Plume in Longwick

I don't seem to get many plumes beyond the usual monodactyla, white and Beautiful so the pictured plume stood out. It has a w/l of 9 or 9.5 mm. Any thoughts welcome.

Ironically no Privet Hawks today but oddly 9 Leopards!

A few new in the garden.

Pleased to have a few NFY species in the garden last night, including Miller (only had that here once before in 2015), Barred Red, Large Yellow Underwing, July Highflier, Silver Y, Red-barred Tortrix, Aleimma loeflingiana. and Box-tree Moth. I had thought my Box had recovered well from last year's devastation, but I guess that may now change.

Dave Morris

Seer Green

August Thorn and 2 micros for checking

In my garden trap on Wednesday 24th June I found this thorn which looks to me like August Thorn. Would 24th June be a particularly early record for this moth?

August Thorn - Cookham 24-Jun-20

I am also posting 2 micros for confirmation of my ids. The first I am pretty sure is Eucosma cana.

Eucosma cana - Cookham 24-Jun-20

The second I think is Endothenia marginana, but I always find this group a bit tricky.

Endothenia sp. - Cookham 24-Jun-20

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Some ID help

Firstly a couple of Eudonias.

Is this Eudonia lacustrata?

Is this Eudonia truncicolella?

Next one that I'm pretty sure I've got right.

Is this Elegia similella?

And now 3 that have me completely beat due to my eyes going blurred looking through a magnifying glass for too long a period!

Apologies for the poor photography, but any help would be appreciated.

The Uncertain/Rustic saga

Below are two photos of the same moth and I'm going for Uncertain. As these species always give me the most incredible headache, I did something that I hate doing. I humanely killed the poor blighter. I was then able to have a good look at the hindwings. I still think it was an Uncertain. Am I correct?

Beautiful Snout

It was a good night for me last night with 40 macro species. In amongst them was this Beautiful Snout. It is a new species for me but I wondered if many other people had caught it locally? I only managed a terrible photo on my phone unfortunately, so apologises that it's not clearer.

Lorna Woolhouse, Checkendon South Oxon

Pempelia genistella?

Rather overwhelmed by a trap full of moths and other insects last night!  Amongst them was this Pyralid which I think might be Pempelia genistella - sorry about the poor photo which is about the best I can do with the phone camera,

Richard Ellis
Chorleywood

Double Darts and a micro

Are these Double Darts? The micro looks like Argyresthia curvella but its sitting posture seems wrong.

Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.

other Varied Coronet?

I got my first ever Varied Coronet a few weeks ago and it seemed fairly clearly not a Marbled Coronet (which I got a few years back). This one took me a bit longer to determine, looking at it again it is quite a bit different from the first one.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Pug sp.

I had wondered, in view of the rather sparsely marked hindwing, if this was Valerian Pug...?

Westcott, Bucks

The garden year-list continues to climb and the past week has seen the following additions, taking it to almost 360 species for the year:

(17th)  Argyresthia albistria, Archips crataegana, Marbled White Spot
(18th)  Crambus pascuella
(19th)  Metalampra italica, Blastodacna hellerella, Ghost Moth, Kent Black Arches, Short-cloaked Moth,
            Clouded Brindle, Common Rustic agg.
(20th)  Mompha ochraceella, Lozotaeniodes formosana, Acrobasis consociella, Pine Hawk-moth, Brown
            Scallop
(21st)  Agriphila straminella, Small Emerald, Yellow-tail, Dark Sword-grass
(22nd) Anthophila fabriciana, Tortrix viridana, Anania crocealis
(23rd)  Bohemannia pulverosella (mine), Yponomeuta evonymella, Scythropia crataegella, Aleimma
            loeflingiana, Acleris forsskaleana, Epinotia nanana, Gypsonoma dealbana, Delplanqueia inscriptella,
            Phycitodes binaevella, Eudonia mercurella, Cataclysta lemnata/Small China-mark, Currant Clearwing
            (to lure by day), Small Scallop, Scarlet Tiger, Blackneck, Lunar-spotted Pinion, Minor Shoulder-knot,
            Double Square-spot

There has been nothing unexpected amongst the above species although the miniscule Epinotia nanana, wing length 4.5mm and last recorded here in 2018, was quite a nice record.  The Delplanqueia will be dissected in due course but we only seem to get one of the two species in Bucks.  The Dark Sword-grass (21st) was my first proper migrant of the year.

