Phalonidia manniana, new for the garden, plus a new site for a Red Data Book species

This summer has been mad, and I'm afraid blog posts have fallen by the wayside.  At last I'm ready to pick up where I left off.  It will take me a while to catch up, but now making a start...

The highlight of Thursday night, 31st May, was a new moth for the garden, Water-mint Conch Phalonidia manniana.

Water-mint Conch Phalnidia manniana (female, gen det), North Elmham, 31st May

A few others were new for the year including the marvellous Rough-winged Conch Phtheochroa rugosana, Common Yellow Conch Agapeta hamana, May Highflyer (just in time?), 2 Vine's Rustics and Burnished Brass.

Rough-winged Conch Phtheochroa rugosana, North Elmham, 31st May

Common Yellow Conch Agapeta hamana, North Elmham, 31st May

May Highflyer, North Elmham, 31st May

Vine's Rustic, North Elmham, 31st May

Burnished Brass, North Elmham, 31st May

Other moths were 5 Diamond-backs Plutella xylostella, 3 Buff Rush Case-bearers Coleophora caespititiella, 2 Little Dwarfs Elachista canapennella, Light Brown Apple-moth Epiphyas postvittana, 8 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Rush Marble Bactra lancealana, Crescent Bell Epinotia bilunana, Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatella, Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana, 4 Hook-streak Grass-veneers Crambus lathoniellus, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, 5 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, 2 Bee Moths Aphomia sociella, Pebble Hook-tip, 2 Blood-veins, 3 Silver-ground Carpets, 5 Green Carpets, Mottled Pug, 4 Common Pugs, Scorched Carpet, Brimstone Moth, Pale Oak Beauty, 2 Pale Tussocks, Orange Footman, 4 White Ermines, 2 Buff Ermines, 6 Heart and Darts, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Bright-line Brown-eye, 4 Common Wainscots, Brown Rustic, 8 Treble Lines, Spectacle and Straw Dot.

There was also a Pond Olive Cloeon dipterum (mayfly), another Dasytes aeratus following my first ever the previous night and, new for the year, Cantharis decipiens.

Cantharis decipiens, North Elmham, 31st May

Next morning I went up to Brancaster mainly to look for birds, though of course I can't help looking at invertebrates at the same time.  Moths along Gypsy Lane included Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana, Cocksfoot Moth Glyphipterix simpliciella, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, Silver-ground Carpet and 15 Silver Ys. There were lots of moths on the golf-course too but the most unexpected was a lovely Tawny Wave, a Red Data Book species that is mainly found in the Brecks.  There are very few records indeed from the north Norfolk coast, except for Scolt Head where Neil records them regularly.  Looks like this was a good year for them there.  Not sure if this one hopped across the chanel from Scolt or if they're breeding here too.

Tawny Wave, Brancaster golf-course, 1st June

 Other moths here included 8 Plain Fanners Glyphipterix fuscoviridella, 26 Diamond-backs Plutella xylostella, Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatella, 3 Hook-streak Grass-veneers Crambus lathoniellus, Yellow Shell, Green Carpet, 15 Cinnabars and 35 Silver Ys. Caterpillars included about 25 Brown-tails and a similar number of Garden Tigers.

Brown-tail caterpillar, Brancaster golf-course, 1st June

Garden Tiger caterpillar, Brancaster golf-course, 1st June

Among the butterflies Green Hairstreak was the highlight, along with Small Copper, c. 25 Common Blues, Painted Lady and about 25 Small Heaths.

Green Hairstreak, Brancaster golf-course, 1st June

I noticed a couple of masses of small dark insects clinging to the trunk of an Elder tree by the huts.  Turns out they were Elder Aphids Aphis sambuci, the first time I've noticed any of these.

Elder Aphids Aphis sambuci, Brancaster golf-course, 1st June

There's a really impressive display of Yellow Rattle here too.  This is a species I associate with damp meadows but apparently dry duneland habitat like this is good for it too.

Yellow Rattle, Brancaster golf-course, 1st June

Lolly Moor reveals its secrets

On Tuesday Dave had visited the NWT reserve, Lolly Moor, and discovered what he thought looked like Cinereous Pearl Anania fuscalis.  Not one, but at least two and probably several more.  What's the deal?  Well, there was one Anania fuscalis recorded in the Attleborough square in 1996 but apart from that there have been no records in Norfolk since the 1800s.  Surely Dave had made a mistake...

I looked at his photos and thought they did indeed resemble Anania fuscalis so on Wednesday evening I headed down there with him to have a look.  It's a tiny wet meadow south of Dereham and surrounded by big hedgerows or woodland.  The first thing I noticed was Yellow Rattle growing there - the favoured foodplant of Anania fuscalis - a promising start!  The second thing I noticed was that the whole reserve was crawling with small pale moths which quickly proved to be Grass Rivulets (Dave had photographed these the day before too).  I've only ever seen Grass Rivulets at one site before, and I could count all of them over two visits on one hand.  Here I reckon we saw a bare minimum of 100 Grass Rivulets.  Among them we quickly picked out at least 3 Cinereous Pearls Anania fuscalis.  With a good view of their underwings there was no real doubt about the ID but I dissected one moribund individual just to make triply sure.  Dave had done good!

Cinereous Pearl Anania fuscalis, Lolly Moor, 10th June

Grass Rivulet, Lolly Moor, 10th June

We weren't there for long but in the time we were we recorded a good variety of other species too: Yellow-barred Long-horn Nemophora degeerella (I'd had 3 of these in my lunch break too, at Barrow Common), Cork Moth Nemapogon cloacella, Large Lance-wing Epermenia falciformis (a species I've only ever seen twice before), Buff Rush Case-bearer Coleophora caespititiella, Water-mint Conch Phalonidia manniana, Hook-marked Straw Moth Agapeta hamana, 3 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Red Piercer Lathronympha strigana, 3 Meadow Greys Scoparia pyralella, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis and 2 Straw Dots.

Large Lance-wing Epermenia falcifornis, Lolly Moor, 10th June

Water-mint Conch Phalonidia manniana (male, gen det), Lolly Moor, 10th June

Buff Rush Case-bearer Coleophora caespititiella (female, gen det), Lolly Moor, 10th June

Yellow-barred Long-horns Nemophora degeerella, Barrow Common, 10th June

Among the plantlife were several Common Spotted Orchids and also Common Twayblade, a new species for me.

Common Twayblade, Lolly Moor, 10th June

 probable Leptoterna dolabrata nymph, Lolly Moor, 10th June

The warm sunny evening gave way to a cool clear night so not such a good night at home.  Mottled Rustic was new for the year and the rest were 6 Silver-ground Carpets, Garden Carpet, 2 Common Marbled Carpets, Common Pug, Peppered Moth, Light Emerald, Poplar Hawkmoth, 2 Buff-tips, White Ermine, Cinnabar, 3 Heart and Darts, 2 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 2 Shears, 2 Brown Rustics, Marbled Minor agg., 4 Treble Lines and 2 Vine's Rustics. 

Buff-tip, North Elmham, 10th June

 Setaceous Hebrew Character (left) and Mottled Rustic (right), North Elmham, 10th June