Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Gelechiids (Gelechiidae) (Part 3: Nebs - subfamily Anomologinae I)

GELECHIIDS (GELECHIIDAE) (continued)


Subfamily ANOMOLOGINAE


House Neb Bryotropha domestica - 15 in the garden and one next door between 23rd July and 12th September 2019 and 25 between 17th July and 8th September 2020.  2019 was a fairly typical showing here but 2020 was my best ever (and included a record count of 5 on 5th August).

House Neb Bryotropha domestica, North Elmham, 31st July 2020

Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella - Recorded here on 43 nights between 14th June and 17th August.  I didn't count every night but assuming only one on those nights (it was probably more) the total was 140 (including a count of 15 on 16th July).  In previous years here the total counts have varied from 31 to 62 so this was an exceptional year.  2020 was good again with 119 over 43 nights between 3rd June and 20th August.  Elsewhere recorded next door, at the meadows (19 in total), Bintree Wood, Hellesdon and Weybourne.

male Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 15th June 2019

male Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, North Elmham, 26th June 2019

female Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, North Elmham, 3rd August 2019

male Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, North Elmham, 3rd June 2020

female Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, North Elmham, 31st July2020

female Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

female Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella - 5 in the garden moth trap between 24th July and 3rd September 2019 and 4 between 31st July and 21st August 2020.  These follow 5 in 2018 and a total of 5 between 2014 and 2016 which were the first 5 to be recorded anywhere in Norfolk.  Since 2018 this species has started to be recorded elsewhere (2 sites in 2018, another 2 in 2019 and a 5th in 2020) so I no longer have the monopoly of county records.  Presumably this represents a real increase rather than just better detection?

female Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella, North Elmham, 24th July 2019

female Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella, North Elmham, 25th August 2019

male Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella, North Elmham, 30th August 2019

male Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella, North Elmham, 3rd September 2019

male Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella, North Elmham, 20th August 2020

female Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella, North Elmham, 21st August 2020

Dull Red Neb Bryotropha senectella - 5 in the garden moth trap between 16th and 27th July 2019 and 4 between 14th July and 8th August 2020.  They're fairly average totals for here.  Also one at the meadows on 26th July 2019.  Although this is a grade 2 (dissection not required) I think this can be a trickier species to be sure about than the grading suggests and normally check the genitalia for confidence.  Although my pre-dissection provisional IDs are usually correct I have mistaken these with other Bryotropha, so care is needed if you don't dissect them.

male Dull Red Neb Bryotropha senectella, North Elmham, 16th July 2019

male Dull Red Neb Bryotropha senectella, North Elmham, 14th July 2020

male Dull Red Neb Bryotropha senectella, North Elmham, 18th July 2020

Dark Neb Bryotropha affinis - recorded here on 18 nights between 5th June and 8th September (not counted every night so no total count).  That's the equal highest number of nights since moving here but it hasn't varied a great deal from year to year so far.  31 over 14 nights between 26th June and 15th August 2020, my second highest total.  Also recorded next door and at the meadows in 2019.

male Dark Neb Bryotropha affinis, North Elmham, 16th August 2019

Obscure Neb Bryotropha similis - One in the garden on 29th July 2020.  2019 was the only complete year in 6 where I haven't recorded this species here at all, although with only one most years (2 in 2016) it was bound to happen sooner or later.

male Obscure Neb Bryotropha similis, North Elmham, 29th July 2020

Heather Neb Aristotelia ericinella - None.  I've not found this species locally yet but it has been recorded fairly close so it might pop up one day.

 
White-bordered Neb Isophrictis striatella - One in the garden trap on 1st August 2019, the third consecutive year I have recorded one here.  None in 2020.

White-bordered Neb Isophrictis striatella, North Elmham, 1st August 2019

Next page: more Gelechiidae

47 species of Coleophora and 638 individuals before I find the commonest of them all

Among 59 species of moth on 28th June were 3 new for the year: Dark Neb Bryotropha affinis, Brown-barred Tortrix Epagoge grotiana and Small Emerald.

