Pretty White-barred - A first for West Sussex

There's been a stream of unseasonal warm air this weekend and over the last couple of days African migrant moths have been arriving mainly in the south west of the UK. The main species has been Levant Blacknecks which have been turning up in what sounds like unprecedented numbers. There have also been a few Striped Hawkmoths and Pretty White-barreds. As usual all the latest news on the Migrant Lepidoptera facebook page HERE. 

So thanks to Steve Nash's predictions from Migrant Lepidoptera Facebook group I've had the trap out for the last couple of nights. On Friday night I had a Turnip and a couple of Rusty-dot Pearls but was quite frankly really quite disappointed that just a mile or so away Derek in Bracklesham had a substantial haul of migrants including a Levant Blackneck. What a difference obviously a mile or so inland makes. 

So I tried again last night. It seems here that I seem to do better a day or two after a migrant arrival on the coast- presumably they deck there in any habitat and then move inland looking for better habitat or simply moving north still.  

By the time I had done all the egg boxes across two traps (the MV and the Actinic) all I had was 2 Rusty-dots and a couple of local moths. I was actually completely miffed, if I basically live on the coast (a peninsula no further than a mile of two from the actual coast and just a few tens of meters from a coastal estuary) and there were no migrants during a major migrant arrival (a mile away) than this site was clearly a bit duff and my gamble on moving here was dubious. Just as I was about to luzz the moth trap through the garden office window (lol) I spotted something small on the side of the MV with a flash of white. I caught it but it then escaped but I've got a system where I open the trap inside the garden office and I have the terrarium UV light on so if anything escapes they fly over there and sit on the glass so I can catch them again- luckily that worked out as it was a stunning little Pretty White-barred, aka African Sober, Aproarema polychromella.

Accoridng to the CMR Colin Pratt this is a first for West Sussex, so basically I've hit the Jackpot. The last time I thought I had a first for West Sussex, Derek from Bracklesham informed me that he had beat me to it so I'm still waiting to hear from Derek whether or not this time its going to stick. Will see. 021224 Update- yes it's a sticker, there are no other records for West Sussex. That's now my second county mega moth here following the Echium Slender in the autumn.  

Pretty White-barred- what a little stunner!

East winds off North Africa and a southerly airflow all the way up to the UK. Apparantely classic moth migrant conditions and this time of year there is a good chance of some real megas. A great bit of forecasting by Steve Nash who wrote the following on 29th November: The current Saharan dust forecast shows the dust in the band of rain that is currently moving NE over Western Britain and SE Ireland - behind it, the mild North African airstream. The winds should fall lighter and turn to a SSW direction during the evening. The mild air will reach most of Britain and Ireland by the morning, although it will remain fairly cool over Eastern England. Some of the species that could occur in these types of conditions: Aproaerema polychromella (Pretty White-barred), Ancylosis convexella - 1 UK record, Ancylodes pallens (Desert Knot-horn) - 1 UK record, Cornifrons ulceratalis (Desert Pearl) - 19 UK records, Spoladea recurvalis (Banded Sable), Spalding's Dart (Agrotis herzogi) - 2 UK records, Agrotis spinifera - Not recorded, Agrotis subspinifera - Not recorded, Striped Hawk-moth (Hyles livornica), Cosmopolitan (L. loreyi), Levant Blackneck (Tathorhynchus exsiccata), Small Mottled Willow (Spodoptera exigia), Bordered Straw (Heliothis armigera), Ni Moth (Trichoplusia ni) The mild conditions should last until Sunday evening/night, before much colder air arrives from the north west. Good luck!