Update from the south-east...part 1.

I need to do a quick (partial) update regarding some of my moth recording over the weekend. The conditions on Sunday night were absolutely perfect for moth trapping - warm, still and muggy and the `home trap` at Tyrwaun, Pwll was crammed with moths after the night of 5/6. Macro highlights included figure of 80, double line, privet hawk-moth and shoulder-stripe wainscot and micros were abundant - I`m still processing them. Only a selection are given below:

Above: Rhodophaea formosa - one of my Pwll garden specialities which I catch most years. It is not known from elsewhere in the county but ought to occur at other coastal sites where (non-wych) elms grow; the Llansteffan area is a contender.

Above: I think that this is the beech-feeding Cydia fagilandana, a tort that I`ve not had before. The nearest stands of beech grow some distance away, showing that moths were certainly dispersing in the perfect conditions of Sunday night.

Above: a terrible shot of Argyresthia cupressella. I had this moth new to Carms last year, again in my garden.

           Above: not rare, but an attractive moth - thistle ermine Myelois circumvoluta.

                                      Above: another `good-looker` - Ptycholoma leacheana.

Another common species that is often seen by day - Anania fuscalis. When I saw this individual in my unawakened brain hour of c 4.30am, I noticed the pearlescent sheen on the wings (not visible in this photo) and immediately thought `Anania perculidalis!` but upon checking the moth in the book, it was only fuscalis.