Butterfly Conservation Upper Thames Branch Moth Sightings Archive - July to December 2010 ~ Friday 31st December 2010 ~ Final Moth Species Count for 2010 = 909 (449 Macro moths, 460 Micros) The following is Dave Maunder's final moth report for 2010: "Moths seen around Aylesbury, Bucks in late December were:- Mottled Umbers (2), Winter moths (66); Pale Brindled Beauty (1 - in my garden trap on 29th December)." Dave Wilton sent this final round-up of moths for 2010: "Apart from the occasional Winter Moth, the only species seen here at Westcott, Bucks between my last report and the end of the year was a single December Moth which came to the lights of our conservatory windows on 30th December. Having belatedly realised that my species tally for Oakley Wood in Bernwood Forest was stuck on 399 for the year and with a night above freezing in prospect, on 31st December I took the Robinson trap to the main Oakley Wood car park and ran it there from 4.30 until 6.30pm to try and add at least one more new species. This was more than achieved, with five species being recorded: December Moth (1), Winter Moth (45), Northern Winter Moth (2), Mottled Umber (8) and Chestnut (2). A torchlight search of nearby oak trunks produced a further 96 Winter Moths, including three pairs 'in cop' and two other solo females. Roughly 10% of the males had malformed wings, something that may perhaps have been a side effect of all the snow and unusually severe temperatures over the previous few weeks. Winter Moth female Photo © Dave Wilton Peter Hall has continued to supply me with additional identifications of unknown micromoths trapped earlier in the year (thankfully, from his point of view, a task that has now been completed!). Moths new to the UTB list from here at Westcott were Phyllocnistis unipunctella (18th July), Phyllonorycter platanoidella (21st July), Opostega salaciella (1st August), Argyrotaenia ljungiana (7th August), Bryotropha affinis (11th August) & Phyllonorycter messaniella (23rd September), while from Bernwood Forest were Ectoedemia occultella, Stigmella sakhalinella (both 4th June), Ectoedemia subbimaculella (23rd June), Phyllonorycter ulmifoliella (1st July), Ectoedemia angulifasciella (7th July), Ectoedemia longicaudella (29th July), Coleophora saxicolella, Phyllonorycter quercifoliella, Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla (all 7th August), Ectoedemia atrifrontella, Phyllonorycter salicicolella, Phyllonorycter trifasciella, Stigmella roborella (all 16th August) & Epinotia trigonella, Stenolechia gemmella (both 24th August). Caught elsewhere in Bucks were Bucculatrix ulmella (31st July) & Ypsolopha sylvella (30th September) in Finemere Wood; Cochylis molliculana & Euleioptilus carphodactyla (both 22nd August) in Moulsoe Old Wood; Cosmiotes consortella, Phyllonorycter oxyacanthae & Dichrorampha simpliciana (all 8th August) at Pilch Fields; Ectoedemia intimella (27th June), Phyllonorycter corylifoliella (30th July) & Cnephasia genitalana, Dioryctria abietella, Oegoconia quadripuncta (all 30th July) in Whitecross Green Wood; Eucosma obumbratana (3rd August) in Whitfield Wood." Alastair Driver sent this sighting from Sonning, Berks on 21st December: "I found this freshly emerged but very unseasonal Evergestis forficalis (Garden Pebble) in my kitchen on 6th December. I suspect it emerged from the soil in a Poinsettia plant pot I had bought from a local garden centre the previous day, probably sensing that my kitchen temperature was akin to that of an English garden in August!" Evergestis forficalis Photo © Alastair Driver Adam Bassett reported the following on 20th December: "Thanks to Peter Hall for confirming a further batch of moths from the summer, all from my garden at Marlow Bottom, Bucks. There are a few that are new to the 2010 UTB list: Acrocercops brongniardella (9 July), Coleophora coracipennella (9 July), Tinea pellionella (15 July) and Phyllonorycter messaniella (1 November)." ~ Sunday 19th December 2010 ~ Ched George sent this report on 18th December: "Peter Hall has just checked a moth that I gave him to look at after the Bucks Invertebrate Group (BIG) meeting at Radnage, Bucks, on 20th August and he has identified it is a Dioryctria sylvestrella (male), a first for Bucks." This update came from Dave Maunder on 17th December: "Plenty more moths to report from Aylesbury, Bucks over the last week, although not many species! Winter moths (71); Scarce Umber (1); Mottled Umbers (4); Grey Shoulder-knot (1). Also on 12th December I ran my garden m.v. trap and got December moth (1) and a Winter moth. The milder spell of last weekend helped boost my December count a lot! Below is a photo of two particularly nicely marked Motted Umbers." Mottled Umbers Photo © Dave Maunder The following update came from Dave Wilton