Away from the garden at Westcott, during 2014
I ran traps at 16 different locations spread right across the county. Bernwood Forest and Finemere Wood were
covered most frequently, with 21 visits and 17 visits each respectively, while
monthly surveys over the main part of the ‘moth season’ (March to October) were
also completed at Salcey Forest, Round Wood and Holtspur Bottom. Pitstone Hill and Stoke Common each received
four visits but most of the other sites on the map below were surveyed just the
once.
Each site is
dealt with below, in alphabetical order:
Ashridge Estate
(SP 9713) Owned by the National Trust
Martin
Albertini and I ran traps in woodland near the Bridgewater Monument on 26th
July to support the annual public “creatures of the night” event organised by
the National Trust. My two lights
brought in 110 species but there was little of particular note amongst them. Some of the slightly more interesting
sightings included the following:
622
|
Elachista adscitella
|
26th July
|
|
987
|
Ptycholomoides aeriferanus
|
26th July
|
|
1754
|
Eulithis prunata
|
Phoenix
|
26th July
|
1782
|
Horisme tersata
|
Fern
|
26th July
|
1784
|
Melanthia procellata
|
Pretty
Chalk Carpet
|
26th July
|
1876
|
Hydrelia flammeolaria
|
Small
Yellow Wave
|
26th July
|
Bernwood Forest
(SP 6111, SP 6210) Owned
by the Forestry Commission
Bernwood
Forest is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and nature reserve on
the border between Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. During 2014 my visits, mostly to Oakley Wood
and Shabbington Wood within the forest, were part of an on-going moth survey with
Peter Hall which commenced in 2009 (see Blog entry for 12th February). 734 different moth species have now been
recorded over that period (taking the site total to 850), of which the
following were new to the list in 2014:
181
|
Taleporia tubulosa
|
18th June
|
|
224
|
Triaxomera parasitella
|
18th June
|
|
418
|
Argyresthia conjugella
|
17th June
|
|
465
|
Plutella porrectella
|
30th July
|
|
602
|
Elachista apicipunctella
|
17th June
|
|
633
|
Cosmiotes stabilella*
|
17th June
|
|
871
|
Oegoconia deauratella
|
11th July
|
|
982
|
Choristoneura diversana*
|
17th June
|
|
1048
|
Acleris variegana
|
1st
October
|
|
1180
|
Epiblema tetragonana
|
3rd June
|
|
1809
|
Perizoma didymata
|
Twin-spot
Carpet
|
18th June
|
1933
|
Agriopis aurantiaria
|
Scarce
Umber
|
28th
November
|
2120
|
Diarsia mendica
|
Ingrailed
Clay
|
18th June
|
*Cosmiotes stabilella & Choristoneura diversana were actually
found in Waterperry Wood where the trap site was just over the boundary into Vice-County
23 Oxfordshire.
Of Bernwood’s
notable macro-moths, there was just the one record for Small Black Arches Meganola strigula (a singleton in
Shabbington Wood on 11th July) but 14 individuals of Common Fan-foot Pechipogo strigilata were seen between
25th May and 18th June (10 in Oakley and Shabbington Woods with the other four
in Waterperry Wood). Unfortunately there
was no sign of the rather elusive Triangle Heterogenea
asella, last recorded in Bernwood during 2010.
