A few queries from Longwick

A not dissimilar set of new moths here in Longwick ( but nowhere near the volume / quality!). Barred Yellow and Barred Straw were new for the year as were Ash Bud Moth and 2 Small Elephant Hawks. the latter seem to arrive as soon as my honeysuckle flowers. Three Burnished Brass included two "fused" and one  not. A few queries below. Is the first a worn Udea Lutealis (around 10-12 mm wing length)? The second is perhaps Gypsonoma Oppresana and the third is a Wainscot which has seen better days but didnt look right for Common or Smoky? Ideas appreciated!

Monochroa palustrellus

I don't think that there can be any doubt that this moth (9 mm FW), in my trap last night, is a Monochroa palustrellus, a new species for this site and maybe not that common?

On 27 May I posted a picture of a noctuid that had me rather confused  -  Peter kindly checked it for me and has confirmed that it was a male Mottled Rustic.

Richard Ellis
Chorleywood

Humming Bird Hawk

One was feeding on Honeysuckle here in Longwick at 8.25 this morning. Probably worth checking the garden! As always nice to see.

Burial Park

Couple of NFY at the Burial Park this week with Barred Red and Marbled White-spot.

In the garden I had a NFY Small Fan-foot.

That is all.

Dave Morris, Seer Green

Further new sightings at Westcott

A further 16 species have been added to the garden year-list over the past three nights.  Dichrorampha alpinana, Eudonia lacustrata, Myelois circumvoluta/Thistle Ermine and Plain Golden Y appeared on the 7th, Lyonetia clerkella & Barred Yellow followed on the 8th, while last night's contribution comprised Mompha ochraceella, Ditula angustiorana, Celypha striana, Gypsonoma oppressana, Udea prunalis, Nomophila noctuella/Rush Veneer, Blotched Emerald, Barred Straw, Large Yellow Underwing & Varied Coronet.  Numbers of Heart & Dart are building (39 last night) but the only other species regularly achieving double-digit counts here just now are Udea olivalis, Common Swift and the Marbled Minors.

I think I've mentioned before that Plain Golden Y is far more common in the garden than is Beautiful Golden Y, the latter making a single annual appearance if I'm lucky while the former usually gets into double figures each year.  Gypsonoma oppressana is an uncommon species but appears fairly regularly here thanks to all the local poplars.  I can presumably thank one of my neighbours for the appearance of Varied Coronet, whose larvae feed on the seed-pods of Sweet-William which we don't grow.  This was its first visit since 2014.

Plain Golden Y, Westcott 7th June

Gypsonoma oppressana, Westcott 9th June

Varied Coronet, Westcott 9th June

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks    

Two checks

Hello again. The moths are coming thick and fast. May I just check on these two which I am hazarding to be Udea lutealis and Willow Beauty.  The latter is the first moth I've ever found resting on my Robinson trap's carrier strap. All warm wishes  Martin Wainwright Thrupp Oxon.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

A Hummingbird Hawk found (alive) inside the garage at Radnage, Bucks yesterday.

Ched George

Tortrix of some sort?

Apologies for the poor photos but hopefully someone can point me in the right direction for this Tortrix:

Richard Ellis
Chorleywood

Muslin Footman pupa

Over the last few weeks I have come across several Muslin Footman larvae (image 1) while sawing up logs. Yesterday I found what I assume is a pupa of the same in its cocoon (images 2 and 3) in the same log pile.

Last night's catch was a little better than anticipated with several species that were new for the garden this year (Silver Y, Common Wainscot, Clouded Border, Snout and Barred Yellow) as well as this rather fine female Ghost moth. The first time I have had a female in the trap although I have had a few males.



Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.

Something to do in the rain...

While walking back from the Polling Station this morning I had a look at a line of black poplars in the village here and found a single freshly-vacated pupal case of Hornet Moth protruding from its exit hole at the base of one tree.  The moth is obviously now flying locally so when (if?) the weather proves suitable it will be time once again to dig out the appropriate pheromone and attempt to lure one onto the garden list.  I've lost count of how many years I've tried this and failed, despite the presence of many poplars within 500m of the house!  Still, the pupal case is good enough to constitute a record so it is worth checking around the bases of any nearby poplars now and you might even be lucky enough to find a freshly-emerged adult still sitting in the grass or low down on the trunk.  A phone-camera record shot of today's find appears below:

Hornet Moth exuvia, Westcott 8th June

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks    

Help with a Pug please

Wondered what the experts think about this Pug trapped last weekend in Sonning. I am veering towards Wormwood Pug (dark marks on leading edge of forewing and white marks in outer lower corners of both wings), but it could be a faded Currant Pug? Any advice much appreciated.

Wormwood Pug?

Also shown are a few species from the same trapping session, all of which I have only caught a handful of times in the 15 years or so of trapping in Sonning: Maple Prominent, Tawny-barred Angle and Small Angle Shades

Ingrailed Clay

Despite the strong wind and bright moon, I decided to put my garden trap out anyway as Tuesday is my regular GMS night. Just 40 moths made it to the trap, but at least there were 3 new additions to this year's garden list. They were Lozotaenia forsterana, Shoulder-striped Wainscot, and an Ingrailed Clay shown below (a moth I don't see very often).

Heart and Dart was the only moth to make double figures (14).

