Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: White Bent-wings (Opostegidae), Lifts (Heliozelidae) and Long-horns (Adelidae)

WHITE BENT-WINGS (OPOSTEGIDAE)

(I'm not sure if English names have been allocated to some of the micro families so apologies if they have and I've made up the wrong ones...)


Sorrel Bent-wing Opostega salaciella - singles in my garden on 16th and 23rd July 2019 and one on 30th June 2020.  I'd only recorded 2 here before (2016 and 2017).  Also found at the meadows on 6th and 23rd June 2019 and 9th June 2020.  Elsewhere 4 together at dusk at Pennyghael on Mull on 13th June 2019.

Sorrel Bent-wing Opostega salaciella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 6th June 2019

Mint Bent-wing Pseudopostega crepusculella - None.  I've only seen this species once before and never locally.

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LIFTS (HELIOZELIDAE)


Four-spot Lift Antispila metallella - None.  I've never seen this species but although it's described as rare there are quite a few records in Norfolk, and there's plenty of Dogwood (its foodplant) at the meadows.


Yellow-spot Lift Antispila petryi - None.  Another Dogwood feeder I've never seen but that could potentially occur locally.


Oak Satin Lift Heliozela sericella - Seen at the meadows on 20th (2) and 30th April 2019. The only species of this family that I have found as adults anywhere so far, and I've not recorded it at home yet.  I usually find this species during the day flying around underneath Oak trees, sometimes in good numbers, but didn't find any in 2020.

Oak Satin Lift Heliozela sericella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th April 2019

Alder Lift Heliozela resplendella - None.  I've only seen mines of this species but there's plenty of Alder in the area so hopefully I'll find adults locally at some point.

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LONG-HORNS (ADELIDAE)


Yellow-barred Long-horn Nemophora degeerella - 1-2 at the meadows on 3 dates between 6th and 21st June 2019 and on 3rd and 20th June 2020.  I've not recorded this common day-flying species in my garden yet. This is the only Nemophora I've seen - none of the other 4 Norfolk species are particularly common (except perhaps metallica in the Brecks) but any of them could conceivably turn up locally.

Yellow-barred Long-horn Nemophora degeerella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 15th June 2019

Yellow-barred Long-horn Nemophora degeerella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th June 2020

Green Long-horn Adela reaumurella - At least 5 lekking on Dogwood along the disused railway at the meadows on 26th April 2019, with fewer there still on 2nd May.  Recorded at the meadows on 4 dates in 2020 between 24th April and 15th May including at least 12 lekking on 12th May.  Another common day-flying moth that is missing from my garden list.

Green Long-horns Adela reaumurella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 26th April 2019

Green Long-horn Adela reaumurella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 2nd May 2019

Green Long-horn Adela reaumurella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th May 2020

Early Long-horn Adela cuprella - None.  I've seen this species at Bittering so it's not far away, and there is suitable foodplant round here so I wouldn't be surprised to find it at the meadows.


Small Barred Long-horn Adela croesella - None.  I'm yet to find this species locally but there's no reason why it shouldn't occur round here.


Little Long-horn Cauchas fibulella - None.  Another one I've not seen locally but could potentially occur round here.


Meadow Long-horn Cauchas rufimitrella - 3 at the meadows on 15th May and 5 on 25th May 2019.  Of the 5 one was on Garlic Mustard as you'd expect but the other 4 were on Wintercress which isn't listed as a larval foodplant for this species.  However, there is Garlic Mustard and Cuckoo-flower growing in the vicinity, both of which are foodplants, so they the larvae may have come from those.  None of the other Cauchas species recorded in 2019.  None seen in 2020 and not yet recorded at home.

Meadow Long-horn Cauchas rufimitrella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 25th May 2019

Sandy Long-horn Nematopogon schwarziellus - None.  I found this species at my previous house in Bawdeswell but I'm yet to record it in North Elmham.  It appears to be the scarcest of the 3 similar species in Norfolk.


Buff Long-horn Nematopogon metaxella - One in the garden moth trap on 21st June 2020, my first here since 2017 (3 previous records, 2 in 2015 and the one in 2017).   At the meadows 2 on 31st May 2019 and singles on 17th May and 18th June 2020.

Buff Long-horn Nematopogon metaxella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 31st May 2019

Buff Long-horn Nematopogon metaxella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 17th May 2020

Large Long-horn Nematopogon swammerdamella - One with a broken antenna in my garden moth trap on 2nd June 2019 was only my second here (following one in 2017).  None elsewhere this year and none anywhere in 2020.

Large Long-horn Nematopogon swammerdamella, North Elmham, 2nd June 2019

Next page: Incurvariidae plus

Ancylis badiana

I spent much of Friday 5th May birding in the Fens but picked up a few non-birds along the way.  One of a number of Coniopterix Waxflies at Methwold Lode defied identification to species level.  A Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana was easier.  A family of Otters along the River Wissey just west of the beet factory were fun to watch.

