Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Copper Ermel (Roeslerstammidae) and Bent-wings (Bucculatricidae)

COPPER ERMEL (ROESLERSTAMMIIDAE)


Copper Ermel Roeslerstammia erxlebella - None.  I've only ever recorded this species at home on a single occasion, in 2016.

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BENT-WINGS (BUCCULATRICIDAE)


Crested Bent-wing Bucculatrix cristatella - None.  I've never seen this species but although it's scarce and hasn't been recorded close to here there's no reason why it shouldn't be here.  Plenty of Yarrow growing at the meadows.


Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella - One in my garden moth trap on 31st July 2019 and an unprecedented 9 between 8th May and 1st August 2020 including 3 on 31st July.  I didn't catch any here in 2018 and had never caught more than 2 in a year here before.  Also one in next door's garden on 8th August 2019 and one at the meadows on 25th May 2020.

Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella, North Elmham, 31st July 2019

Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella, North Elmham, 8th May 2020

Saltern Bent-wing Bucculatrix maritima - None caught by me but I gen detted one for Geoff Turner who caught it at Weybourne between 30th June and 4th July 2019.  It was a considerably darker individual than some I've seen before.

female Saltern Bent-wing Bucculatrix maritima, collected by Geoff Turner at Weybourne between 30th June and 4th July 2019

Buckthorn Bent-wing Bucculatrix frangutella - None.  I've never seen the adult of this species.  There isn't much Buckthorn growing round here so perhaps not surprising that it hasn't yet been recorded locally.


Elm Bent-wing Bucculatrix albedinella - None.  I've never seen this species and although it's reasonably widespread (if also scarce) in Norfolk it hasn't yet been found in this 10k square or any of the neighbouring ones.


Alder Bent-wing Bucculatrix cidarella - One in my garden moth trap on 23rd June 2019 was a completely new moth for me.

male Alder Bent-wing Bucculatrix cidarella, North Elmham, 23rd June 2019

Lime Bent-wing Bucculatrix thoracella - None.  I've only ever seen one adult and it wasn't round here, but it's pretty widespread in Norfolk so should be a chance of finding it locally.


Oak Bent-wing Bucculatrix ulmella - 2 here on 1st June 2019 then another 4 between 26th July and 22nd August.  One here on 20th May 2020 followed by 23 between 18th July and 17th August, making it far and away my best year so far.  Also one next door, one at the meadows and 10 at Swanton Great Wood in 2019 and 6 mines found in a single leaf at the meadows in 2020.  Although worn individuals can be troublesome to identify (the same could be said for most things) fresh ones seem quite distinctive so I'm really not sure why this is Grade 4 (meaning records are only accepted if the genitalia have been examined).  Apparently Bucculatrix ulmifoliae (not yet found in Norfolk but recently discovered in Suffolk) is the main confusion species but even that looks like it's pretty easily separated from typical fresh examples of ulmella (which have an extensively orange vertex).

male Oak Bent-wing Bucculatrix ulmella, North Elmham, 29th July 2019

male Oak Bent-wing Bucculatrix ulmella, North Elmham, 6th August 2020

male Oak Bent-wing Bucculatrix ulmella, North Elmham, 11th August 2020

male Oak Bent-wing Bucculatrix ulmella, North Elmham, 12th August 2020

Hawthorn Bent-wing Bucculatrix bechsteinella - 3 in the garden trap between 2nd June and 10th August 2019 and 5 between 21st May and 11th August 2020.  I had 3 in 2017 too but none in any other year here.  Also one netted at the meadows on 12th May 2019 and 3 there on 25th May 2020.  As usually seems to be the case with most Bucculatrix that I catch, all were males.

male Hawthorn Bent-wing Bucculatrix bechsteinella, North Elmham, 12th May 2019

Birch Bent-wing Bucculatrix demaryella - None.  I've only ever seen this species once and it wasn't here.  Despite the abundance of its foodplants this species appears to be genuinely quite scarce in Norfolk and hasn't yet been recorded round here.


