Who wouldn't fall in love with a moth with the name of Cream-bordered Green Pea? Certainly not me. I've been waiting for this delightful speck of green to arrive for more than 20 years and finally it has. Way back in 2010, I wrote wistfully in a post about green moths that one day I hoped that the Pea would appear in the eggboxes. So, a warm welcome!
It is pretty scarce locally as you can see from this excellent map of records produced by Upper Thames Moths for which I am very grateful. I wonder if this is a one-off caused by our exceptionally lovely warm weather, or whether it will visit me again.
My second Hummingbird Hawk of 2025 came flying in yesterday but sadly I only discovered it after it had found its way into our greenhouse and expired from the heat. These beautiful little moths, which are so fascinating to watch, are plentiful in local gardens at the moment. A neighbour has just WhatsApped with a sighting of three at once.
Other hawks are incredibly abundant too. I had more than 30 bright pink Elephants in the trap on the first night back from the States. Dozing beside them were two Privets, the UK's third largest moth, and a Poplar. I still await Pine and Eyed this year.
The Leopard moth comes here at least once a year and last night was its tryst for 2025, a highly distinctive creature with an element of hornet beneath its delicate white and spotted veil of wings. It was also good to find a White Satin whose curious head markings prompted me to add an emoji spook.
Other arrivals, below, include Flame Shoulder, Poplar Grey, Riband Wave and the dreaded Box Moth, followed by Clay, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Swallowtail and the large micro European Corn-borer which was a rare migrant until it took to English life in the 1930s and started spreading.
Another debut for the year is the Peppered Moth below, famous in disputes about natural selection and seldom found these days in the melanistic, dark form which was prevalent in the days of heavy industrial pollution. A little ermine micro provides scale.
Back in the world of multitudes, the Dark Arches has assumed its familiar late-June role as top moth and the heatwave has brought hundreds of the little white/transparent micro which litter the base of the trap, looking dead but usually just asleep.
Navigating them here in conclusion is a Small Fan-footed Wave. More tomorrow from this busy, busy time of the year.
2 comments:
Fascinating post and lovely photos.
Hi there and thank's very much. I've been doing the blog for years but never tire of it all best
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