All Over? Whetstone Leics. Update

Thought I ought to post what may well be the final update of the year, and just as well I did as I realised I'd forgotten to put my Ectoedemia occultella record into MapMate (see my last post) so my total was one out. Current total is 438, with the last addition being the first December Moths taken in the garden since 2001.

The five additions since my last proper update are:

	Taxon	Vernacular	Date Added
434	Acleris rhombana	Rhomboid Tortrix	07/10/2013
435	Colotois pennaria	Feathered Thorn	08/10/2013
436	Agrochola circellaris	Brick	08/10/2013
437	Ectoedemia occultella		26/10/2013
438	Poecilocampa populi	December Moth	16/11/2013

Feathered Thorn

Brick

The 438 total includes 13 butterfly species and 425 moth species (of which 5 were larval only), and is a great upturn following the completely rubbish 2012 season. I usually track the adults for year-year comparisons as this reflects the overwhelming majority of my records, and the average for 2008 - 2011 was 367 species. My previous best year for garden moths was 2011 with 394 species (including 1 larval only). Beating my previous best total by 31 species is way over what I would have expected, and is more due to the great summer than anything else I reckon. I've picked up 22 new species for the garden over the year as well (4 macros and 18 micros), plus I added a retrospective tick taking the garden total up to 648 species.

It's not all been good though, the early season was a bit poor and I've not done as well as I usually do in September/October. I've checked my MapMate to see what the top 25 species are (in terms of total number of records) that I've missed this year. Of these there are perhaps one or two that could still turn up if we get an unseasonally mild spell (Chestnut or an early Pale Brindled Beauty). Certainly missing Large Nutmeg, Sallow and Oak-tree Pug is most unusual.

Code	Taxon	Vernacular	Recs	Last
2333	Apamea anceps	Large Nutmeg	95	2012
2274	Xanthia icteritia	Sallow	62	2012
1839	Eupithecia succenturiata	Bordered Pug	43	2010
2273	Xanthia togata	Pink-barred Sallow	41	2011
2064	Phragmatobia fuliginosa	Ruby Tiger	34	2011
2364	Gortyna flavago	Frosted Orange	34	2011
1395	Udea ferrugalis	Rusty-dot Pearl	32	2011
1853	Eupithecia dodoneata	Oak-tree Pug	30	2012
792	Mirificarma mulinella		26	2011
450	Scythropia crataegella	Hawthorn Moth	26	2011
1747	Anticlea derivata	Streamer	25	2012
1183	Epiblema foenella		23	2010
1169	Gypsonoma dealbana		18	2012
2164	Hecatera bicolorata	Broad-barred White	16	2010
1333	Scoparia pyralella		16	2012
2258	Conistra vaccinii	Chestnut	16	2012
706	Agonopterix nervosa		16	2011
1236	Pammene fasciana		15	2012
1037	Acleris holmiana		15	2008
1926	Phigalia pilosaria	Pale Brindled Beauty	14	2012
2342	Mesoligia literosa	Rosy Minor	14	2008
2003	Notodonta ziczac	Pebble Prominent	13	2011
1113	Eudemis profundana		13	2011
2271	Xanthia citrago	Orange Sallow	13	2011
229	Monopis obviella		11	2006

The only other species on my garden list that I could realistically hope for now are Scarce Umber and maybe Mottled Umber - the latter having only appeared once before. A garden first Northern Winter Moth is an outside possibility I guess.