Brand new moth for Cambridgeshire: Eastern Bordered Straw – Moth of the Moment

I had a rather rare moth in the moth trap last night. An Eastern Bordered Straw, Heliothis nubigera. This species is known only as a rare immigrant species that first turned up in the UK in 1958, according to the UK Moths site. Just three were recorded that May and lepidopterists noted that they were part of a larger irruption into Europe. The site goes on to say that there were no more sightings until a single specimen was seen in 1992 and another in 1999. But, in the summer of 2006 there was a bigger influx. Eastern Bordered Straw As far as I can tell from the Cambs Moths site, there has not been a specimen of Eastern Bordered Straw here before. It’s a county first. That said, I don’t think that site is fully up to date with records from the last couple of seasons, so there may well have been one noted last year or even the year before. No mention in the Cam Moths Google Group though, but member Robert Partridge emailed to let me know that others had been seen on recent nights south…