Monday, 15 October 2018

13th October 2018

After trapping the previous night where there were strong gusts, the continued mild overnight temperatures (and lighter winds)convinced me that I should try again. I was glad that I did despite torrential downpours when opening up the trap...three new species for the garden is rather unexpected in mid October. Overall, c.115 moths of 34 species was an almost unprecedented return for this time of year.

[485] Rhomboid Tortrix

[486] Olive-tree Pearl
[487] Brindled Green

The clear headliner was the Olive-tree Pearl (Palpita vitrealis) which is a scarce migrant nationally with only a handful of Cambridgeshire records. It was the last moth located in the trap and nearly escaped my clutches. 



Olive-tree Pearl Palpita vitrealis
A couple of Acleris type tortrix had me stumped for a while - they are somewhat different to each other but both are clearly the the rather variable Rhomboid Tortrix. A supposedly common species that wasn't really on my radar - wonder if I've overlooked them previously? 


Rhomboid Tortrix Acleris rhombana
Brindled Green is normally noted as a common moth in the autumn but doesn't appear to be so here. This is just my second record in the village with the previous one being in late September 2018.


Brindled Green Dryobotodes eremita

Amongst many other autumn species there were seven Green-brindled Crescent which is by far the most I've caught in one night. Both forms (standard and the melanic f. capucina) were represented:


Green-brindled Crescent Allophyes oxyacanthae



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