on 13th December: "The very brief improvement in the weather on Saturday 11th December, tempted me to run an actinic trap in the garden here at Westcott, Bucks. The lamp was lit from dusk until 11pm, after which the skies cleared and the temperature plummeted below freezing once more, but in that time I was pleased to get quite a reasonable catch: December Moth (4), Mottled Umber (2) and Winter Moth (28, the largest number I've ever seen in the garden). Peter Hall is still working his way through some of the more "difficult moths" that I trapped earlier in the year and he has now confirmed a number that were trapped during July, of which quite a few are new to the UTB list. From Westcott were Acleris kochiella, Coleophora sternipennella (both 8th July), Agonopterix conterminella, Coleophora hemerobiella, Gelechia senticetella (all 18th July), Acleris aspersana (21st July) & Coleophora versurella, Gelechia rhombella (both 26th July). Elsewhere in Bucks, from Bernwood Forest were Anacampsis blattariella, Carpatolechia alburnella (both 7th July), Coleophora spinella, Gelechia nigra, Syncopacma larseniella, Trachycera suavella (all 11th July), Zeiraphera ratzeburgiana (20th July) & Ypsolopha alpella (29th July), from Leaches Farm were Cnephasia longana, Cnephasia pasiuana & Gelechia sororculella (all 6th July), from Moulsoe were Anacampsis populella, Eana incanana, Eudonia mercurella, Ypsolopha horridella (all 19th July) and from Pilch Fields were Lesser Common Rustic, Coleophora taeniipennella, Grapholita janthinana, Lobesia abscisana, Monochroa lucidella (all 9th July)." Dave Maunder reported a few more moths from Aylesbury, Bucks on 11th December: "I didn't think I'd be sending you any more sightings this year after all this sub-zero weather, but after last night's brief rise in temperature to a heady 6 centigrade, I took a cycle-ride to Hartwell and back from Aylesbury on 11th December and found a good selection of overnight road casualties, which consisted of:- Brick moths (6 - late specimens!); Scarce Umbers (2) and Winter moths (8). This was a method of finding moths I perfected in my youth before I was able to drive! More moths found around Aylesbury this morning (11th) were:- Scarce Umber (1) and Winter moths (12). Amazing what a slight rise in temps will produce! Incidentally, I put out my garden m.v. lamp last night, but didn't get one moth!" On 11th December Tom Stevenson sent the following from Benson, Oxon: "With the recent freeze I had given up on moths for 2010 but a Winter Moth was attracted to the lit hallway last night, 10th, trying to gain access." ~ Sunday 28th November 2010 ~ This update came from Dave Wilton yesterday, 27th November: "The last reasonable trapping session in the garden here at Westcott, Bucks was on 12th November when I got Caloptilia stigmatella (1), Agonopterix arenella (1), Blastobasis lacticolella (1), Acleris ferrugana (1), Acleris schalleriana (1), December Moth (1), Red-green Carpet (2), Winter Moth (6), Feathered Thorn (1), Blair's Shoulder-knot (1) & Yellow-line Quaker (1). 13th November was a much chillier night and brought in only December Moth (1), Winter Moth (1), Scarce Umber (1) & Sprawler (1). I haven't run the trap since then and have seen only Mompha subbistrigella, an example found indoors on 18th November, plus Mottled Umber (18th November), December Moth (19th November) and Winter Moth (22nd November) all of which were singletons attracted to window lights after dark. However, Peter Hall has been busy identifying further moths for me from late June and early July and the following are new to the UTB list: from Westcott were Coleophora glaucicolella (26th June), Bryotropha senectella, Grapholita funebrana (both 28th June), Common Rustic, Eucosma conterminana (both 30th June), Satyr Pug, Coleophora ibipennella (both 4th July) and Coleophora prunifoliae, Ephestia parasitella (both 6th July); from Bernwood Forest were Valerian Pug & Carpatolechia notatella (both 1st July); recorded at Whitecross Green Wood were Coleophora discordella, Endothenia ustulana, Exoteleia dodecella & Piniphila bifasciana (all 27th June); seen at Whitfield Wood were Argyresthia glaucinella, Elachista adscitella, Epinotia signatana, Paraswammerdamia nebulella & Phtheochroa inopiana (all 2nd July). Valerian Pug is a notable species, for which there are only a handful of records from our three counties, while Argyresthia glaucinella was only the second county record for Bucks. There are also few Bucks records for Epinotia signatana, possibly because it is a fairly non-descript tortrix that could at first glance be confused with the more common Zeiraphera isertana." Argyresthia glaucinella Epinotia signatana Photo © Dave Wilton Photo © Dave Wilton Dave Maunder reported the following on 22nd November: "A