Dark Neb Bryotropha affinis, North Elmham, 28th June

Brown-barred Tortrix Epagoge grotiana, North Elmham, 28th June

Small Emerald, North Elmham, 28th June

The other 56 were Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, 4 Brown House Moths Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 3 Common Yellow Conches Agapeta hamana, Large Fruit-tree Tortrix Archips podana, 3 Large Ivy Tortrixes Lozotaenia forsterana, Grey Tortrix Cnephasia stephensiana, Flax Tortrix Cnephasia asseclana, Yellow Oak Button Aleimma loeflingiana, 6 Barred Marbles Celypha striana, 10 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana, Red Piercer Lathronympha strigana, 12 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella, Satin Grass-veneer Crambus perlella, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, Little Grey Eudonia lacustrata, Small Grey Eudonia mercurella, Rosy Tabby Endotricha flammealis, Bee Moth Aphomia sociella, White Plume Pterophorus pentadactyla, Ghost Moth, Buff Arches, 2 Small Fan-footed Waves, 4 Dwarf Cream Waves, 9 Single-dotted Waves, Treble Brown Spot, 7 Riband Waves, Large Twin-spot Carpet, Garden Carpet, Shaded Broad-bar, 2 Barred Straws, Foxglove Pug, Clouded Border, Brimstone Moth, 2 Willow Beauties, 3 Engraileds, Common White Wave, 4 Common Footmen, 11 Buff Ermines, 3 Ingrailed Clays, 4 Double Square-spots, Bright-line Brown-eye, Clay, Smoky Wainscot, 2 Common Wainscots, Brown Rustic, Dark Arches, 11 Uncertains, Rustic, Burnished Brass, Spectacle, 2 Beautiful Hook-tips, 2 Straw Dots, 2 Snouts and Fan-foot.

Next day I had two clearwing pheremone lures out - both attracted things that were new for the garden year list but neither were clearwings, or indeed moths.  The Yellow-legged Clearwing lure attracted the mirid bug Phylus coryli and the Currant Clearwing lure attracted the hoverfly Eupeodes corollae.

Phylus coryli, North Elmham, 29th June

Eupeodes corollae, North Elmham, 29th June

That night brought nearly 250 moths of 85 species including several new for the year.  One of these was completely new for me, but very much overdue.  For the last few years I have attempted to identify nearly every Coleophora I've caught, which for the majority of species requires microscopic examination (a few species are distinctive enough to identify in the field, but not many).  I had already identified 638 individual Coleophora and these have covered 47 different species, but there was one big glaring gap in the list - the one species that is said to be the commonest of them all!  How could I get through all those Coleophora of all those species and still not find the one I'm theoretically most likely to find?  Well on 29th June it finally appeared in my trap, the Common Case-bearer Coleophora serratella.  It's describes as the commonest British Coleophora, so how come I hadn't had one before?  Well I don't know the answer to that, but here are some ideas. 

1. It's a species that doesn't come to light very often compared to many other species - most Coleophora records relate to their larval cases as relatively few moth-recorders both identifying adults, so the species' relative abundance is mainly determined by larval records whereas my personal records are mainly of adults that have come to light;
2. They just happen to not be common in my immediate vicinity, but are common elsewhere - this may be partly true but unlikely to be the only explanation as I do a fair bit of trapping at a variety of other sites too;
3. They've had a recent run of poor years so I've missed them in the relatively short time that I've been doing microscopy - some evidence to support the idea that this has been a relatively good year in that I went on to trap two more this summer, one more at home and another in the Waveney Valley;
4. They were the commonest species when status descriptions were written but have declined (relatively at least) so that they are not any longer the commonest.  

My guess is that the reality is a combination of some or all of these ideas and probably others I haven't thought of, but this is a good example of how delving into the world of microscopy throws up some interesting questions.

Common Case-bearer Coleophora serratella (female, gen det), North Elmham, 29th June

Other new moths for the year were White-legged Case-bearer Coleophora albitarsella (only my second here and third anywhere), Red-barred Tortrix Ditula angustiorana, Mother of Pearl Pleuroptya ruralis, Gold Triangle Hypsopygia costalis, Peach Blossom, Blue-bordered Carpet, Cloaked Minor and Common Rustic.

