3rd October, 2010 - Brindled Ochre

A single individual recorded at light near Killearn, Stirlingshire by Martin Culshaw was the first record for the region since 1990.

1st September 2010 - Large Wainscot

Most records for Large Wainscot in vice counties 86, 87 and 99 come from the east of the region; a finding which may reflect the relative scarcity of its foodplant, Common Reed when compared with the abundant Reed Canary Grass that chokes many wetland sites. A Large Wainscot caught by Martin Culshaw near Killearn on 1^st September was the first record east of the Stirling and Falkirk areas since 1984.

18 August, 2010 - Butterbur

At Linlithgow Bridge, the River Avon forms the boundary between vice county 86 (Stirlingshire) and vice county 84 (West Lothian). Mark Cubitt has for some time recorded Butterbur associated with areas of its foodplant on the West Lothian side of the river and on 13^th August, he crossed the water and proved that the colony extends into Stirlingshire. Hopefully this finding will stimulate recorders to look for the species in other parts of the vice county where the foodplant grows.

11th August 2010 - Marsh Oblique-barred

In 1986, Iain Christie recorded Marsh Oblique-barred as occurring in ‘a very extensive and very numerous colony’ on Flanders Moss. However, it was only recorded once more before 2010 when on 11^th August, ten were found in a single overnight trap set by David Pickett.

3rd August 2010 - Barred Carpet and Barred Rivulet

Barred Carpet

Two Barred Carpet caught on 3^rd August in a trap placed above a damp wooded gully on the outskirts of Lennoxtown were the first known records for Stirlingshire, vc86 (politically East Dunbartonshire). The species is said to favour base-rich damp woods. The author has not identified any basic outcrops near the site and the vegetation is characteristic of acid woodland. However, the well known, fossil-rich, Hurlet limestone beds are in the area.

On the same day, a Barred Rivulet caught at  Bardowie (vc86, Stirlingshire but politically East Dunbartonshire) was only the second record for the three vice counties since 1989 and the furthest from the Clyde and Forth estuaries of any known record. The main foodplant, Red Bartsia, is not uncommon on rough ground in the area.

22nd July 2010 - Great Brocade

Larvae swept from the catkins of Bog Myrtle during March 2007 proved that the Great Brocade bred on Flanders Moss. A Robinson trap placed in the same area by David Pickett on 22^nd July 2010 attracted five freshly emerged adults of the almost black resident colour-form.

Lilac Beauty now in vc87

When my checklist was published, Lilac Beauty had only been recorded in the woodlands of the eastern and south-eastern shores of Loch Lomond in vc86. However, on 1^st July, Jane and Arthur Jones caught one just west of Aberfoyle in vc87 and it has since transpired that Nick Cooke caught one near Port of Menteith also in vc87 on 8th July 2005.

June-July, 2010 - Cinnabar

Before 2010, the only record of Cinnabar in vice counties 86, 87 and 99 was of an adult caught in 1969 in the Rothamsted trap sited in oak woods at Rowardennan on Loch Lomondside. It was assumed to have been a wanderer. In 2010 however larval records came from near the western and the eastern extremes of the region. Andrew Stephenson found about 50 larvae on Ragwort on an industrial site near Larbert, Stirlingshire on 22^nd June and Stan Campbell found four larvae on ragwort beside the River Leven, near Renton, Dunbartonshire on 20^th July. Most remarkably, and not far from the Loch Lomondside 1969 record, another wandering adult was found in June by William Lindsay on the path to Ptarmigan high on the slopes of Ben Lomond.

June-July - Chamomile Shark

The 24 historical records for Chamomile Shark in Stirlingshire (vc86) all come from the Falkirk and Stirling areas and fall between 1963 and 1994. Between 30^th June and 2^nd of July 2010, Duncan Davidson investigated roadside patches of foodplant and found larvae at Lauriston near Falkirk and also at three sites in that portion of Fife that falls in vc87, namely Blairhall, Mains of Comrie and Lockshaw Moss. Duncan has also drawn my attention to an AES Bulletin reporting the species in Glasgow so a search of the foodplants in other areas in which the species has not been reported could be rewarding.

29th June 2010 - Goat Moth

On 23^rd June, thanks to Jane Bowman, the author became familiar with the smell and signs of larval feeding in Goat Moth-infected birches in Glen Moriston. Armed with this information, on 29^th June he returned to Gartfairn Wood at the south-eastern corner of Loch Lomond where there is anecdotal historical evidence for the species. An oak tree was located which is probably infected but this remains to be proven.

18th June 2010 - Round-winged Muslin Moth and Shaded Pug

 

 

A Round-winged Muslin Moth caught on Flanders Moss on 18^th June was the first record for the three vice counties since 1991 when it was also recorded on Flanders Moss.



Shaded Pug - Flanders Moss

 A Shaded Pug in the same trap, run by David Pickett, was the second record for vc87, the first having been in caught in Glen Finglas in 2009. There are records from the 1980s for vc86 and vc99.



19 – 22nd May 2010 - Oak-tree Pug

Although there are four records of Oak-tree Pug from the Rothamsted trap at Rowardennan on Loch Lomondside, the inconsistency of the records, the lack of vouchers and distance from known populations makes them unreliable. Nevertheless, the species is known to be moving north and an unambiguously identified specimen was recorded in 2008 in the centre of Glasgow. The species is now definitely the region covered by this blog. Four were recorded by the author on 19^th May in Milngavie, Dunbartonshire and one on the same day in Mugdock Country Park, Stirlingshire. On 22^nd May, Richard Sutcliffe caught one in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire and Martin Culshaw caught another on the outskirts of Killearn, Stirlingshire

Oak-tree Pug - Milngavie

2009-2010 - Copper Underwing

Appendix 1 of my checklist highlighted species that had not yet been recorded in the region but which might be expected. Copper Underwing was listed as one of these but Richard Sutcliffe has supplied retained specimens caught in his Bearsden Garden in 2009 that have proved to be A. pyrmidea. In 2010 he recorded more adults and photographed a larva feeding on his roses. The author, just up the road in Milngavie (Dunbartonshire), caught up when he recorded a single adult on 5^th September, 2010 and another at Mugdock Country Park just over the vice county boundary into Stirlingshire on 2^nd October.

Riband Wave

My book, “An annotated Checklist of the Larger Moths of  Stirlingshire, West Perthshire and Dunbartonshire”, was out of date by the time it was published. At the launch I discovered that the banded form of the Riband Wave does occur in the area and is recorded by Richard Sutcliffe in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire.

2008 - Grass Emerald

At the time of the publication of the checklist, only two records of Grass Emerald were known from the three vice counties – one in Buchlyvie in 2002 and one in Dumbarton in 2003. Two further records have since come to light. Stan Campbell photographed the species in two separate areas on the outskirts of Renton, Dumbartonshire in 2008. The species has thus been recorded in Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire.

2008 -2009 - Single-dotted Wave

When the checklist was published, the only records of Single-dotted Wave that that were known to the author were from Fallin, Stirlingshire where it is recorded near annually. However, Stan Campbell photographed the species in both 2008 and 2009 in the Renton area of Dunbartonshire.