Good Housekeeping in Oxfordshire 3

That's enough apples, dear
Let's look at something
more interesting - like moths

There were no new moths in the trap last night, the first time that this happened this year; just the frail-looking November Moth featured yesterday which had decided to spend a bonus 24 hours in its eggbox cone. It therefore seems a good moment to hold another of my occasional Good Housekeeping exercises and bring my audit of this year's moths up to date.

When I last looked through the blog, on 31 July, the tally was 163 species, 138 of them macro-moths and 25 micros. Now those last two figures have risen to 207 and 54, making an overall total of 261 species during this first season of trapping in Oxfordshire.

This compares with my grand total in Leeds of 205 species, between starting this blog in May 2008 and closing down at the end of last year, although the discrepancy is not as great as might at first appear. Most of both totals, in Oxfordshire as in Leeds, can be expected in the first year with much smaller accretions subsequently.

Happy in Leeds and Oxford: the Ruby Tiger

Both tallies are also modest when compared with others' counts. The excellent moth section of Upper Thames Butterfly Conservation's website has now reached 956 species with an expected boost from micros still to be sorted which could take it above 2011's impressive total of 1058.  I know that I under-report because of my impatience and ignorance regarding small and middle-sized grey and brown macros and all but the most vivid micros; but clearly I have plenty to hope for in the coming years.

So, here are the newcomers since 31 July with the ones not found by me in Leeds in red:

MACROMOTHS: Autumnal, Autumnal Rustic, Barred Sallow, Beaded Chestnut, Black Rustic, Blair's Shoulder-knot, Bordered Beauty, Bordered Sallow, Brick, Brindled Green, Brown-spot Pinion, Cabbage Moth, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Centre-barred Sallow, Chestnut, Common Carpet, Common Rustic, Dark Swordgrass, December Moth, Deep Brown Dart, Double Square-spot, Dusky Sallow, Feathered Gothic, Feathered Thorn, Flounced Rustic, Frosted Orange, Gold Spot or Lempke's Gold Spot, Gothic, Green-brindled Crescent and f.Capucina, Grey Shoulder-knot, Large Ranunculus, Large Wainscot, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Least Yellow Underwing, Lunar Underwing, Lychnis, Maiden's Blush, Marbled Green, Merveille du Jour, November Moth, Old Lady, Pale Mottled Willow, Pebble Hooktip, Pink-barred Sallow, Poplar Kitten, Purple Bar,  Purple Thorn, Red-green Carpet, Red-line Quaker, Red Underwing, Rosy Rustic, Sallow Kitten,  Shaded Broad-bar, Small Waved Umber, Sprawler, Spruce Carpet, Square-spot Rustic, Straw Underwing, Tawny Marbled Minor, Tawny-speckled Pug,  Turnip Moth, Vestal, Vine's Rustic, Willow Beauty, Winter Moth, Yellow-line Quaker, Yellow Straw (69)

MICROS: Acleris aspersana, Acleris ferrugana, Acleris emaigana, Acleris holmiana, Agonopterix alstrumeriana, Agriphila straminella, Agriphila tristella, Anthophila fabriciana (Nettle Tap), Apotomis betuletana, Argyresthia goerdartella, Bastia unitella, Brown China Mark, Brown Plume, Caloptilia elongelia, Carcina quercana, Chequered Fruit Tortrix, Chrysofeuchia culmella, Cydia splendana, Epiphyas postvittana (Large Brown Apple Moth), Evergestis fonficalis, Garden Rose Tortrix, Large Fruit Tree Tortrix, Large Plume, Light Brown Apple, Pammene aurata, Pyrausta purpuralis, Ringed China-mark,  Rush Veneer,Ypsolopha sequella (29)

An Oxfordshire treat: the mighty Puss Moth

Finally, here are my Leeds moths not found in Oxfordshire - yet. Their tally is a score or so down on July but there is a long way to go before I see them all here too:

MACROMOTHS: Alder, Angle-striped Sallow, Antler,  Barred Red, Blackneck, Brown Silver-line, Buff Footman, Campion, Chimney Sweeper, Clouded-bordered Brindle ab Combusta),  Clouded Brindle, Common Wave, Cream Wave, Crescent, Dark-barred, Twin-spot Carpet, Dark Brocade, Dark Dagger, Dark Marbled Carpet, Dark Spectacle,  Dotted Border, Double-lobed, Double-striped Pug, Dusky Brocade, Dusky Thorn, Dwarf Pug, Fan-foot, Figure of 80,  Flame Carpet, Foxglove Pug, Freyer's Pug, Golden-rod Pug, Green Arches,  Green Silver Lines, Grey Arches, Grey Birch, Grey Chi, Grey Pine Carpet,  Grey Scalloped Bar, Ingrailed Clay, Knot Grass, Large Emerald, Lead-coloured Drab, Lime Hawk including Var brunnea, Lunar Marbled Brown, March Moth, May Highflyer, Mottled Rustic, Mottled Umber, Oak Beauty, Oak Hooktip, Ochreous Pug, Orange Sallow, Orange Underwing, Pale Brindled Beauty, Pale-shouldered Brocade, Phoenix, Plain Golden Y, Rufous Minor, Sallow, Satin Beauty, Scalloped Hazel (including var nigra), Scalloped Hook-tip, Scarce Silver Lines, September Thorn, Shoulder-striped Wainscot, Slender Brindle, Small Fanfoot, Small Fan-footed Wave,  Smoky Wainscot, Streamer, Tawny-barred Angle, Treble Bar, True Lover’s Knot, Wormwood Pug,  Yellow Shell. (76)

Temple Mills

MICROS:  Acleris shalleriana, Anania coronata, Ancylis badiana, Argyresthia trifasciata, Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis ceranasa), Bird-cherry Ermine, Blastobasis lacticolella, Bramble-shoot Moth, Brown House Moth, Brown Grey (Scoparia ambigualis), Carnation Tortrix, Catopria margaritella, Cypress Tip,  Dipleurina lacustrata, Emmelina monodactyla, Epiblema cynosbatella,  Eriocranaria subpurpurella, Garden Pebble, Marbled Orchard Tortrix, Meal Moth,  Pyrausta aurata, Spindle Ermine, Tinea trinotella, Twenty-plume, White-shouldered House Moth (25)

Lovely and abundant on both sides of the Trent: the Elephant Hawk

Tomorrow:  Moth of the Year! The Strictly Come Mothing sensations of 2013...