White-legged Case-bearer Coleophora albitarsella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 29th June

Gold Triangle Hypsopygia costalis, North Elmham, 29th June

Peach Blossom, North Elmham, 29th June

Blue-bordered Carpet, North Elmham, 29th June

Cloaked Minor, North Elmham, 29th June

Common Rustic (male, gen det), North Elmham, 29th June

The rest of the moths were Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Burdock Neb Metzneria lappella, 2 London Dowds Blastobasis lacticolella, 3 Common Yellow Conches Agapeta hamana, 3 Large Ivy Tortrixes Lozotaenia forsterana, Flax Tortrix Cnephasia asseclana, Light Grey Tortrix Cnephasia incertana, 2 Green Oak Tortrixes Tortrix viridana, 2 Barred Marbles Celypha striana, 5 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, 2 Plum Tortrixes Hedya pruniana, 6 Marbled Orchard Tortrixes Hedya nubiferana, 2 Triangle-marked Rollers Ancylis achatana, Crescent Bell Epinotia bilunana, Bramble Shoot Notocelia uddmanniana, Hoary Bell Eucosma cana, Many-plume Moth Alucit hexadactyla, 32 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella, 2 Satin Grass-veneers Crambus perlella, Meadow Grey Scoparia pyralella, 6 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, 5 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, Small Grey Eudonia mercurella, 7 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Elder Pearl Anania coronata, Rosy Tabby Endotricha flammealis, Bee Moth Aphomia sociella, 2 White Plumes Pterophorus pentadactyla, 2 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla, Ghost Moth, 2 Common Emeralds, 8 Small Fan-footed Waves, 3 Dwarf Cream Waves, Small Dusty Wave, 8 Single-dotted Waves, 2 Treble Brown Spots, 9 Riband Waves, Large Twin-spot Carpet, 3 Barred Straws, Barred Yellow, Sandy Carpet, 2 V-Pugs, 2 Green Pugs, Double-striped Pug, 3 Brimstone Moths, Early Thorn, Swallow-tailed Moth, 2 Mottled Beauties, 2 Engraileds, Common White Wave, 2 Clouded Silvers, Elephant Hawk-moth, 4 Rosy Footmen, Dingy Footman, 7 Common Footmen, 2 Buff Ermines, Short-cloaked Moth, Heart and Club, 3 Flames, Flame Shoulder, 2 Double Square-spots, 2 Bright-line Brown-eyes, 4 Smoky Wainscots, 3 Brown Rustics, 4 Dark Arches, Middle-barred Minor, 17 Uncertains, Rustic, Mottled Rustic, 6 Burnished Brasses, 4 Beautiful Hook-tips, 2 Straw Dots, 15 Snouts and 2 Fan-foots.

Other insects included two new species for me, the mirid bug Phoenicocoris obscurellus and the barkfly Mesopsocus immunis.  There was also a Common Earwig, the caddisflies Limnephilus auricula and Limnephilus lunatus and a Common Frog.

Phoenicocoris obscurellus, North Elmham, 29th June

Mesopsocus immunis (male, gen det), North Elmham, 29th June

Dowdy Plume - a couple of months early!

The highlight on the night of Saturday 17th May was a Large Long-horn Nematopogon swammerdamella.  I've seen a lot of these this year (a good year, or just me getting out more than normal?) but this was my first at home.

Large Long-horn Nematopogon Swammerdamella, North Elmham, 17th May

Otherwise it was a quiet night with 2 Little Dwarfs Elachista canapennella, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Green Carpet, 2 Common Pugs, White Ermine, Muslin Moth, 4 Treble Lines and 3 Limnephilus auriculas (caddis).   The following night Clouded Border was new for the year but apart from that there were just 2 Green Carpets, White Ermine and Spectacle.

A few more moths on Monday 19th but only Silver-ground Carpet was new for the year for the garden.  Others were Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, Maiden's Blush, Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, Green Carpet, Sandy Carpet, Mottled Pug, Muslin Moth, Cinnabar, Heart and Dart, Clouded-bordered Brindle and 2 Treble Lines.  Also the caddis Glyphotaelius pellucidus (2).

Silver-ground Carpet, North Elmham, 19th May

Next day I found what I initially assumed to be yet another Varied Carpet Beetle in the house.  This one was darker than normal though so I looked a bit more closely and found a few more differences.  It proved to be the closely-related Anthrenus fuscus, a new one for me.

