Highlights of 2003
By John Cooke

In the hopes of encouraging other recorders to tell us about their sites and how they fared in what has been an excellent season, I submit my own experiences.

The acre garden has a ¾ acre paddock attached. The latter was bought five years ago when the surrounding farmland changed hands. I planted a 100m. mixed deciduous hedge - all good larvae food- and lots of wild flowers among slow growing grass. We now have five sp. of butterfly and Five Spot Burnets breeding. The paddock is exposed- we can see The Manacles, the Cornish Alps and the wind farm at Threeburrows - but the garden is surrounded by mixed trees to counter the winds. The surrounding land is intensively cropped with wheat or beans and the few hedges mercilessly trimmed. There is a small, mainly Oak wood some 600m. away and some small, recent plantations around the farm. Two traps are run, both Skinner, the garden one has double actinic tubes; the paddock a 125 MV light. The actinic one is run most days of the year depending on the weather while the MV one produces results only from March to November because of the exposure.

By kind permission of Cornwall Wildlife Trust I also trap in Devichoys, a 40 acre ancient Oak wood at Perranarworthal. Here I run two Skinner traps, again with double actinic tubes and light sensors, from batteries. For better visibility they are mounted on 1 metre high stands The interval between trappings is about three weeks.

Significant records for 2003 follow. Please note that species that may be common in VC2 are sometimes very scarce in VC1. Other species may have early or late dates. To save space, B&F numbers and vernacular names are used if possible.

February:

Devichoys:

1932 Spring Usher
1883 Yellow Barred Brindle
2237 Grey Shoulder Knot

March:

Mylor: Earliest migrants:

464 Diamond-back moth
2091 Dark Sword-grass

May:

Mylor:

285 Caloptilia azaleella
656 Tachystola acroxantha (also in July, Aug, Sept. Oct.)
1228 Pammene argyrana
1397 Mecyna asinalis
1735 Ruddy Carpet (also July, Aug.)
2043 Orange Footman
2236 Pale Pinion
2385 Small Mottled Willow (first of dozens through the Summer)

Devichoys:

1882 Small Seraphim
2043 Orange Footman

June:

Mylor:

1403 Diasemiopsis ramburialis (also Aug, Sept. Oct.)
2327 Clouded Brindle

Devichoys:

1403 D. ramburialis
1949 Square Spot
2422 Green Silver Lines
2476 Beautiful Snout (also July, Aug.).

July:

Mylor:

658 Carcina quercana
770 Carpatolachia proximella
1205 Spilonota ocellana
1233 Pammene aurantiana
1716 Vestal (first of many)
1876 Small Yellow Wave
1940 Satin Beauty
2051 Four-spotted Footman
2360 Ear sp.

Devichoys:

1452 Phycita roborella
1942 Dotted Carpet
2051 Four-spotted Footman
2391 Silky Wainscot

August:

Mylor:

1084 Hedya ochroleucana
1357 Evergestis extimalis
1375 European Corn Borer
1408 Palpita vitrealis ( also Sept.,Oct.)
1720 Gem
1990 Striped Hawk-moth

Devichoys:

871a Oegoconia caradjai
2423 Oak nycteoline
2482 White-line Snout

September:

Mylor:

1759 Small Phoenix (P. gen.)
1769 Spruce Carpet
2281 Alder (2nd.gen.)
2423 Oak nycteoline (also Oct., Nov.).

October:

Mylor:

2208 Cosmopolitan
2247 Merveille du jour

November:

Mylor:

1797 Autumnal Moth
2229 Brindled Ochre
2237 Grey Shoulder-knot
2256 Satellite
2478 Bloxworth Snout (Found in shed).

December:

Mylor:

On 19th
1395 Udea Ferrugalis
2441 Silver Y ( late arrivals!)

In addition to the above there are fifteen specimens awaiting genitalia determination, among them several which could be interesting. Total no. of species seen at Mylor this year - 349; at Devichoys 166 in eight nights.

2003 - will we see it's like again? Let's hope so!