 |
| Taleporia tubulosa, 18th June 2014 |
 |
| Choristoneura diversana, 17th June 2014 |
 |
| Small Black Arches, 11th July 2014 |
Bradenham (SU
8297) Owned by the National Trust
A prime
chalk grassland site to the south of Princes Risborough, the single visit made
to Bradenham was a short-notice Bucks Invertebrate Group field meeting on 29th
July arranged specifically to look for the plume moth Oxyptilus pilosellae. Long
thought to have become extinct in the UK (its last sighting anywhere was in
1964), I had found a single male of this small species at the site in 2013 and
this was an attempt to see if it could be discovered again. Joined by Martin Albertini, Peter Hall, Mark
Telfer and plume expert Colin Hart, eight MV lights were run on an ideal
mothing night which produced more than 200 species. My own two traps brought in 144 species, of
which the following were highlights:
1370
|
Sitochroa palealis
|
29th July
|
|
1462
|
Pempeliella dilutella
|
29th July
|
|
1489
|
Oxyptilus pilosellae
|
29th July
|
|
1507
|
Stenoptilia zophodactylus
|
29th July
|
|
1676
|
Cyclophora annularia
|
Mocha
|
29th July
|
1774
|
Colostygia olivata
|
Beech-green
Carpet
|
29th July
|
2045
|
Eilema caniola
|
Hoary Footman
|
29th July
|
2131
|
Xestia rhomboidea
|
Square-spotted
Clay
|
29th July
|
Single
individuals (all males) of the target species Oxyptilus pilosellae came to each of three traps on the night so we
can now say for certain that the moth is in residence. A search of dark mullein plants earlier that
afternoon had produced 172 caterpillars of Striped Lychnis Shargacucullia lychnitis, quite a good total for the site.
 |
| Square-spotted Clay, 29th July 2014 |
 |
| Oxyptilus pilosellae, 29th July 2014 (photo by Peter Hall) |
 |
| Striped Lychnis larva, 29th July 2014 |
Brill Common
(SP 6514) Common land
Chris
Bottrell and I ran traps here on 4th July for the annual public “creatures of
the night event” organised by the local BBOWT volunteer group. Windy and wet conditions conspired to ensure
that we weren’t overwhelmed with moths but 33 species were recorded, including Epinotia signatana, and they included a
few species that didn’t fit with the general lay opinion that “moths are all
small boring brown jobs”: Peach Blossom Thyatira batis, Swallow-tailed Moth Ourapteryx sambucaria, Elephant
Hawk-moth Deilephila elpenor,
Broad-barred White Hecatera bicolorata
and Plain Golden Y Autographa jota. Even so, far more interest was shown in the
Barn Owl and Noctule Bat brought along by other groups!
 |
| Broad-barred White, 4th July 2014 |
Burnham Beeches
(SU 9584) Owned by the City of London Corporation
Burnham
Beeches is a large SSSI and National Nature Reserve, much of it woodland but
with several more open areas. On 6th
September traps were run by Martin Albertini, Andy King, Jeremy Palmer and I on
the surviving area of heath for a public moth and bat event being hosted by the
local rangers. Unfortunately the
temperature plummeted quickly after dusk and, because there were few moths
flying, the lamps were lit for only two hours.
Just over 20 species were recorded, of which Teleiopsis diffinis, a late Peppered Moth Biston betularia, Neglected Rustic Xestia castanea and White-point Mythimna
albipuncta were the only moths of any note.
 |
| Teleiopsis diffinis, 6th September 2014 |
Finemere
Wood is a SSSI and nature reserve to the west of Quainton. The wildlife here is under threat from an
Energy-from-Waste Incinerator currently being constructed to the west and from
future plans for the HS2 rail line, the route of which will pass very close by
to the south. The visits here were part
of an on-going survey which commenced in 2007.
704 moth species are now known from this tract of ancient woodland, of
which 658 have been recorded during the eight years of the survey. Additions to the list during 2014 were as
follows:
152
|
Adela rufimitrella
|
14th May
|
|
555
|
Coleophora follicularis
|
20th June
|
|
787
|
Bryotropha terrella
|
20th June
|
|
1041
|
Acleris sparsana
|
2nd
October
|
|
1227
|
Pammene giganteana
|
4th April
|
|
1661
|
Archiearis parthenias
|
Orange
Underwing
|
16th March
|
1767
|
Thera firmata
|
Pine
Carpet
|
2nd
October
|
1789
|
Rheumaptera undulata
|
Scallop
Shell
|
20th June
|
1876
|
Hydrelia flammeolaria
|
Small
Yellow Wave
|
20th June
|
2291
|
Craniophora ligustri
|
Coronet
|
20th June
|
2299
|
Amphipyra tragopoginis
|
Mouse Moth
|
5th
September
|
Although a
common moth, it was good finally to have confirmation of Orange Underwing here,
something which had been suspected for a while.
