Coleophora City

The most numerous moth in the trap on Sunday 28th May was Buff Rush Case-bearer Coleophora caespititiella - there were 20 of them.  Lurking among them was another Coleophora, slightly different in appearance.  This one proved to be Wood-rush Case-bearer Coleophora otidipennella, a new one for the house, and indeed for the 10k square.  There are fewer than 20 records in Norfolk and apart from one at Holme all come from either the Brecks or the Broads, so good to get one well outside its recorded range.

Buff Rush Case-bearer Coleophora caespititiella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 28th May

Wood-rush Case-bearer Coleophora otidipennella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 28th May

The following moths were new for the year here: Skin Moth Monopis laevigella, Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, Crescent Bell Epinotia bilunana, Marsh Grey Eudonia pallida, Small Seraphim, Ingrailed Clay and Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Skin Moth Monopis laevigella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 28th May

Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, North Elmham, 28th May

Crescent Bell Epinotia bilunana, North Elmham, 28th May

Small Seraphim, North Elmham, 28th May

Ingrailed Clay, North Elmham, 28th May

Other moths were Ribwort Slender Aspilapteryx tringipennella, 2 Light Brown Apple Moths Epiphyas postvittana, 2 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Rush Marble Bactra lancealana, Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatella, 2 Triple-blotched Bells Notocelia trimaculana, 2 Hook-streaked Grass-Veneers Crambus lathoniellus, Meadow Grey Scoparia pyralella, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, Garden Pebble Evergestis forficalis, 3 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Bee Moth Aphomia sociella, 2 False Cacao Moths Ephestia unicolorella, Chalk Knot-horn Phycitodes maritima, 5 Common Swifts, Blood-vein, Red Twin-spot Carpet, 6 Silver-ground Carpets, Garden Carpet, Common Marbled Carpet, 7 Green Carpets, 2 Small Rivulets, 3 Mottled Pugs, 3 Common Pugs, Brown Silver-line, 3 Scorched Wings, Pale Oak Beauty, 5 Light Emeralds, Pale Tussock, Orange Footman, White Ermine, 2 Buff Ermines, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, Small Square-spot, Nutmeg, Shears, Bright-line Brown-eye, 2 Brown Rustics, 11 Treble Lines, 2 Straw Dots and Small Fan-foot.

dark form of Common Marble Celypha lacunana (male, gen det), North Elmham, 28th May

Shears - also darker than normal (male, gen det), North Elmham, 28th May

Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana, North Elmham, 28th May

There was a variety of by-catch too including the Mayflies Pond Olive Cloeon dipterum and Pale Evening Dun Procloeon bifidum, the caddisflies Cyrnus flavidus, Hydropsyche siltalai, Hydropsyche pellucidula (new for the year), Glyphotaelius pellucidus and Limnephilus lunatus (new for the year).   Two beetles too - a Harlequin Ladybird and the soldier beetle Cantharis nigricans, the latter my first positively identified here.

sub-imago Pale Evening Dun Proloeon bifidum, North Elmham, 28th May

Cantharis nigricans, North Elmham, 28th May

Pine Cone Tortrix - new to Norfolk

On Friday night Dave and I headed down to Cranwich Heath where Dave has acquired permission from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust to conduct moth-trapping.  We had a good time but the clear highlight was finding Pine Cone Tortrix Gravitarmata margarotana, a species not previously recorded in Norfolk.

Indeed at the moment it's not clear (to us) that it's been recorded anywhere in the UK very often.  There may well be more records that we have not yet unearthed but so far we know of one in Kent in 2011, published as being the first for Britain, possibly an earlier record in Scotland, one in Leicestershire in 2013 one in coastal Suffolk in 2014 [edit: Matthew Deans has informed us there have now been 2 coastal Suffolk records].  The Kent individual was found at a time when there weren't many migrants around so it was suspected that there might be a population in the area, and the species is expanding its range in northern Europe, so is likely to colonise the UK.  Well, whether there have been any more records or not, I think we can now safely say it has colonised the UK, for we didn't just find one, we found THREE!  Here they are:

Pine Cone Tortrixes Gravitarmata margarotana (1 male gen det), Cranwich Heath, 20th May

(PS: is the plural of Tortrix 'Tortrixes' or 'Tortrices'?)