Otters, Wissington, 5th May

Further along this path were Orange-tip, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshells, with Brimstones seen at a number of places later on.  I also found this spider which I initially thought looked very distinctive with a turquoise abdomen.  But looking at the photos I realised that the large round turquoise thing at the end of it was in fact an egg sac, so the spider itself wasn't so distinctive.  Might be identifiable though - but not my me at the moment.

unidentified spider, west of Wissington, 5th May

Back closer to home a new bee for me, Flavous Nomad Bee Nomada flava was on the verge at Ryburgh.

Flavous Nomad Bee Nomada flava, Ryburgh, 5th May

This Cereal Leaf Beetle Oulema melanopus/rufocyanea agg. was at home.

Cereal Leaf Beetle Oulema sp., North Elmham, 5th May

A Roe Deer on the patch was looking photogenic...

Roe Deer, Bittering, 5th May

The moth trap that night produced my first Eyed Hawk-moth and Nutmeg of the year, along with Streaked Flat-body Depressaria chaerophylli, Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Flame Shoulder, 3 Hebrew Characters and 2 Common Earwigs.

Eyed Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 5th May

Nutmeg, North Elmham, 5th May

Found a Parsnip Moth Depressaria radiella at Ryburgh the following evening before another poor night's moth trapping at home - Brown-spot Flat-body Agonopterix alstromeriana and Flame Carpet were new for the year but Many-plumed Moth Alucita hexadactyla, 3 Hebrew Characters, Early Grey and Clouded-bordered Brindle were the only other moths.

Flane Carpet, North Elmham, 6th May

James Emerson had been to Hills and Holes at Hockham on Saturday and seen a couple of Ancylis badiana, a very smart tortrix moth that I've not seen before.  The forewing markings looked quite chestnut-brown which piqued my interest as Ancylis unculana is said to be distinguished from badiana by have chestnut-brown forewing markings.  Indeed I couldn't find any references which stated any other distinguishing features.  Yet looking at photos of both species I was pretty sure James was correct with his ID - for example the clean creamy surround to the dorsal blotch which was obvious in James' photos was consistently present on images of badiana whereas on all the images I could find of unculuna this was heavily marked with greyish.  Anyway, a site I had been planning to revisit soon, a good chance of a smart new moth, plus a desire to fully resolve an interesting ID conundrum made for an easy decision as to what to do on Sunday afternoon.

So, Dave and I rocked up to Hills and Holes and very soon found lots of insects including 23 Common Rollers Ancylis badiana.  The extent of chestnut colouration varied quite a lot - some were pretty much textbook individuals while others were much more chestnutty.  None looked like online images of unculana though, and for that matter none showed the terminal marks of the third similar species, Ancylis paludana.  I was already confident badiana was the correct ID and now I was even more sure, but just to leave no stone unturned I retained a couple of the more chestnutty coloured ones for gen detting.  The genitalia were, of course, consistent with badiana, apparently wrong for unculana (though the differences don't seem to be huge) (I can't find out what paludana is meant to be like, so that species was only ruled out on external features).

Common Rollers Ancylis badiana, Hills and Holes, 7th May

Other moths seen were 60 Plain Golds Micropterix calthella, Oak Carl Tischeria ekebladella, 2 Green Long-horns Adela reaumurella, Cocksfoot Moth Glyphipterix simpliciella and 4 Grey Gorse Piercers Cydia ulicetana. One female Adela looked really golden-bronze, indeed identical to the individual I posted about the other day which I'd quite unconvincingly concluded must be cuprella.  This time though there were no sallows in the immediate vicinity - surely this wasn't cuprella.  The genitalia were the same as the last one, apparently unlike the published image I had seen of reaumurella, but I still couldn't find any images of cuprella to compare to.  Then I realised that I'd been looking at the reaumurella image wrong - there are two pairs of stick-like appendages joined at the top and on my insects all four appendages were the same length.  The image of reaumurella made it look like one pair was much shorter than the other, but looking at it again I realised the two pairs had been separated so although the tips of one pair fell short of the other they were (probably) the same length.  So both of mine might be reaumurella after all, and despite them not looking green I think that's what they probably both were.

probable Green Long-horn Adela reaumurella, Hills and Holes, 7th May

lots of Plain Golds Micropterix calthella on sedge, Hills and Holes, 7th May

Bugs here included Harpocera thoracica and Red-and-black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata.

Harpocera thoracica, Hills and Holes, 7th May

Red-and-black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata, Hills and Holes, 7th May

I keyed this beetle out to Cantharis nigricans but subsequently wondered if I may have made a mistake and it should be Cantharis pellucida having seen Dave's similar insect (from elsewhere) identified as the lattter.  I re-found the specimen and checked the elytra hair again as this seems to be the critical point in the key - "Elytra almost covered with close-set very short pubescence, along with more scattered longer hair" for nigricans and "not as above" for pellucida (there are further species for both but the following couplets key out to nigricans or pellucida).  The elytra are covered with close-set pubescence, though whether that is very short or not is debatable.  There are also some scattered hairs protruding more than the downy hairs and at least some of them are clearly longer than the flatter downy hairs.  So I think I was right - oe else the key is misleading.

