Two interesting gelechiids from Pembrey Burrows

On 27th July I trapped at Pembrey Burrows for Butterfly Conservation, as part of the 'Connecting the Carmarthenshire Coast' project which is led by Bumblebee Conservation Trust. The main target was the very rare gelechiid moth Caryocolum blandulella, last recorded at the site by Jon Baker in 2005. Despite a very warm night I was unsuccessful with the target species, and moths in general were few in number. I think it was just a little too breezy for trapping on such an exposed site.

There was, however, some considerable interest in the catch, with two other gelechiid species new for Carmarthenshire: Chionodes distinctella and Oxypteryx immaculatella. Both needed dissection for certain  identification, which was confirmed by gelechiid expert Steve Palmer (and, in the case of the Oxypteryx, European expert Keld Gregersen).

Oxypteryx immaculatella

 

Chionodes distinctella

Chionodes distinctella is fairly frequent on the dunes in Glamorgan and has perhaps been overlooked in Carms in the past. Oxypteryx immaculatella is a scarcer species whose life history is poorly known; most of the few Welsh records are from coastal dunes.

Other moths worth mentioning were an early Twin-spotted Wainscot, Small Purple-barred and numerous Oblique Striped.

Oblique Striped

Small Purple-barred

Twin-spotted Wainscot