Other tortrix moths included two more personal highlights, both species I'd not seen before: the nationally scarce Pine Bud Moth Pseudococcyx turionella and Black-bordered Piercer Pammene argyrana.

Pine Bud Moth Pseudococcyx turionella, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Black-bordered Piercer (male, gen det) Pammene argyrana, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Another pine-feeding Tortrix that I don't see at home (though I have seen a few times elsewhere) was Pine Bell Epinotia rubiginosana, of which we saw at least 2.

Pine Bell Epinotia rubiginosana, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

A good selection of other micros too: 2 Bordered Carls Coptotriche marginea, Bird’s-nest Moth Tinea trinotella, New Oak Slender Caloptilia robustella, Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, 8 Plain Fanners Glyphipterix fuscoviridella, 5 Wood-rush Case-bearers Coleophora otidipennella, Red-brindled Dwarf Elachista rufocinerea, Triple-spot Dwarf Elachista maculicerusella, Swan-feather Dwarf Elachista argentella, 4 Dark-barred Tortrices Syndemis musculana, 8 Hook-streaked Grass-Veneers Crambus lathoniellus, 5 Meadow Greys Scoparia pyralella, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis and 2 Straw-barred Pearls Pyrausta despicata.

New Oak Slender Caloptilia robustella (male, gen det), Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Wood-rush Case-bearer Coleophora otidipennella (female, gen det), Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Triple-spot Dwarf Elachista maculicerusella, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Straw-barred Pearl Pyrausta despicata, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Pick of the bunch of macros has to go to the nationally scarce and Breckland speciality 2 Oblique Stripeds (another awkward plural...).

Oblique Striped, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

One of the two had a much stronger red band on the underwing than the other.

Other macros were Pebble Hook-tip, Chinese Character, Red Twin-spot Carpet, 3 Common Carpets, Streamer, Purple Bar, 6 Grey Pine Carpets, Spruce Carpet, 18 Green Carpets, Mottled Pug, 2 Common Pugs, Brindled Pug, 3 Oak-tree Pugs, 2 Yellow-barred Brindles, 5 Tawny-barred Angles, 2 Latticed Heaths, 2 Scorched Wings, Brimstone Moth, Scalloped Hazel, Waved Umber, White-pinion Spotted, 2 Great Prominents, 5 Pale Tussocks, Orange Footman, Ruby Tiger, Least Black Arches, Flame Shoulder, 2 Shears, Knot Grass, Treble Lines, Marbled White Spot, Nut-tree Tussock and Spectacle.

Purple Bar, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Knot Grass, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Latticed Heath, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Ruby Tiger, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Marbled White Spot, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Scorched Wing, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Pale Tussock, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Shears, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Tawny-barred Angle, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Mottled Pug, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Pebble Hook-tip, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Bugs included several Harpocera thoracica and a leafhopper that hopped away before I could get an ID on it.

Harpocera thoracica, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

unidentified leafhopper, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Beetles included 4 Cockchafers and the weevil Phyllobius roboretanus, one I'd not identified previously.

Phyllobious roboretanus, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

I think this larger Phyllobius was Phyllobius maculicornis but I'm not 100% sure.  Would be new for me again if so, but very hard to separate from another Phyllobius that I have seen.

probable Phyllobius maculicornis, Cranwich Heath, 20th May

Only one caddisfly, another Limnephilus auricula, but a few similar Mayflies, the one I retained for checking proving to be Brachycercus harrisellus, a new species for me distinguished from its congeners by having its rear legs spaced further apart.