Cantharis nigricans, Hills and Holes, 7th May

An intersting selection of Ladybirds included Kidney-spot Ladybird, 7-spot Ladybird, four 14-spot Ladybirds and an 18-spot Ladybird - the latter apparently my first ever.

18-spot Ladybird, Hills and Holes, 7th May

14-spot Ladybirds, Hills and Holes, 7th May

There were half a dozen small shiny round black beetles one of which I retained to identify - but not being sure what family it's in that might take a while.  As I'm already getting behind I think I'll park it for now and come back to it later.

Dave pointed out this Cranefly and I agreed it looked distinctive.  I don't have a key or anything like that for these so please shout if I'm wrong, but I think it's Tipular varipennis, a new one for me.

Tipula varipennis, Hills and Holes, 7th May

Just four moths that night: Scalloped Hazel, Flame Shoulder, Hebrew Character and Early Grey.

A burst of activity at the end of April

I left my last post part way through 29th April so to finish off that day I found a White Oak Midget Phyllonorycter harrisella at Ryburgh.  That night the home trap produced a little more than recent nights including 3 new for the year here: Garden Carpet, Swallow Prominent and Bright-line Brown-eye.  It wasn't exactly heaving though - the rest were just Lesser Swallow Prominent, Muslin Moth, Common Quaker, 6 Hebrew Characters and 3 Early Greys.

Garden Carpet, North Elmham, 29th April

Swallow Prominent, North Elmham, 29th April

Lesser Swallow Prominent (left) and the same Swallow Prominent (right), North Elmham, 29th April

Bright-line Brown-eye, North Elmham, 29th April

On Sunday 30th I had a look round Sparham Pools in the afternoon finding about 45 Green Long-horns Adela reaumurella lekking near the car park.  Further round I found a couple more Long-horns which, in the field, seemed much less green - more golden.  Not entirely sure which species they were I took them home for closer examination, but looking at them closely they both seemed greener than I'd thought and I began to consider the possibility that they were just reaumurella like the rest.  In the end I think this one was - it was a male and its antennae were well over 3x longer than the forewing length which should rule out cuprella, the genitalia resembled reaumurella (but althouth I think I can see differences in images of cuprella genitalia I'm not entirely clear what the criteria are).  It did have some reddish-purple reflections along the costa but these were minimal.  Other similar species in other genera seemed to be ruled out either by size or flight-time.  In this photo it looks quite typical for reaumurella to me.

Green Long-horn Adela reaumurella, Sparham Pools, 30th April

The other one, which was the first one I saw in the field and really struck me as being more golden-bronze coloured, I think was Early Long-horn Adela cuprella.  I'm used to seeing these lekking on Sallows and this was in low pathside vegetation, so I wasn't expecting this result, but I think there may be Sallows just the other side of the hedge.  This one had much clearer reddish-purple reflections along the costa and although I can't find any images of female cuprella genitalia to compare it to there do seem to be some differences from the images I have found for female reaumurella.  As before, other similar species in different genera are ruled out by size or time of year.

[Update - having seen another identical female moth in habitat unsuitable for Adela cuprella I am now of the opinion that this was more likely another Adela reaumurella.  The genitalia of my two moths were identical and although I still can't find images of cuprella to compare them to I think I can now account for what I had perceived as differences from the published images of reaumurella].

Long-horn sp. Adela sp., Sparham Pools, 30th April

The only other moth I saw was a Common Oak Purple Dyseriocrania subpurpurella (thanks to John G for spotting that one) but there was this lovely weevil, Phyllobius argentatus.

Phyllobius argentatus, Sparham Pools, 30th April

On Sunday evening this Bee Moth Aphomia sociella tried to get into church...

Bee Moth Aphomia sociella, Norwich, 30th April

That night trapping at home was probably the best night of the year so far with 10 new species for the year: Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana, Chinese Character, Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, 2 Brimstone Moths, 3 Waved Umbers, Pale Prominent, Pale Tussock, 2 Flame Shoulders, Clouded-bordered Brindle and Nut-tree Tussock.  Actually that was more than the moths that weren't new for the year, which were White-triangle Slender Caloptilia stigmatella, Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, Many-plumed Moth Alucita hexadactyla, Green Carpet, Brindled Pug, Oak-tree Pug, 2 Yellow-barred Brindles, Cinnabar and 2 Hebrew Characters.

Chinese Character, North Elmham, 30th April

Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet (male, gen det), North Elmham, 30th April

Waved Umber, North Elmham, 30th April

Pale Prominent, North Elmham, 30th April

Pale Tussock, North Elmham, 30th April

Flame Shoulder, North Elmham, 30th April

Clouded-bordered Brindle, North Elmham, 30th April

There were also a few caddisflies around - my first at home this year.  They comprised 3  Glyphotaelius pellucidus, Limnephilus auricula and Limnephilus sparsus.

 Glyphotaelius pellucidas (female above, male below), North Elmham, 30th April

Limnephilus auricula (male, gen det), North Elmham, 30th April

Limnephilus sparsus (female, gen det), North Elmham, 30th April