16th September 2018

A mild night brought some good moths in again, with four new for the garden:

[479] Dioryctria sylvestrella
[480] Toadflax Brocade
[481] Pink-barred Sallow
[482] Dark Spectacle

The Dioryctria pyralids are rather tricky but the one caught looks good for the largest of the group, D.sylvestrella (AKA New Pine Knot-horn) rather than abietella which I trapped over the summer:

Dioryctria sylvestrella

It was good to reacquaint myself with Toadflax Brocade - just my second record in the village with the previous being August 2015. There is a large stand of the food plant not too far away so its no real surprise that its turned up in the High St garden.

Toadflax Brocade Calophasia lunula

Pink-barred Sallow is surprisingly scarce here it seems - on checking my records this is my only third ever record in Cottenham. It's probably the sharpest of the sallows:

Pink-barred Sallow Xanthia togata

Dark Spectacle isn't too common either, I haven't picked one up since 2013:

Dark Spectacle Abrostola triplasia

Plenty of other moths were in the trap with Square-spot Rustic being ubiquitous at this time of year:

Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa

While Gold Triangle is still on the wing:

Gold Triangle Hypsopygia costalis

10th September 2018

It's officially autumn judging by the appearance of some classic species from this time of year in the trap. There were also a couple of long awaited firsts for the garden:

[477] Centre-barred Sallow
[478] Small Ranunculus

I was surprised to find that I haven't picked up Centre-barred Sallow since 2013, when I had nine individuals in my Corbett Street trap in late August / Early September. It was annual in years before that too.

Centre-barred Sallow Atethmia centrago

This is the first Small Ranunculus I've recorded since 2014 - and the first time I have trapped both Small and Large Ranunculus together:

Small Ranunculus Hecatera dysodea