Westcott, Bucks

Apart from 19th-21st when I was away, two traps continued to be run in the garden throughout this period.  However, from 29th September onwards I substituted a second twin-30wt actinic for the 125wt MV which has now been "retired" until 2025.  Not only does that give the neighbours a rest from the bright light, but actinic tends to out-perform MV here during the winter months.  Looking to the future, I'll probably have to rethink the garden operation in three or four years time when my stock of 30wt bulbs runs out.  I've been in the habit of changing them annually because, unlike MV bulbs, they do tend to lose their effectiveness after a while.  Just like 125wt MV bulbs, the manufacture of 30w T8 actinic tubes of the necessary length (450mm) is no longer permitted in the UK and Europe so replacements have already become exceedingly difficult to get hold of.  

On the final night of September the combined catch from the two traps comprised 218 moths of 26 species, including Large Yellow Underwing (39) and Lunar Underwing (86), which is much as expected for the time of year.  Newcomers for the 2024 year-list are still trickling in and adult moths added during the second half of September were as follows:

     (17th)  Plutella porrectella

     (18th)  Pink-barred Sallow, Dusky-lemon Sallow

     (22nd)  Amblyptilia punctidactyla, Mallow, Beaded Chestnut, Blair's Shoulder-knot

     (23rd)  Caloptilia stigmatella, Epermenia chaerophyllella, Green-brindled Crescent, Barred Sallow

     (24th)  Pine Carpet, Large Ranunculus

     (25th)  Brindled Green

     (26th)  Red-line Quaker

Caloptilia stigmatella, Westcott 23rd September

Plutella porrectella, Westcott 17th September

Epermenia chaerophyllella, Westcott 23rd September

Mallow, Westcott 22nd September

Large Ranunculus, Westcott 24th September

Blair's Shoulder-knot, Westcott 22nd September

Large Ranunculus is a really good record here, this being the first since 2019 and only the sixth ever recorded in the garden.  Other moths of interest over this period included Lilac Beauty (17th and a late example on the 30th), Delicate (25th and 30th) and Dark Sword-grass (30th). 

One unwelcome but interesting development in the garden traps this year has been the number of Hornets seen.  A large Queen appeared on 9th May and then further examples visited between 2nd August and 24th September (22 in all).  This is not a large number compared to what I can expect in woodland at this time of year, where I've had two or three times that total in a single trap, but up until this year Hornets have been an exceedingly rare sight in the garden.  Wasps, on the other hand, are usually around in large numbers during late-summer but this year have been almost non-existent.    

Hornet, Westcott 9th May

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks