Annual moth review. Part 2: July

Synaphe punctalis (2nd county record)

Blue bordered carpet (new for parish records 01.vii.15)

As is always the case, July represents the busiest time for lepidopterists, with large numbers visiting the garden light trap. On particularly warm, dark and still nights this can end up being an all nighter, with regular visits to the trap to pot and record all that roosting on or near the trap and then finally emptying the trap around 4am and spending a good portion of the morning identifying and recording. So it proved this year, with a garden record set on 10.vii.15 where 210 moths of 82 species were recorded.
Just to get into July, 9 new for parish records were made on the 1st. A blue bordered carpet was a good macro record along with Elasticha rufocinera, Nephopterix angustella (18th county record), Argyresthia cupressela,(2nd county record) Coleophora peribenanderi,(10th county record) Swammerdamia caesiella, (18th county record) Cochylis hybridella , Epinotia bilunana and Ancylis comptana (5th county record). Certainly a successful night.
This continued into the 2nd July with Argyresthia albistria being new as well as Endotricha flammealis being the 1000th moth of the year. The 4th of the month brought Monochroa palustrella (16th county record), Synaphe punctalis (2nd county record)and Eucosma obumbratana (15th county record), all good records, with S. punctalis being only the 2nd, following one taken in 1997.
The moths kept coming with a white pinion spotted being new for the macro list on the 7th, Borkhausenia fuscescens on the 9th and Paraswammerdamia nebulella and Luquetia lobella on the 10th, the latter being the 9th county record.

Argyresthia albistria

Argyresthia cupressella (2nd county record)

A dotted fan-foot got on to parish records on the 11th, along with Nemapogon cloacella and Blastodacna hellerella. The 12th July offered views of 4 new micros: Pammene fasciana, Spilonotia ocellana, Coleophora glaucicolella (classified as common/widespread but only 9th record from dissection) and Rhopobota naevana. 
A common fanfoot was the 2000th moth record of the year on the 13th, along with Rhodophia formosa, Grapholita funebrana and Bryotropha terralella.
A rare occurence on the 14th where I took, not 1, but 2 new for records macros, a peach blossom and a small scallop. Not sure why I have never had peach blossom before, plenty of bramble around the fields close to the garden.

rather worn peach blossom

Dotted fan-foot

Blastodacna hellerella

By the 18th July, things were gathering pace again after a few quieter nights. Oegonconia caradjai, Ephestia elutella and Eucosma hohenwartiana were all trapped that night with a dissection of Coleophora flavipennella and Cnephasia asseclana required the following day. On the 21st, new micros consisted of Aethes rubigana and Argyresthia pruniella.
On the 23rd July, myself, Graeme Smith and Steve Easby planned a multi trap night in Millennium Wood, found within the parish of Little Hadham. This was our first open moth night of the year and in total, we had 11 folk pop into the wood to see what we were finding. In total 401 moths were trapped of 86 species, with 12 being new for my parish records. The only macro was canary shouldered thorn but the micros were as follows: Archips rosana, Limnaecia phragmitella, Epiblema foenella, Metzneria metzneriella, Zeiraphera isertana, Choritneura hebenstreitella, Epagoge grotiana. Cnephasia genitalana, Eudemis profundana, Scoparia basistrigalis and Acrobasis consociella
The final new for parish record was taken on 28th, Agapeta zoegana. Good to finish the month on an easy to identify micro.
All these moth records meant that by the end of July the annual count had reached 167 micros and 170 macro species with records now standing at 3548 moths.

Agapeta zoegana