Next page: Gracillariidae

Another kuhlweiniella

I found 30 moths of 13 species in a wander round the meadows on Monday 28th May.  Among the better ones was another Corn Moth Nemapogon granella, the first time I've recorded one outside.  Also for comparison a Cork Moth Nemapogon cloacella.

Corn Moth Nemapogon granella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Cork Moth Nemapogon cloacella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Perhaps even better was a Scarce Oak Midget Phyllonorycter kuhlweiniella.  I've only ever seen these on or around oak trees before so it was a great surprise to net this from the middle of one of the larger fields, at least 200m from the nearest Oak.

Scarce Oak Midget Phyllonorycter kuhlweiniella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

The other moths were Carrion Moth Monopis weaverella, Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella, 2 Diamond-backs Plutella xylostella, Common Yellow Conch Agapeta hamana, 4 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Rush Marble Bactra lancealana, Sharp-winged Drill Dichrorampha acuminatana, 8 Hook-streak Grass-veneers Crambus lathoniellus, Green Carpet and 7 Straw Dots.

Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Common Yellow Conch Agapeta hamana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Sharp-winged Drill Dichrorampha acuminatana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Other insects included my first bush-cricket for the site, a nymph Dark Bush-cricket, two species of Scorpion Fly (Panorpa germanica and Panorpa communis), a Green Drake (mayfly) Ephemera danica, a Dock Bug and a copulating pair of Parent Bugs, the soldier beetles Cantharis livida and Cantharis rustica (the livida appears to be a new one for me, though I think I've tentatively identified them from photos before), a 7-spot Ladybird and a more straightforwardly-identified (compared to the last one) Tenthredo arcuata (sawfly).

Dark Bush-cricket nymph, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Parent Bugs, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Cantharis livida, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Cantharis rustica, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

7-spot Ladybird, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Tenthredo arcuata, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

I think this leaf-mine on Broad-leaved Dock may belong to the fly Pegomya bicolor, but I'm not sure if other species can be eliminated or not (let me know if you think it can be recorded confidently).

probable Pegomya bicolor leafmine, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

I kept seeing this apparent fungal growth on Cocksfoot grass and was reminded of a photo I'd seen someone post on Twitter just before I came out.  I looked at my Twitter feed to see if anyone had replied to identify it and top of my feed, having tweeted literally seconds before I looked, was a reply from James Emerson confirming that it was a fungus called Choke.  Apparently there may be several species according to the species it grows on, and this one would therefore be Epichloe typhina.  Not a very good example in this photo - others were thicker and more obvious (but evidently harder to photograph!).

Epichlioe typhina, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th May

Windy night

A windy night on Wednesday didn't bode well for moths but apart from the wind, conditions were ok and the night did produce a reasonable selection - 23 species including 5 new for the year (for the garden).  The five were Skin Moth Monopis laevigella, Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella, Mottled Pug, Grey Pug and Burnished Brass.

Burnished Brass, North Elmham, 27th May

Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella, North Elmham, 27th May

Mottled Pug, North Elmham, 27th May

Grey Pug, North Elmham, 27th May

Skin Moth Monopis laevigella, North Elmham, 27th May

Best of the rest were Maiden's Blush, May Highflyer and 2 Poplar Hawkmoths.

Poplar Hawkmoth, North Elmham, 27th May

The others were Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatella, 4 Bee Moths Aphomia sociella, Common Swift, 2 Red Twin-spot Carpets, Silver-ground Carpet, Grey Pine Carpet, Green Carpet, 2 Common Pugs, Brimstone Moth, Orange Footman, White Ermine, 2 Heart and Darts, Flame Shoulder, Shears and 2 Treble Lines.

Last night was less productive: Mottled Pug, Common Pug, Scalloped Hazel, White Ermine, Muslin Moth, Heart and Dart, 2 Small Square-spots, Lychnis, Shears, Treble Lines and Spectacle.  

Found another Ptinus sexpunctatus beetle in the house this evening.

Ptinus sexpinctatus, North Elmham, 29th May