Early Moth Record

[Chris Raper]

On Sat, 30 Jan 1999 16:52:36 GMT, p.j.palmer at itb.u-net.com (Paul J
Palmer) wrote:

>I have been running my garden moth trap here in Liecestershire UK
>since a few days after Christmas.  I have finally recorded my first
>moth of 1999, a single Theria primaria (Early Moth).

Hi Paul

Not bad - not bad at all - BUT, how about this for a record:

17th January 1999 - South Oxfordshire - Small Magpie moth found
resting indoors near an open window - freshly emerged.

A quick look at the Pyralid book reveals that it _should_ have emerged
in June/July!!!!  In fact, at the moment it should be a larvae,
getting ready to pupate around April :-)

The only clue we have is that it apparently overwinters as a larva
under bark and the owner of the house runs a log stove and brings wood
in to dry it. Unfortunately it doesn't explain how the heat managed to
accelerate it's development by 5-6 months :-(

Best wishes,
Chris R.