Anthrenus fuscus, North Elmham, 20th May

No new moths for the year that night: Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, Common Swift, Silver-ground Carpet, 2 Green Carpets, Mottled Pug, Peppered Moth, Waved Umber, Cinnabar, Heart and Dart and 3 Treble Lines.  However the caddisfly Limnephilus vittatus was new for the year.

Limnephilus vittatus, North Elmham, 20th May

Peppered Moth, North Elmham, 20th May

Next day this Early Bumblebee appeared in the garden (not very early).  It appears to be the first time I've identified this species here.

Early Bumblebee, North Elmham, 21st May

A few moths seen at Ryburgh over this period included Plain Golds Micropterix calthella, Common Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana and Silver-ground Carpets.  This Sulphur Tubic Esperia sulphurella appeared on the hide window ledge as I was looking out.

Sulphur Tubic Esperia sulphurella, Great Ryburgh, 20th May

Beetles at Ryburgh included Dalopius marginatus.

I went up to Burnham Overy on Wednesday 21st and found a few moths of note.  Most surprising was this plume moth.  It recalled examples I'd found in precisely the same place last year which proved to be Dowdy Plume Stenoptilia zophodactylus and I retained this one to check if it was.  When taking it through the key I landed on Brown Plume Stenoptilia pterodactyla on account of the brown (rather than grey) first lobe.  In truth it was greyish brown and I wasn't convinced it was pterodactyla - though a much commoner species these normally look a warmer brown colour overall.  However zophodactylus isn't meant to fly until July, so it couldn't possibly be that, I thought.  Well it was a male and its genitalia showed very obvious projections to the apex of the tegumen which seems to be a diagnostic feature of zophodactlus.  Moreover the uncus didn't extend beyond the tegumen which it should on pterodactyla.  I couldn't find the anellus arms (presumably they came away during the prep?) but I think there's enough without them to establish this as Dowdy Plume Stenoptilia zophodactylus - leaving only the question of what it was doing flying in May?!  Is this species developing a new first generation maybe, as several other species have done in recent year?

Dowdy Plume Stenoptilia zophodactylus (male, gen det), Burnham Overy, 21st May

Less surprising was this Breckland Plume Crombrugghia distans.

Breckland Plume Crombrugghia distans, Burnham Overy, 21st May

This Long-horn looked small making me suspect Small Barred Long-horn Adela croesella over Yellow-barred Long-horn Nematopogon degeerella.  But I couldn't catch it and couldn't positively judge some of the usual features from my slightly ropey photos.  In the end I settled on Adela croesella, partly due to the apparent size and partly because of the way the yellow band curved round to hit the costa perpendicularly.  Not sure if this is a reliable feature or not but on most degeerella it seems to hit the costa angled slightly towards the apex.

Small Barred Long-horn Adela croesella, Burnham Overy, 21st May

Other moths recorded at Burnham Overy included 2 Common Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana, 15 Plain Fanners Glyphipterix fuscoviridella, Dark Groundling Bryotropha affinis, Desert Groundling Bryotropha desertella, 3 Downland Conches Aethes tesserana, Black-headed Conch Cochylis atricapitana, 3 Light Brown Apple Moths Epiphyas postvittana, 2 Yellow-faced Bells Notocelia cynosbatella, Meadow Grey Scoparia pyralella, 2 Green Carpets and 3 Cinnabars. Also a couple of Yellow-tail caterpillars.

Downland Conch Aethes tesserana, Burnham Overy, 21st May

Dark Groundling Bryotropha affinis, Burnham Overy, 21st May

Desert Groundling Bryotropha desertella, Burnham Overy, 21st May

This beetle proved to be Common Grammoptera Grammoptera ruficornis.

Common Grammoptera Grammoptera ruficornis, Burnham Overy, 21st May

That night at home the only moths were 2 Little Dwarfs Elachista canapennella, Poplar Hawkmoth, 4 White Ermines, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder and 5 Treble Lines.

Poplar Hawkmoth, North Elmham, 21st May

Other insects included Common Earwig and my first Cockchafer of the year here.

Cockchafer, North Elmham, 21st May