The only captures prior to 2014 had been of the supposedly less common
Light Orange Underwing Archiearis notha
which is present in most of the local woods thanks to the abundance of aspen
hereabouts. Now we know for sure that
Finemere is home to both species. Scallop
Shell (last noted in 1989), Small Yellow Wave (l/n 1992) & Mouse Moth (l/n
2002) have been recorded previously at Finemere but the remainder were completely
new to the site list. Nothing else of
particular significance was recorded during the year.
 |
| Scallop Shell, 20th June 2014 |
This was a
single late-season visit to what is one of the best chalk grassland sites in
the county, located to the north-east of Princes Risborough. It is somewhere that I hope to visit on a
regular basis during 2015. Martin
Albertini and Peter Hall joined me here and there were no real surprises in any
of our traps. I caught 42 species, of
which the following were nice to see:
423
|
Argyresthia semitestacella
|
31st
August
|
|
1854
|
Eupithecia pusillata
|
Juniper
Pug
|
31st
August
|
2177
|
Tholera cespitis
|
Hedge Rustic
|
31st
August
|
A daytime
visit to the site earlier in the month (6th August), mainly to see the
butterflies Silver-spotted Skipper Hesperia
comma and Chalkhill Blue Lysandra
corridon, had produced examples of the long-horn moth Nemophora metallica on scabious and a couple of late caterpillars
of Striped Lychnis Shargacucullia
lychnitis on dark mullein.
 |
| Argyresthia semitestacella, 31st August 2014 |
Holtspur Bottom
(SU 9190) Managed by Butterfly Conservation
Owned by
Beaconsfield Town Council, this is a nature reserve on former arable fields
which have undergone successful reversion to chalk grassland. Holtspur provided me with the most fun during
2014, ten visits here between March and October producing the very pleasing
total of 435 moth species and taking the site count up to 511. Perhaps the most important resident moth is
the rare Striped Lychnis Shargacucullia
lychnitis, one of the few species which rarely come to light traps. Luckily its larvae are easy to spot on the
food-plant dark mullein Verbascum nigrum,
which is to be found growing in small numbers on the reserve (33 caterpillars
were recorded on 23rd July). Plans to
significantly increase the number of available plants are currently underway so
it is hoped that the species will have a fairly secure future at Holtspur. Moths typical of chalk down-land have been
quick to colonise these meadows and the following table includes some of the
more interesting species recorded during 2014:
840
|
Thiotricha subocellea
|
3rd July
|
|
849
|
Syncopacma cinctella
|
19th May
|
|
861
|
Acompsia schmidtiellus
|
23rd July
|
|
1370
|
Sitochroa palealis
|
23rd July
|
|
1396
|
Mecyna flavalis
|
23rd July
|
|
1457
|
Hypochalcia ahenella
|
12th June
|
|
1462
|
Pempeliella dilutella
|
3rd July
|
|
1485
|
Phycitodes maritima
|
19th May
|
|
1512
|
Merrifieldia baliodactylus
|
3rd July
|
|
1676
|
Cyclophora annularia
|
Mocha
|
19th May
|
1841
|
Eupithecia millefoliata
|
Yarrow Pug
|
23rd July
|
2045
|
Eilema caniola
|
Hoary
Footman
|
3rd July
|
2076
|
Meganola albula
|
Kent Black
Arches
|
3rd July
|
2204
|
Mythimna obsoleta
|
Obscure
Wainscot
|
3rd July
|
2260
|
Conistra rubiginea
|
Dotted
Chestnut
|
29th March
|
2292
|
Cryphia algae
|
Tree-lichen
Beauty
|
23rd July
|
2323
|
Apamea sublustris
|
Reddish
Light Arches
|
12th June
|
2493
|
Machrochila cribrumalis
|
Dotted
Fan-foot
|
3rd July
|
In addition,
species such as Small Elephant Hawk-moth Deilephila
porcellus, Light Brocade Lacanobia
w-latinum, Feathered Gothic Tholera
decimalis and White-point Mythimna
albipuncta were seen in some numbers.