Dusking in the Brecks

Dave and I planned to do some moth trapping in the Brecks on Monday night but by the time we arrived the cloud cover had already gone and with temperatures dipping it was clear that trapping was going to be a waste of time.  But we had half an hour or so of light left so we wandered around in the hope of finding some good moths.

Dave found this Red Roller Ancylis mitterbacheriana before I'd got out of the car.

Red Roller Ancylis mitterbacherina, Cranwich Heath, 16th May

Two Coleophoras proved to be a new species for me, Wood-rush Case-bearer Coleophora otidipennella.

Wood-rush Case-bearers Coleophora otidipennella (males, gen det), Cranwich Heath, 16th May

Other species included Bird’s-nest Moth Tinea trinotella, Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, probable Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, Little Ermel Swammerdamia pyrella, Red-brindled Dwarf Elachista rufocinerea, 8 Swan-feather Dwarfs Elachista argentella, Black-headed Conch Cochylis atricapitana, 2 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, Red Twin-spot Carpet, 12 Green Carpets and White-pinion Spotted.

Black-headed Conch Cochylis atricapitana, Cranwich Heath, 16th May

Swan-feather Dwarf Elachista argentella, Cranwich Heath, 16th May

Hawthorn Slender Parornix aglicella (male, gen det), Cranwich Heath, 16th May

Little Ermel Swammerdamia pyrella, Cranwich Heath, 16th May

Green Carpet was also new for the year for home that night but there weren't many other moths: Many-plumed Moth Alucita hexadactyla, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Streamer, 3 Common Pugs, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Coxcomb Prominent, Chocolate-tip, 6 Muslin Moths, Cinnabar and 2 Hebrew Characters.  A Glyphotaelius pellucidus was the only caddisfly recorded.

The following night produced a crop of new moths for the year (for the garden): Carrion Moth Monopis weaverella, Ribwort Slender Aspilapteryx tringipennella, Dark-barred Tortrix Syndemis musculana, Narrow-winged Grey Eudonia angustea, Great Prominent and Orange Footman. Always good to get a Great Prom in the garden!

Carrion Moth Monopis weaverella, North Elmham, 17th May

Ribwort Slender Aspilapteryx tringipennella, North Elmham, 17th May

Dark-barred Tortrix Syndemis musculana, North Elmham, 17th May

Orange Footman, North Elmham, 17th May

I think the Mullein was arguably better than any of those though - my third ever and second this year.  Surely a good year for these - lots of people I follow on Twitter seem to be seeing them this year.

Mullein, North Elmham, 17th May

I was almost as impressed with this Fly Bug Reduvius personatus sitting on top of my moth trap.  Not sure how scarce these are really as I've seen one before (in Norwich) but there aren't all that many dots on the National Biodiversity Network map.  Apparently they eat other bugs.

Fly Bug Reduvius personatus, North Elmham, 17th May

Caddisflies included one Glyphotaelius pellucidus and at least 10 Limnephilus auricula.  My newly-acquired Mayfly ID guide isn't, so far, proving its worth.  This one's particularly frustrating as a clearer description could have allowed ID I think.  It's a Cloeon sp. for which some features seem to match dipterum better while others (notably the absence of red stripes in the eyes) fit simile better.  The text in the guide refers to the number of cross-veins at the tip of the forewing - easy to count on my specimen and apparently diagnostic with 9-11 in simile and 3-5 in dipterum.  The annoying thing is there are no illustrations to accompany it and no description to explain how much of the wing-tip qualifies as the "tip".  My specimen had 3-5 cross-veins in the very tip and then some more (bringing it up to 9-11) a bit further in but still within the region that might (?) be described as the tip.

 Pond Olive Cloeon dipterum or Lake Olive Cloeon simile, North Elmham, 17th May

So far that's 2 out of 2 Mayflies I haven't been able to identify using the guide - a disappointing start after being extremely impressed with all the other FSC guides I've used so far.  (Incidentally, the veins look dark in my photo but in reality they weren't dark at all).