New micro in Burry Port and other things

 It was great to get my first Black Arches for a few years. Such a lovely creature! I wonder how it lost part of an antenna.

And only my second shot of an Oegoconia sp.

A pristine Palpita virealis

And finally my second ever Buccalatrix, this time it's nigricomella.

Difficult to photograph, being very small and hyperactive.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

 Relaxing in the garden I noticed something fly onto a branch. 

  I have never seen a Hummingbird Hawkmoth perched before.

More micro fun in Burry Port

 A bumper crop of Blastobasis adustella ensured that whilst the trap was less diverse this morning, it was considerably larger. Amongst the highlights were 14 Small Mottled WIllow, another Kent Black Arches in addition to the one I forgot to mention yesterday and FFY Ruby Tiger. 

 After a lot of puzzling and some AI help I decided that this was Buccalatrix ulmella - not on the spreadsheet unless it's changed its name. Grain of uncooked rice included for size.

I also had this somewhat larger Aproaerema species, probably larsienella but impossible to tell without dissection.

Argyresthia pruniella

A decent trap of 92 individuals produced a surprising 69 species, my most diverse trap in over ten years. There were two individuals of one new species, Argyresthia pruniella.

Other highlights included 9 Small Mottled WIllow, my best count, but dwarfed by others, Rusty Dot Pearl, Cherry Bark Tortrix and Crocidosema plebejana.

Another Batia...

 Yesterday I posted a picture of Batia lunaris. This morning I find an almost identical moth in the trap...except it's double the size with subtly different markings. I'm pretty sure it's Batia lambdella, a new moth for me.

Also present were these six Small Mottled Willow, a garden record, although well short of Arfon's totals.

 I will draw a veil over the Scalloped Tortrix that escaped...

A vestal, some micros and the smallest moth I've photographed

 Last night produced the best trap of the year with over 160 individuals of 64 species. The star of the show was a lovely Vestal.

I was stumped by not one but two unfamiliar Knothorn species. I used Obsidentify to help  me reach a conclusion. Not on the spreadsheet, the distinctively marked Euzophera pinguis.

And  Acrobasis consociella.

A tiny moth looks like Batia lunaris. It seems to be the commonest and most widespread of three similar looking species.

And finally the micro-micromoth.

It's probably Stigmella salicis, it's common, looks like the picture and associates with willows which are even more common in Burry Port than Leylandii!

Not so common moths in Burry Port

A reasonably diverse trap last night had some interesting new moths for the year. Brown-line Bright-eye and Bordered Sallow immediately caught my eye.

As did Kent Black Arches

And finally a diminutive new micro for the garden - Epernemia chaerophyllella, with a  mouthful of a name!