Considering that the reversion to chalk grassland began as recently as
1998 it is very pleasing to see how many habitat specialists have now taken up
residence.
 |
| Acompsia schmidtiellus, 23rd July 2014 |
 |
| Kent Black Arches, 3rd July 2014 |
 |
| Obscure Wainscot, 3rd July 2014 |
 |
| Dotted Fan-foot, 3rd July 2014 |
Homefield Wood
(SU 8186) Owned by the Forestry Commission
Located to
the west of Marlow, this large area of mixed woodland surrounding a small
enclave of chalk grassland (the latter managed by BBOWT) was visited on 30th
October, 7th November and 15th November to search for Plumed Prominent Ptilophora plumigera. A single male of this rare moth finally came
to light on the third visit but by then I’d lost the enthusiasm to look for it
at other sites in the county!
 |
| Plumed Prominent, 15th November 2014 |
 |
| Plumed Prominent, 15th November 2014 |
Jordans (SU
9690) Owned by GreenAcres Woodland Burials
Formerly
Pitlands Wood, this is now the site of the Chiltern Woodland Burial Park. A Bucks Invertebrate Group field meeting was
held here on 31st May and my two traps brought in 72 species. Few were of particular interest but Cydia illutana, Pammene giganteana and Red-necked Footman Atolmis rubricollis were still nice to see.
 |
| Cydia illutana, 31st May |
Old
Wavendon Heath (SP 9334) Owned by Bedford Estates
Old Wavendon
Heath, on the greensand ridge near Woburn in Bedfordshire, lies outside the
current political boundary of Buckinghamshire but for biological recording
purposes is within Vice-County 24 Bucks.
Although much of the site’s once extensive heathland is deteriorating
into birch and conifer woodland, previous daytime visits had shown that the
surviving areas of scrubby heath include quite a substantial amount of
broom. My single visit here on 31st
October successfully targeted Streak Chesias
legatella which is an uncommon moth in Bucks. Indeed, it was the only moth recorded in any
numbers, 21 of them coming to light from dusk onwards.
 |
| Streak, 31st October 2014 |
Pitstone
Fen (SP 9314) Owned
by BBOWT
Designated
as a Local Wildlife Site, Pitstone Fen is quite a small, linear nature reserve
alongside the West Coast Main Line near Tring and is not normally open to the
public. A Bucks Invertebrate Group field
meeting was held here on 16th August but the results were rather
disappointing. My own trap produced 42
run-of-the-mill species and the only ‘fenland’ moth seen at any of the lights
was a solitary Southern Wainscot Mythimna
straminea.
Pitstone
Hill is a SSSI which comprises botanically-rich chalk grassland on steep slopes
above a working chalk quarry. Fairly
extensive moth surveys of the adjacent Ivinghoe Beacon and Steps Hill were
carried out by Peter Hall and I over the previous couple of years but Pitstone
Hill was largely ignored and this was an attempt to put that right. In actual fact only four site visits were
achieved so it is hoped that more work can be carried out here in 2015. An early visit in April with Colin Plant,
county recorder for Hertfordshire, to look specifically for Mottled Grey Colostygia multistrigaria and Northern
Drab Orthosia opima (both known from
the other local hills) was partly successful in that Northern Drab turned up to
light. The four visits here produced 237
species altogether and amongst them were the following highlights:
1
|
Micropterix tunbergella
|
17th May
|
|
530
|
Coleophora lixella
|
16th July
|
|
841
|
Sophronia semicostella
|
16th July
|
|
1441
|
Oncocera semirubella
|
16th July
|
|
1457
|
Hypochalcia ahenella
|
13th June
|
|
1462
|
Pempeliella dilutella
|
13th June
|
|
1731
|
Scotopteryx bipunctaria
|
Chalk
Carpet
|
16th July
|
1845
|
Eupithecia pimpinelata
|
Pimpinel
Pug
|
16th July
|
2082
|
Euxoa nigricans
|
Garden
Dart
|
16th July
|
2084
|
Agrotis cinerea
|
Light
Feathered Rustic
|
17th May
|
2163
|
Melanchra pisi
|
Broom Moth
|
17th May
|
2176
|
Cerapteryx graminis
|
Antler
Moth
|
16th July
|
2323
|
Apamea sublustris
|
Reddish
Light Arches
|
13th June
|
The 17th May
visit with Marc Botham produced more than 20 Light Feathered Rustics, while the
16th July visit with Martin Albertini and Andy King was particularly noteworthy
for the numbers of Oncocera semirubella
present, more than 200 being counted between the traps. Actually, that visit will be remembered more for its disasters because
both Andy and I had generator failures (both happily resolved, although in
Andy’s case involving some major maintenance by torchlight), I wrecked the
driver’s door on my vehicle while reversing up a slope and Martin managed to
lose his keys and had to return the next day to retrieve his car!
