Oaky

Apologies in advance for yet another update on pheromone luring around oaks for Pammene giganteana. Pretty much every day this week, I've nipped to a spot somewhere on the way home from work and added dots to the map. I also headed out for an hour earlier today a bit further east in the next hectad. With these records, and the couple from last year, I've recorded this now in 13 tetrads. My success rate with the lure is around 87% - and where I've not been successful I think that conditions and/or time of day are factors.

In the following maps, the bright green dots are 2022 sites and the blue dots are the two 2021 sites.

SK50

SP59

SP69

I know that Graham Calow has been recording this in SP49 (as well as the four squares in SP59 around Frolesworth and Leire), and I think Adrian Russell will have added some dots to the east of Leicester.

It still seems amazing how the perceived status of this species prior to the use of pheromones was so completely wrong. Very few records to light, and no casual daytime records. There are similarly 'rare' species that may prove to be similarly common later this year. We added Pammene suspectana to the VC55 list last year, but there were no widespread efforts made to record it and I am certain it will be common. Pammene splendidulana, Pammene albuginana and perhaps Pammene ignorata and Pammene obscurana could all go the same way. Pammene argyrana may also prove to be more common and widespread than existing light trapping records suggest.

Oaks in open damp grassland at Everard's Meadows

Oaks in hedgerow along a rural lane near to Ashby Magna

Large oak at entrance to Kilby Lodge Farm

Small oak on roadside near new housing build at Lubbesthorpe

The next oak is from the garden trap last night ....

Oak Beauty

Meanwhile, with no link to this post whatsoever, I'm very much enjoying the new album from Feeder.