Epinotia nanana, Westcott 23rd June

Anania crocealis, Westcott 22nd June

Ghost Moth female, Westcott 19th June

Kent Black Arches, Westcott 19th June

Last night (23rd) was the first of 2020 where the garden catch exceeded 100 species and I'll be very disappointed if that isn't the case tonight too.  It should be the best night of the year to date, so get those traps on if you can!

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Clearwings again

Yesterday I tried the VES, HOR and TIP lures here at Westcott from 9am.  The VES lure brought in an Orange-tailed Clearwing within ten minutes and by lunchtime I'd had 13 of them, but nothing at all to the other two lures.  One more Orange-tailed arrived about 2pm, while a single Currant Clearwing turned up at 5pm (I wonder how far it might have travelled, as the lure had been out for eight hours by that stage!).  Anyway, that Currant Clearwing was new for the year-list so I'm just waiting on Yellow-legged now of the five species I've had previously in the garden.  Today I made a brief visit to a rather insignificant patch of road-side Bird's-foot Trefoil at Woodham, about a mile away from home, and the API lure brought in a single Six-belted Clearwing within thirty seconds so it looks as if all of the species we can expect in this area are out now apart from Raspberry Clearwing.

Currant Clearwing, Westcott 23rd June

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Anyone else getting more Privet Hawks than usual?

I normally get a few in any year here in Longwick but above is a photo of three of the four that were in this mornings trap. They have also been present in ones and two for a few days. Not sure whether it is the weather or the extra lock down effort! The kids love them. Not much else to report except my first two Scarlet Tigers.

Bohemannia pulverosella

This Nepticulid species is supposed to be common but I think the fact that there are only three previous records for VC24 reflects the difficulty in finding it.  The adult flies during May in a single generation and its larvae mine the leaves of apple in June and July at peak moth-trapping season when few people are out looking for leaf-mines!  I found a vacated mine on our apple last autumn so this year I resolved to try and find a tenanted mine and was lucky this morning to find one (and two more already vacated).  I shall try to rear it through although I don't usually have much success with Neps.

Bohemannia pulverosella, Westcott 23rd June

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Wainscot query

Not sure what to make of this relatively small Wainscot, approx 15 mm FW.  Hind wing upper much the same colouration and veining as forewing.  Any suggestions, please.

Richard Ellis
Chorleywood

Monochroa palustrellus (mistaken)

Edit - see the comments.  This is Anarsia innoxiella.

I seem to be continuing my run of good fortune in finding rare moths in my garden. After a Marbled Pug in May and Phtheochroa sodaliana a week or so ago, last Friday night I caught a single Monochroa palustrellus. I'm reasonably sure about its identity as there doesn't seem to be anything with which it can be confused: both the Norfolk Moths website and Martin Harvey's Berks micro-moth verification guidelines describe it as "distinctive".

Monochroa palustrellus

Newton Longville 19th June

Monochroa palustrellus, Newton Longville 19th June

This is a "Nationally Scarce B" moth. I'm not sure how many Bucks records there are: Martin H's file shows zero for Berks, but Bedfordshire had reached 48 records by the end of 2018.

Tim Arnold
Newton Longville, Bucks

Time to look for Foresters

Yesterday Chris Hazell sent me information about a site he had just found near Chalfont St Peter, Bucks. He had counted 155 Foresters. Far higher than any other count in the Bucks database and at a new site for the species.
From other reports it seems to be doing well this year, so now is a good time to go and look at suitable flowery meadows. Check your books etc for best habitats. The larvae feed on Common and Sheep's Sorrel.
Good luck and please let us know your findings.
Thanks to Adam Bassett who stimulated a few people to go looking in the Chalfont St Peter area.

Martin Albertini

Carpet

I have been sent this photo by someone else who is trapping in the village. It looks as if it should be obvious but I am really not sure. My best guess would be a very colourful and well marked Large Twin-spot Carpet but I rally don't know.

Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.

?Cydia servillana and unknown

The first two pictures are the same beast.  I can see a step in the edge of the dark forewing and white area, which looks distinctive, but I am not confident. 

and this third photo looks as though it is identifiable, but I am struggling.

Any top tips appreciated

Barnaby Briggs, Iver

Scoparia/Eudonia sp

I think these species groups are stunning looking and am trying to get to grips with them. Any help with the above would be appreciated. Thanks