)  Parectopa ononidis, Clavigesta purdeyi, Achroia grisella, Small Rivulet, Copper Underwing, Bulrush Wainscot, Six-striped Rustic

     (3rd)  Oak Eggar, Rosy Rustic

     (4th)  Ancylis badiana

     (5th)  - nil -

     (6th)  Oak Processionary

     (7th)  Vapourer (daytime sighting)

     (8th)  Evergestis forficalis, Orange Swift

     (9th)  Flounced Rustic

     (10th)  Sitochroa palealis, Plumed Fan-foot, Gold Spot, Square-spot Rustic

     (11th)  Pandemis corylana

     (12th)  Red Underwing (daytime sighting)

     (13th)  Acleris aspersana, Clifden Nonpareil, Dewick's Plusia, Small Rufous

     (14th)  - nil - 

     (15th)  Acleris rhombana, Pale Eggar, Svensson's Copper Underwing

Pale Eggar, Westcott 15th August

Oak Eggar female, Westcott 3rd August

Oak Eggar female, Westcott 3rd August

Plumed Fan-foot, Westcott 10th August

Clifden Nonpareil, Westcott 13th August

Dewick's Plusia, Westcott 13th August

Bulrush Wainscot, Westcott 2nd August

It certainly lifted the spirits to see that Oak Eggar's face staring up at me from the trap on the morning of 4th August!  She was a bit battered but I don't see the species here very often so this was a very welcome visit, the first in the garden since 2018.  As it happens I also had two females to one of two MV traps run at BBOWT's Leaches Farm site on 13th August which adds another dot to the map along the River Ray catchment, one of its few strongholds in our region. The splendid Plumed Fan-foot on 10th August was even more battered but one doesn't complain about new additions to the site list whatever their condition (macro-moth number 462 here).  The damaged theme continued with the first Clifden Nonpareil of the season which unfortunately had a slightly mal-formed wing but that didn't seem to affect its ability to fly.

The flight period for Figure of Eighty normally comes to an end during the first two weeks of July and this year what I thought would be my final garden visitor turned up on 13th July.  However, on 2nd and 3rd August I had two different fresh individuals to the traps.  A check back through earlier years shows that I've had other August records, including one on the 9th (in 2023), one on the 21st (in 2013) and one on the 24th (in 2016), so it looks as though the moth may sometimes attempt a partial second brood.  It will be interesting to see if any more turn up this year. 

Figure of Eighty, Westcott 2nd August

We have several buddleias in the garden.  They've not flowered anywhere near as profusely as usual (probably thanks to being submerged for a couple of months earlier in the year) and the blooms on the two largest plants are almost over now.  They have attracted very little in the way of lepidoptera to date and the most notable absentee has been Humming-bird Hawk-moth which I've not yet seen anywhere in 2024.  Over the past 20 seasons the average here is 25 sightings annually and it has never missed a year.  There's still time for it to appear because records often go on throughout September, but its absence to date is rather worrying.

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks   

Carpatolechia query

Is this Carpatolechia proximella? It doesn't quite seem to match the description in the Field Guide, but proximella does seem the best fit.
Thanks
Phil T
 

Cydia amplana and Bactra lancealana?

 Can these be confirmed as Cydia amplana and Bactra lancealana? Re the Cydia I've had one before and it seems there has been some migrant activity, yesterday I got a Vestal.

Finally is this just a knackered Yellow-tail?

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.