The third week of May featured repeated warm nights and some excellent returns from trap nights. On the 17th I recorded a new species for me:
[562] Tischeria ekebladella
This tiny leaf mining species, Tischeria ekebladella, nearly escaped my clutches as I very nearly dismissed this as Coptotriche marginea. It is a common species but it doesn't seem to come to light particularly regularly.
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Tischeria ekebladella
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Treble-bar and Shark were just second garden records:
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Treble-bar Aplocera plagiata
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Shark Cucullia umbratica
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Orange Footman is a little more regular but is still one of the scarcer footman species but often the first to appear in a year:
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Orange Footman Eilema sororcula
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The highlight though was an incredible twelve Coleophora amethystinella. This species was first recorded in the County in 2018 and I trapped a couple last year. So far this year I had one early in the month and located two along Church Lane during the daytime, however 12 in one trap was remarkable and represents what must be part of a dramatic population expansion across the region. Their diagnostic orange/red eyes and 'eyelashes' are easily visible even without photographing them.
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Coleophora amethystinella
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Two other good micros included two similar tortricids that are great to see side by side:
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Aethes smeathmanniana
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Cochylimorpha straminea
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