NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

These warm, oppressive nights might make sleeping difficult for us humans, but night-flying insects positively thrive in them - just check a moth trap the morning after one! The past two nights have seen obscene numbers of Jersey Tigers at the garden MV - 53, followed by 59 - which is small fry compared to some totals that have been posted. Last night's highlight was a new macro moth for the garden, a Dewick's Plusia. A former rare migrant, it is now slowly establishing itself (maybe just temporarily) in south-east England. Beddington Farmlands, some six miles to the north of me, is one such location and I had expected one to show up here eventually. This is the 627th species of moth here in Banstead, of which 407 are non-micros. As I went to pot it, it flew off. Had this been 30 years ago I would have been hyperventilating as it would have been a very rare migrant. As it was, a shrug of the shoulders accompanied my smile. The photograph above, in true Blue Peter style, wa...

This morning I was cutting back a Laurel bush in the back garden and kept disturbing Jersey Tiger moths, no doubt roosting up after having been summoned by the MV moth trap last night. A few settled on a nearby fence. After singles on August 17 2012 and August 1 2013, it has became a regular visitor to the MV, peaking at six on August 13 2015 and then, this year, it has all gone 'gangbusters'. The past three nights have yielded totals of 27, 27 and 30. If you don't get them yet, you soon will! 

Living in the south-east of the UK does have its compensations, none more so than being in a geographical hot-spot for the welcoming of colonising species of moth, whether they be from the continent or breaking away from a previous coastal distribution. Global warming might be a convenient reason behind such movements, but it is most probably more compilcated than that. The species outlined below would have all been the subject of pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking when I first switched on the Banstead moth trap back in 1987... Small Ranunculus (below) This species used to be a resident in the south-east of England until the early part of the 20th century, when it suddenly disappeared. It was then rediscovered along the Thames Estuary in the 1990s, slowly spreading eastwards and reaching the garden on August 5 2004. It is almost annual here now, but no more than 2-3 are recorded in a single year. Toadflax Brocade (below) I used to see this species at Dungeness when it was cons...

Jersey Tigers are on the wing down here in sunny, hot and tinder dry Surrey. Three were in the garden this afternoon (the three liberated from the morning's MV without doubt) and one of them was of the form lutescens that exhibits an underwing which has a yellow base colour rather than the usual deep orange. I took a photograph of each as a comparison - both were taken in the shade and are actually quite a good representation of the actual colouring. I don't know the percentage of each form, whether or not it varies regionally or even if it is dependent on local conditions - somebody out there knows, no doubt.

Cannot be bothered to write much today, so please make do with a photo of this Jersey Tiger, second garden record, trapped this morning.

One of the delights of moth trapping is the 'not knowing' what is going to turn up. You don't have to rely on wandering migrants to give the trap an injection of surprise as there are plenty of residents that decide to go for an excursion away from their normal habitats. Increasingly we are witnessing species that are starting to colonise from the continent, or some that used to hug the coast but are now heading inland. Over the past few years Small Ranunculus, Toadflax Brocade and Tree-lichen Beauty have done just that (I have recorded them all from my Surrey garden). There remained two others that have also done so, colonised areas around where I live, but had yet to grace my Banstead MV. One is Cypress Carpet. The other decided to come and pay me a visit last night and it is pictured above in all its glory - Jersey Tiger. If there are any moth-ers out there trapping Cydia amplana and have a few to spare, please send them my way. I'm drawing a blank.