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Trio of queries

May I just ask about these characters which came at the end of last week just before we headed for Suffolk where, unusually, I ran the trap and met my first Treble Brown Spot.  I think that Carpet is Common Marbled and the Wainscot Smoky but the rather worn-looking visitor is beyond me (and maybe is too frayed to ID).  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Vine's Rustic?

Can someone confirm or otherwise please? thanks

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Westcott, Bucks

There hasn't been much of particular interest in the garden trap over the past few nights but the following have been added to the site year list:  31st May Pandemis cerasana, Anania fuscalis, Riband Wave (my first ever May record) & Cinnabar; 1st June Anania perlucidalis & Mottled Rustic; 2nd June Aphelia paleana, Miller & Fan-foot, along with Nematopogon metaxella & Small Dusty Wave which were recorded during the daytime.  There was nothing new last night unless a retained Phyllonorycter species turns out to be something good, but Yellow Shell active in the daytime today was another garden first-timer for this year.

Aphelia paleana, Westcott 2nd June

Miller, Westcott 2nd June

Fan-foot, Westcott 2nd June

The plain but distinctive Timothy Tortrix Aphelia paleana is just as likely to be seen in the daytime and is worth keeping an eye out for, especially in rough grassland.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Random Moth

This was on the curtain in the tea room at COAM today; I'm thinking it might be Large Tabby, but would appreciate any ideas.

Dave Morris, Chalfont St Giles

Is it possible?

Is it possible to I.D. this moth from a poor enhanced image?. Wing pattern perhaps?. Many thanks.

Steve Lockey (Garsington)

Some more for ID / confirmation

I think I have

 Celypha lacunana

Eudonia ambigualis

Notocelia cynosbatella

Couldn't find an exact match

then Small-Fan-foot

Cydia pomonella

and another one I couldn't match up


Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxfor

d

Confirmations please

I seem to be having a bit of a block with the Clouded Brindle vs the Clouded-bordered Brindle - I think both pics the the later, with the dark one a var combusta.

Then I think a White-pinion spotted

Dusky Brocade

The Lychnis

 A very dapper Marbled Minor agg.

Commophila aeneana

 

We went for an evening walk in a field close to home last night.  We saw lots of the commoner things like Celypha lacunana and white plume.  Towards the end, sitting on a thistle was this moth:

 

Can someone confirm that this is Commophila aeneana, please?  (There is a sensible amount of ragwort in the field).  If so it seems to have a very restricted distribution?

Thanks.

 

Phil Cutt

Grendon Underwood

 

Successful Searches

Only very occasionally does a trip out to look for rare or unusual species prove completely successful but today's foray to the northern tip of Bucks was certainly one of them.  I had three targets in mind, the first being the small tortrix Grapholita pallifrontana, a priority species which Butterfly Conservation has suggested is worth looking for right now.  It is thought to be rare (potentially a Red Data Book entry) but in actual fact may just be under-recorded because it doesn't seem to leave clumps of its larval food-plant wild liquorice Astragalus glycyphyllos.  The plant is more common on the limestone in the north of Bucks than it is on the chalk of the Chilterns so with a couple of locations in mind I set off into no-man's-land to the north of Milton Keynes!  The first site was a roadside location on the A509 near Sherington but the area has scrubbed over since wild liquorice was last recorded there and none was found.  I then went to a spot near Weston Underwood and quickly discovered plenty of the plant still present and, even more surprising, at least 18 examples of the moth just sitting around enjoying the sunshine.  There is only one previous record for Grapholita pallifrontana in Bucks, from Stony Stratford in 1869!  I found another tortrix at the same spot, a single example of Cochylis molliculana which is still an uncommon moth in the county with only a handful of previous records.

Grapholita pallifrontana, Weston Underwood 1st June

Cochylis molliculana, Weston Underwood 1st June

My second target for the day was Small Eggar.  The adult moth flies in March and April and is quite uncommon, particularly in our area (it is a Notable B List species, so found in fewer than 100 10km squares in the UK).  Although reported a little more frequently across the border in Bedfordshire, records from Bucks seem to be confined to this northern tip of the county around Olney and Lavendon.  Mentioned on the blog, the example trapped near Olney back in March was the first county record for 20 years.  Now is the time to look for larval webs on hedgerows and it came as a great surprise to actually find one on a mixed blackthorn and hawthorn hedge near Olney!  The larvae feed gregariously until fully grown and form a protective web on which they bask in the sunshine but into which they quickly disappear if disturbed.

Small Eggar larval web, Olney 1st June

My final task before returning home was to find a Wood White (butterfly) in VC24 Bucks and that was accomplished easily in Salcey Forest where two individuals were seen within a few metres of the car-park.  Job done!

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
         

White-barred Clearwing

I ventured out with my Clearwing lures this afternoon (1st June) firstly at Decoy Heath. I tried the TIP, VES, and CUL lures beginning at 1.00pm. After 15mins a White-barred Clearwing briefly visited the TIP lure. Although I got my bins on it to ID it, it didn't remain long enough for a photo. My first Clearwing! I kept on for another 1hr. but with no further sightings. I also tried the same three lures at Padworth Common for another hr. but with no luck. If anyone has any tips or can suggest other potential sites in the West Berks/South Oxon/North Hants areas I would be very grateful.

Derek Brown

100 macros by the end of May??

A Privet Hawk-moth last night was number 98 on my list of macros in the garden this year.
The first of these looks as if it should be obvious but I am stuck. I expect the pug is one I have recorded already this year but the markings on the hind-wing made me wonder if it is something different.

Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.