So, No. 1 must be the death’s head hawk moth, generally a rare immigrant. This year’s record was particularly important as we get occasional sightings of the caterpillar here in all of its yellow and green glory but to see an adult is very special, and to rear a caterpillar, watch it pupate, hatch into a magnificent squeaking adult and then fly off into the night for more adventures is even more enchanting.

No.2 is the striped hawk moth just for the infrequency of beholding these magnificent insects and the absolute excitement of trapping one in my trap this summer.

No.3  The six-belted clearwing was a first for me and also included because of the joy it brought to the team and to the member of the public taking part in a citizen science BioBlitz on Braye common.

No.4 is the scarce silver lines and again another first for me and such a beautiful moth in all its iridescent green and bat high-frequency-sound mimicry. Such a joy to find it in one of our ‘on safari’ traps in St. Anne’s church yard this summer.

No.5 is definitely the golden twin-spot for its beauty, abundance and the ability to take over my greenhouse as what most would say ‘a pest’. I gladly and some may say sadly let a munching of curious green caterpillars take over and largely consume my tomato crop. I was fascinated to see what they would turn into. I was not disappointed when the first ones started to hatch from white fluffy cocoons, many attached to developing tomatoes. What beauties and so uncommon to see them in such a pristine state. There must have been more than 20 in the end and certainly this boosted our previous numbers in the records.

No.6 probably the campion in all its pinkish-purple tinted splendour. Although not new to our records this moth has not been commonly recorded in recent years unlike the similar Lychnis which is often plentiful. It is a beautiful moth, to my eyes, a little like the orache in its subtle understated beauty.

No.7  a single burnished brass creeps into the top 10 as a result of its amazing flashy coat.

No.8 the red underwing is always a joy to see in a trap even if this one had seen better days with some wing damage. This is closely followed by 

No.9 the blue underwing (Cliffden non pareil) which is also great to see in its huge beauty of pale blue flashes of underwings. Even more spectacular is the underside with its subtle white powdery stripes.

I could easily have included the Devonshire wainscot which hasn’t been recorded for a while or the fact that we saw huge numbers of waved umbers and willow beauties this year. Another moth, a day flyer and as such only occasionally found in traps, and which has been very numerous this year was the hummingbird hawk moth seen visiting valerian on walls and lavender in gardens. 

Red-necked footman has been recorded less in recent years so it was nice to see these appear in summer traps.