Always sweet when December Moth finally appears in the garden trap, just the one amongst x19spp. over the last couple of nights which included a NFG (but moribund) Ypsolopha ustella. Out this morning for a Dusky Warbler and there were Aspen leaves everywhere (see alt text). #teammoth #vc55moths

I had a very half-arsed look around some sallow early this afternoon whilst on a shopping errand. Failed to find my intended target (Ectoedemia intimella), but found larval workings of Gypsonoma dealbana and a tenanted larval case of Coleophora lusciniaepennella. #teammoth #vc55moths

Clocks have gone back, so as good a time as any to settle in #listeningto old #vinyl on a Sunday morning whilst verifying moth records. 'Oil On Canvas' by Japan, their live double LP swansong. 1983, Virgin Records, cat. VD2513.

Struggling to pick up more than c15 species a night to my Whetstone garden trap now, back to the usual late autumn/winter numbers here. Grey-shoulder Knot the only NFY over the last couple of nights, and still missing some common late autumn species. #vc55moths #teammoth

A trio of NFY species to my Whetstone garden trap over the last couple of nights, amongst few moths of low diversity. Green-brindled Crescent nice to see as missed this last year, Merveille du Jour now seems annual in ones or twos, and November Moth agg. #teammoth #vc55moths

Ok, it's a rough cropped phone shot and but this Crimson Speckled was one of c15 on a cruise ship 08/10/2025 literally half way across the Med. between Palma de Mallorca and Cagliari Sardinia, along with an Old World Webworm and a couple of Humming-bird Hawk-moths. #teammoth

A few more leafmine species found in a short stroll around Lutterworth CP yesterday pm included what I feel sure must be vacated Stigmella oxyacanthella on some sort of cherry, and a mess of a vacated Stigmella assimilella mine on Aspen - a relatively scarce find in VC55. #vc55moths #teammoth

Here's a track I made using Behringer hardware synths sequenced from and recorded back into Fl Studio. If you're a fan of (or at least familiar with) the 1984 David Lynch version of Dune you'll recognise the sampled protagonist. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjYm... #synth #electronica #dune #flstudio

A couple from hawthorn today in Leics. with Stigmella regiella a new one for me (confirmed via @vc28wildlife.bsky.social) and Ectoedemia atricollis the first I've found this year. Both tenanted mines which is pretty key for several hawthorn miners. #vc55moths #teammoth

Whilst we were out at a local park yesterday with my young granddaughter, she saw me checking leaves and wanted to have a couple of different shapes/colours. I didn't notice until much later in the day that this dark purple Norway Maple variant had x4 Stigmella aceris mines. #vc55moths #teammoth

Phyllonorycter leucographella was presumably given the vernacular Firethorn Leaf-miner when it turned up here on Pyracantha, but the name seems increasingly irrelevant when it is found on several hosts. I often find it on hawthorn here, and today on apple and Whitebeam. #vc55moths #teammoth

A few from oak today; tenanted mines of Ectoedemia albifasciella and Stigmella ruficapitella, and vacated mines of Stigmella basiguttella and Bucculatrix ulmella. I also collected a few Phyllonorycter mines that will need rearing/checking. #vc55moths #teammoth

I've not had my garden trap out for over a week thanks to weather/work, but I was intent on it going out last night regardless of the conditions. 33 of 11sp. was an unsurprisingly modest return, but included NFY Brindled Green and Lunar Underwing plus a Red (not blue) Underwing. #vc55moths #teammoth

Here's a common miner on a less common host (at least here in VC55). This is Phyllocnistis unipunctella on a Populus hybrid (perhaps Balm-of-Gilead) from a local park where there are a few planted. These have big elongated spade-shaped leaves that are quite thick/tough. #vc55moths #teammoth

News from VC55: Plumed Fan-foot new to VC list, recorded by Anthony Plummer to light in Quorn last night. His photo attached. #teammoth #vc55moths

From a load of mixed Chenopodium sp. and Atriplex sp. along an arable margin this morning, pretty sure these are all off of Fat-hen despite the apparent differences in leaf shape/size. Lots of tenanted Chrysoesthia sexguttella, and a few vacated/failed Chrysoesthia drurella. #vc55moths #teammoth

There are around 11spp. that can be found as leafmines on Alder, including x2 Stigmella spp. and x4 Phyllonorycter spp. (plus another on Grey Alder). I found an Alder a couple of days ago on which I failed to find any of these, and only found one mine - Heliozella resplendella. #vc55moths #teammoth

I am not a prolific recorder of moth leafmines, and I'm not very structured either, just checking greenery en route as I amble about. Very occasionally I'll be more focussed on a particular host or target species. There is plenty of time, but 61 spp. recorded so far this year. #vc55moths #teammoth

A few more leafmines found over the last couple of days in Leics. [details in alt text as usual]. I've not found Antispila petryi and Caloptilia honoratella mines previously, and whilst I've found Stigmella plagicolella all over the place I've not found it on cherry before. #vc55moths #teammoth

A few leafmines found yesterday at Western Park, Leics. in an hour or so around a relatively small circuit. I found c23 species in total. #vc55moths #teammoth

Not had too much to get excited about in my garden trap for a good week or so, and last night was very windy so no great expectations. Surprised to find a box-fresh Bordered Straw, along with x7 Dewick's Plusia, a European Corn-borer and a few Scrobipalpa ocellatella. #vc55moths #teammoth

@vc28wildlife.bsky.social Just in case I missed anything, is there any updated clarity on the supposed host plant difference between saligna and asiatica? Have any saligna been confirmed from crack/white/weeping willow?

