After the really bad start to the year we are seeing the return of a sense of normality. Nature has started to play catch-up – the cycle of life differs every year but it appears to remains intact despite all the obvious signs of global warming..
On 31 May we welcomed the return of the Spotted Flycatchers, which successfully raised a family again. Our bees have done less well. We lost four colonies last winter but thanks to friends and capturing some swarms we are now back to full strength, but it has not been a good year for honey. In fact, we may not take any off at all, preferring to let the bees build up enough resources to survive the coming winter.
This month I want to write a bit more about the most numerous family of insect species in our garden. I
am, of course, talking about moths. Some are diurnal, or in other words they fly in the day as well as at night. Others, and the vast majority, fly only at night and are generally completely overlooked by most people. Who, for example, is aware that on those really calm, warm July nights with temperatures in the high teens up to a hundred species can be recorded?
Different species of moth appear in every month of the year and some may even fly in quite heavy rain. Many only emerge once a year, whilst others are multi-generational. This year the former have really suffered and many single generational species have not appeared at all. This is a worry, as with certain species it would not take a lot to render them extinct. Others appear to have caught up quite well.
There have been surprises and one of the best was a Common Tubic, Alabonia geoffrella. This tiny moth measures a mere 9mm, but when you see those colours you really know you are looking at something special. Classed as common I have only ever seen it three times in two decades of moth recording. What a beauty!
There are some other denizens of the night around at the moment which sport spectacular colours, such as The Magpie. All right, so it is as its name suggests mostly black and white but there are also patches of orange and it is big – with a wingspan of 40mm. Then there is the Eyed Hawk-moth. I dare you to let one rest on your finger – my 7 year old granddaughter does!
Paul 841696
