Missing species...

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SteveH
Posts: 2072
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am
Location: Elton, Cheshire

Missing species...

Post by SteveH »

Emptying the moth trap this morning didn't take long, and contained nothing out of the ordinary excepting for Nemapogon cloacella... and I thought again that it was unlikely now that we would record Iron Prominent or Canary-shouldered Thorn this year (though there are still some chances for the latter).

These thoughts then got me to looking at our data for species that we've not had this year that we normally record annually (though not necessarily commonly) - the list is longer than I had realised and contains some surprising "misses". The figure in brackets following each name is the year when we last drew a blank, and there are a few more contenders for inclusion if they don't appear in the next couple of weeks.

Aspilapteryx tringipennella (2001)
Mompha sturnipenella (2006)
The Drinker (Philudoria potatoria) (1997)
Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria) (2003)
Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata) (1998)
Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata) (1993)
Eyed Hawk-moth (Smerinthus ocellata) (2002)
Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius) (1997)
The Suspected (Parastichtis suspecta) (2003)
Bird's Wing Dypterygia scabriuscula) (2003) and
Gold Spot (Plusia festucae) (1998) - the last three years numbers were 121, 50 and 52!

On the plus side, we've recorded 13 species for the first time ever this year, so its not all doom and gloom. However, the missing species are expected regulars...

Steve

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