Tuesday, 10 October 2017

An extraordinary coincidence

Dave Brooks, who records moths in Caerleon, recently sent me photos of two interesting Micros he caught this week.  One was an extraordinary coincidence: Dave caught an unfamiliar Pyralid on 8th October 2017 which a friend IDed as the very rare Etiella zinckenella.  The coincidence is that the only previous Welsh/Gwent record was from almost exactly 4 years to the day before Dave's record: Nick Felstead caught one in Chepstow on 7th October 2013.


Dave's other Pyralid, caught the night before (7th October 2017) was the strikingly-marked Box-tree Moth Cydalima perspectalis.  This Asian moth was first seen in Britain in 2007 and has increased rapidly in SE England, becoming a pest of Box in some areas.  Its arrival in Gwent has been anticipated for a couple of years, but it is still a notable new species for the county.  There has been a previous record from Glamorgan, but Dave's is probably the second for Wales.


Well done and thankyou Dave!
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1 comment:

  1. Nick Felstead11 October 2017 at 02:55

    Some great moths there and well done on capturing these two.
    Would like to have seen the Box-tree moth.
    Funnily enough I did put my trap out a few days ago at home and the thought of Etiella zinckenella did cross my mind given it was early October. I was hoping for rarities like these moths to appear in and around the trap but no luck this time.

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