The weather has turned and the cooler nights and rain we have had meant I have run the moth trap in garden less than I would have liked. Still two new species for the garden, a county first and a bit of stunner.
The first is the Maple Slender, Caloptilia semifascia, it is a new species to Flintshire as well as of course our garden. A species which likes Field Maple, and with two across from the bottom of our garden it may have been expected to turn up at some point. A pretty little micro moth, this colour form shows it is from the summer generation, rather than from the spring. This one was in our garden on the 7th July.
The second new moth, Black Arches, Lymantria monacha, is one I have seen in Southern England but never in North Wales. It has been spreading and is just about recorded in Flintshire, but one in our garden on the 12th July was new for our garden. There are some moths which may go under recorded, expecially the smaller 'dull' moths, but species like this do not go un-noticed.
Who knows what the following few weeks will bring, but if the rain forecast does appear then I think some early fungi will need to be looked for :).