A few more NFY here in Whetstone last night: first Lilac Beauty since 2011, first Pink-barred Sallow since 2018, and Dark Spectacle was NFG last year. #teammoth #vc55moths

I've been patiently waiting for this one: Phyllonorycter comparella finally emerged from a mine on some sort of hybrid Black Poplar collected on 09/08/2025. Pupal exuviae checked though my photos of that are pants. #teammoth #vc55moths

One I didn't get around to posting yesterday: this spanking Phyllonorycter klemannella emerged yesterday from a mine on Alder collected on 09/08/2025, along with couple of much more jumpy and slightly less photogenic Phyllonorycter stettinensis. #vc55moths #teammoth

My Whetstone garden trap is picking up for numbers, albeit mainly common brown Noctuids and not too much diversity as is typical for this time of year. Only highlights from last night were a x2 Palpita vitrealis and x2 Tawny-speckled Pugs (relatively scarce in recent years). #vc55moths #teammoth

Crocidosema plebejana - another new one for my Whetstone garden, albeit a knackered individual. The x3 records I know of have double the VC55 number since the first in 2017. All have turned up in typical migration periods. #vc55moths #teammoth

Working through a batch of dissections from my Whetstone garden, I unexpectedly added a new one to the VC55 list which is also new for me. Coleophora trochilella, a female on 09/08/2025 and a male on 12/08/2025. #vc55moths #teammoth

A new miner for me, likely one I've overlooked or ignored in the past. On a tall Lombardy Poplar (or maybe a hybrid Black of some sort). Aulagromyza populi gallery mines with in-situ pupae. These examples show the mine moving from the underside to upperside. #diptera #agromyzidae #panspecieslisting

As has been the case when I've previously collected mines of this species, this Phyllonorycter pastorella emerged today very soon after I collected the mine (Saturday 09/08/2025). #teammoth #vc55moths

A few more miners from a local park in south Leics., various Stigmella spp. (see alt text) #teammoth #vc55moths

Headed out to a local park with a decent range of native and introduced trees late this afternoon to refresh myself on a few leafminers. I found a good number of species with one or two surprises, including what should be Phyllonorycter comparella on a Populus of some sort. #teammoth #vc55moths

Another relatively poor night last night, after a fairly duff outing on Wednesday night. A scruffy White-point and a Six-striped Rustic were NFY on Weds, and a fresh aberrant Heart and Dart was the only highlight last night. #teammoth #vc55moths

Come on, own up - who was it? #teammoth

Some niche books are nicher than others. This one looks to be a cracking addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in British wildlife. Ordered!

With a bit of effort yesterday, I have my 2025 Whetstone garden records up to date. Most years I am way adrift by June and give up until the winter. It's fair to say this is nailed on to be my best ever year since I started recording here in 1999. Some basic numbers attached. #vc55moths #teammoth

Wax Moth also NFY here last night. These always remind me of Hedgehogs .... #vc55moths #teammoth

Well this is a bit late to post last night's highlights, but there you go. More rain and fewer moths than hoped, but amongst the catch was a nice Vestal, along with Lesser Treble Bar and an Epermenia falciformis (first here since 2003). #vc55moths #teammoth

The only highlight from my garden trap last night was this NFY Caloptilia cuculipennella - one which has been shown to be increasingly common in VC55 from leafmines/cones on Ash. I did pot up a putative Blastobasis vittata but, looking closely at it, it's a worn B. adustella. #vc55moths #teammoth

I've had a tot up of my garden moth list, after the deluge of NFG in the last few weeks. The Small Mottled Willow last night brings the list up to a decent 794sp (356 macro/438 micro). I can't over-emphasize that my Leics. suburban garden is miles from decent habitat! #vc55moths #teammoth

My garden trap was out for the first night since Saturday; not a great deal in there (always feels like a bit of a lull after the end June/early July peak) but a long overdue NFG was the highlight. It's puzzling why it's taken 26yrs for a Small Mottled Willow to finally show up. #vc55moths #teammoth

In the peak season, I point the camera at odd bits around the trap in the hour or so after dark before I head off to bed. Yesterday evening I came across one that I'd forgotten about, and found the specimen in the freezer. A bit drab, but Bryotropha senectella is belatedly NFG. #vc55moths #teammoth

Just got around to looking at a couple of micros from last night, and one of them is NFG and NFM: Opostega salaciella, with its relatively massive antennal scapes that form eyecaps. #vc55moths #teammoth

Ledra aurita is an odd-looking hopper! I seem to be getting these annually now in my light trap, x3 last night alone. #hemiptera #homoptera #bugs

My garden traps were not quite as rammed full of lepidopteran treasure as I hoped. But there was a NFG Scythris limbella and a nice NFY Palpita vitrealis amongst the catch, along with a scraggy but nonetheless welcome NFY Bordered Beauty (third garden record). #vc55moths #teammoth

The main highlight from my Whetstone Leics. light trap last night was not a moth. Amongst the various non-leps was this leafhopper, the first VC55 record for Opsius stactogalus which is a Tamarisk feeder (no Tamarisk around my garden). A new one for me. #panspecieslisting #hemiptera #homoptera #bugs

Three of the nicer Yellow Underwings: Least is having a very good year here in VC55, I've had plenty in the last week or so; Broad-bordered also seems to be plentiful; Lesser Broad-bordered is yet to peak. [Large and Lesser both present, but many will probably be aestivating ..] #vc55moths #teammoth

All is well; how can it not be when there is a Gold Spot in the trap? Not a lot else to shout about in there but Magpie Moth also NFY. Not sure how have I never noticed the black 'dots within spots' along the terminal bands of both fore and hindwings, and the median band. #vc55moths #teammoth

Every now and then a bit of bramble pops up in the garden, and it's a race to see if it bears any leafmines before my wife notices it and pulls it up. We both missed this one; the mine looks good for Stigmella splendidissimella but, really, this needs to be tenanted and reared. #vc55moths #teammoth