The Very Best of Adam and the Ants (et al)

  With the daytime temperature just about kissing +30°C and overnight dropping just +12°C of those hopes for the Moth Traps were well above high. We certainly were not disappointed as Tuesday morning broke so will dedicate this post to the Insects (across the board) that we encountered across that day. Not even 'IN' the trap and not even a Moth we kicked off with a

TANNER BEETLE
and followed in relatively quick succession by Half a Dozen Firsts for the Year.

We had to start somewhere with a not overly bright looking
SMALL DUSTY WAVE

but not long after the radiance of this

GREEN SILVER LINES

followed by this

WHITE SATIN MOTH
and maybe a little on the early side, if we have it right that is the first

SQUARE-SPOT RUSTIC
of the year, followed by what only a very few years ago would have been the fulfilment of a dream

DEWICK'S PLUSIA
which back in the very early 70's I was lucky to catch only the 12th specimen that had been recorded across our Sceptred Isles (we have to thank Bill the Bard for the expression)

which was taken by our friend Norman Hall, a luminary and occassional dinner guest, to show other Big Wigs of the Mothing World!
Off Piste again there was the capture of a

BLACK and ORANGE SEXTON BEETLE
along with the final first for Moths an

ENGRAILED
During the rest of the day and not on a purposful search we crossed paths with

SMALL RED-EYED DAMSELFLY

SILVER-WASHED FRATILLERY
an ovipositing (egg-laying)

EMPEROR DRAGONFLY
attended by a
COMMON BLUE DAMSELFLY
a female

MIGRANT HAWKER

BANDED DEMOISELLE's
captured in a Love Heart

BROAD-BODIED CHASER
along with the first sighting of

PURPLE EMPEROR
just 2 flitting about on the crown of a mature
Oak Tree.
Maybe no need to say, this is not my own image having never captured such a beauty, but ending with what seemed to be a rather strangely patterned

GARDEN TIGER MOTH
sent to higher authority

but found to be of a usual type!

A day that smacked of the proverbial No38 Bus, once one appears who knows just how many are right behind it? and as a finale

the residue in one trap alone

just see if

you can spot

John - George - Paul and Ringo
THANKS FOR TUNING IN!