 |
| Micropterix tunbergella, 17th May 2014 |
 |
| Sophronia semicostella, 16th July 2014 |
 |
| Light Feathered Rustic, 17th May 2014 |
Round Wood
(SP 6531) Owned by the Woodland Trust
Round Wood
is a small mixed woodland in an under-recorded area of north-west Bucks, close
to the village of Barton Hartshorn. Half
of it is still conifer plantation while the remainder is regenerating (but
still quite young) deciduous woodland.
Ten visits here produced 280 moth species, nowhere near as many as at
Salcey Forest (see later) but the total was around about my expectations for
the habitat. Listed below are some of
the more interesting species found:
336
|
Phyllonorycter dubitella
|
3rd April
|
|
447
|
Roeslerstammia erxlebella
|
11th
August
|
|
555
|
Coleophora follicularis
|
9th July
|
|
1144
|
Epinotia signatana
|
9th July
|
|
1145
|
Epinotia nanana
|
6th June
|
|
1455
|
Dioryctria simplicella
|
10th
October
|
|
1661
|
Archiearis parthenias
|
Orange
Underwing
|
9th March
|
1789
|
Rheumaptera undulata
|
Scallop
Shell
|
9th July
|
2260
|
Conistra rubiginea
|
Dotted
Chestnut
|
16th March
|
2268
|
Parastichtis suspecta
|
Suspected
|
9th July
|
Suspected is
known primarily from the heathy areas in the extreme south of the county and on
the greensand ridge adjacent to the border with Bedfordshire, so it came as a
bit of a surprise to find the moth at Round Wood but there is a large amount of
birch (the larval food-plant) in the deciduous areas. Needless to say, conifer feeders such as
Dingy Shell Euchoeca nebulata, Barred
Red Hylaea fasciaria and Pine Beauty Panolis flammea were found in some
numbers.
 |
| Suspected, 9th July 2014 |
Salcey Forest
(SP 8050) Owned by the Forestry Commission
Just inside
Northamptonshire, Salcey is a working forest, part of which is an SSSI. This is another site outside the current political
boundary of Bucks but for recording purposes the south-east quadrant of the
forest (Knighton’s Copse and Rose Copse) is within Vice-County 24 and it was
here that the survey was carried out, with occasional help from Martin
Albertini and Peter Hall. The main
reason for choosing this site was to search for Concolorous Chortodes extrema which is known from
Salcey. Unfortunately the moth failed to
show during its main flight season (May/June) and the few possible candidates
which turned up at the beginning of July all proved to be Mere Wainscot Chortodes fluxa.
Nine visits
to Salcey produced a list of 388 species (206 macros & 182 micros) which
was quite a pleasing result for the amount of effort put in although nothing
particularly significant was found. The
pick of the bunch are listed below:
637
|
Elachista bisulcella
|
2nd
September
|
|
637
|
Crassa tinctella
|
1st June
|
|
982
|
Choristoneura diversana
|
2nd July
|
|
1119a
|
Ancylis diminutana
|
22nd June
|
|
1144
|
Epinotia signatana
|
22nd June
|
|
1152
|
Epinotia maculana
|
30th
September
|
|
1227
|
Pammene giganteana
|
30th March
|
|
1655
|
Tethea or
|
Poplar
Lutestring
|
16th May
|
1658
|
Cymatophorima diluta
|
Oak
Lutestring
|
2nd
September
|
1789
|
Rheumaptera undulata
|
Scallop
Shell
|
22nd June
|
1828
|
Eupithecia satyrata
|
Satyr Pug
|
2nd July
|
2009
|
Ptilodon cucullina
|
Maple
Prominent
|
1st June
|
2029
|
Euproctis chrysorrhoea
|
Brown-tail
|
2nd July
|
2039
|
Atolmis rubricollis
|
Red-necked
Footman
|
1st June
|
2140
|
Cerastis leucographa
|
White-marked
|
30th March
|
2484
|
Schrankia costaestrigalis
|
Pinion-streaked
Snout
|
2nd July
|
Unusually,
Alder Moth Acronicta alni appeared in
significant numbers (28 recorded) and it was also nice to see typical woodland
noctuids such as Purple Clay Diarsia
brunnea, Green Arches Anaplectiodes
prasina & Grey Arches Polia
nebulosa appearing frequently. Clematis-feeding
species such as Fern Horisme tersata,
Pretty Chalk Carpet Melanthia procellata
& Haworth’s Pug Eupithecia
haworthiata, which in Bucks are more usually associated with the Chilterns,
were also welcome sightings. A very
effective daytime visit here in October, searching for leaf-mines with David
Manning and Andy & Melissa Banthorpe, added the scarce species Ectoedemia rubivora (on dewberry) and Emmetia angusticollella (on dog rose) to
the site list.
 |
| Pammene giganteana, 30th March 2014 |
 |
| Oak Lutestring, 2nd September 2014 |
 |
| Brown-tail, 2nd July 2014 |
 |
| White-marked, 30th March 2014 |
 |
| Grey Arches, Green Arches & Purple Clay, 1st June 2014 |
 |
| Mines of Emmetia angusticollella, 18th October 2014 |
Stoke Common
(SU 9885) Owned by the City of London Corporation
This SSSI to
the south of Gerrards Cross is the most extensive area of heather heathland remaining
in Buckinghamshire and is managed by the City of London as a nature reserve. A number of heathland specialist moths on the
Bucks list are found only in this area of the county. Martin Albertini has been carrying out
surveys here for some years and he was joined by Andy King and I on four
occasions during the latter part of 2014.
Amongst the more interesting species seen were the following:
856
|
Anarsia spartiella
|
24th June
|
|
1443
|
Pempelia genistella
|
17th July
|
|
1478b
|
Vitula biviella
|
17th July
|
|
1665
|
Pseudoterpna pruinata
|
Grass
Emerald
|
24th June
|
1846
|
Eupithecia nanata
|
Narrow-winged
Pug
|
17th July
|
2067
|
Euplagia quadripunctaria
|
Jersey
Tiger
|
17th July
|
2118
|
Lycophotia porphyrea
|
True
Lover’s Knot
|
24th June
|
2132
|
Xestia castanea
|
Neglected
Rustic
|
27th
August
|
2142
|
Anarta myrtilli
|
Beautiful
Yellow U’wing
|
24th June
|
2194
|
Mythimna albipuncta
|
White-point
|
27th
August
|
2268
|
Parastichtis suspecta
|
Suspected
|
24th June
|
True Lover’s
Knot and Beautiful Yellow Underwing were present in very good numbers and it
was also pleasing to see Neglected Rustic (12) and White-point (16) in my traps
on 27th August.
 |
| Barred Red & Grass Emerald, 24th June 2014 |
 |
| Jersey Tiger, 17th July 2014 |
 |
| Neglected Rustic, 27th August 2014 |
 |
| Beautiful Yellow Underwing, 24th June 2014 |
