Fritillaries, Six-belts and a Norfolk Owlet

On Monday 26th June, after finding Peacock, Comma and Meadow Brown in the garden (Comma was new for the year here) early on, I headed up to Burnham Overy.  I was hoping to see, among other things, Dark Green Fritillaries.  I wasn't disappointed - I must have seen at least 20 Dark Green Fritillaries, quite possibly a lot more.  And I didn't have to wait until I reached the dunes - these were feeding along the seawall.

Dark Green Fritillaries, Burnham Overy, 26th June

A good selection of other butterflies included 2 Small Whites, 5 Brown Arguses, Common Blue, 9 Small Tortoiseshells, at least 140 Meadow Browns, 5 Ringlets, 5 Small Heaths, 4 Essex Skippers and 4 Small Skippers.

I had another go at attracting Six-belted Clearwings to lure and this time I was successful - I saw my first two.  I also saw a Five-spot/Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet agg. in the same area.

Six-belted Clearwing, Burnham Overy, 26th June

There were about 15 Welsh Chafers in the same area - the same place I saw them a while back.  I'd started to doubt my ID given that they're not shown as occurring here on the NBN Atlas so I retained one for re-checking.  I keyed it out very carefully and apart from being a little on the small side it keyed out perfectly for Welsh Chafer Hoplia philanthus.

Welsh Chafer Hoplia philanthus, Burnham Overy, 26th June

I was pleased to bump into this Forester, a species I've rarely seen before.

Forester, Burnham Overy, 26th June

I often see Spindle Ermines Yponomeuta cagnagella around the spindle trees in the dunes, either the adults or the larvae in their coccoons.  Sometimes the caterpillars strip the trees completely.  It was interesting to see huge numbers of adults today that had clearly just emerged - and also to see even more huge numbers of pupae at the bases of the trees.  I must have seen at least 500 adults and I should think that there must have been thousands of pupae, many still clealy occupied.

Spindle Ermine Yponomeuta cagnagella pupae, Burnham Overy, 26th June

At the east end of the dunes I met a chap looking at bugs who was on holiday with his family.  Turns out that he's a county recorder for bugs and he had a couple of interesting ones with him which he showed me.  I can't remember the names of either, but one he said was easily identified by its disctinctive diamond-shaped markings and even in my really awful photo I think these are clear enough to identify it as Graptopeltus lynceus.

Graptopeltus lynceus, Burnham Overy, 26th June

He had been looking for one of two rare species that live under Storksbill (if I remember rightly) and I thought he had said he had found one, and that that was the other bug he showed me.  According to my recollection he wasn't yet sure which of the two it was.  Having looked it up I'm guessing he was referring to the Arenocoris spp. but although the bug he showed me looks a bit like one of those, I'm not sure it is.  Maybe he never said it was and I just remembered wrong, or maybe I got confused and photographed the wrong insect, or maybe I'm now wrong and it really is one of the Arenocoris spp. as I thought he'd said, but I can't help thinking that it is in fact Coranus woodroffei.  Please let me know if you know better though.

Coranus woodroffei I think?, Burnham Overy, 26th June

Anyway, he was a lovely guy and I enjoyed meeting him and chatting about bugs and things.  I went on to find a couple more bugs - Rhopalus parumpunctatus, a new one for me, and Common Green Caspid Lygocoris pabulinus.

Rhopalus parumpunctatus, Burnham Overy, 26th June

Common Green Caspid Lygocoris pabulinus, Burnham Overy, 26th June

I also found a lovely Sulphur Beetle Cteniopus sulphureus, another new species for me.

Sulphur Beetle Cteniopus sulphureus, Burnham Overy, 26th June

My main moth target for today was a Rosebay Willowherb specialist that is only found here.  It was found to be common here in 1980 when it was added to the British list, though a couple of earlier records from the west of the county came to light subsequently.  I believe it has been recorded in Suffolk and in Lincolnshire too, but so far as I know Holkham NNR (which includes Burnham Overy Dunes) is the only place it is regularly recorded in the UK - and even here there was only one record between 1980 and 2014.  Anyway, I found my first - a Norfolk Owlet Scythris inspersella.

Norfolk Owlet Scythris inspersella, Burnham Overy, 26th June

Other moths included Downland Conch Aethes tesserana, 2 Barred Grass-veneers Agriphila inquinatella, 2 Pearl Grass-veneers Catoptria pinella, Common Carpet, Lime-speck Pug, Common Footman and 2 Cinnabars.

I keyed the following bee out to Black-headed Leafcutter Bee Megachile circumcincta - hope I got that right!

[2026 update: I surely didn't get that right... I think it must have been Silvery Leafcutter Bee Megachile leachella.]

Silvery (not Black-headed) Leafcutter Bee Megachile leachella, Burnham Overy, 26th June

Other insects of note included Dune Villa Villa modesta, Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis and my first identified Red-legged Spider Wasp Episyron rufipes (pretty sure I've seen them before without knowing what they were).

Dune Villa Villa modesta, Burnham Overy, 26th June

Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Burnham Overy, 26th June

Red-legged Spider Wasp Episyron rufipes, Burnham Overy, 26th June

Bilberry Tortrix, Meal Moth and Double Dart

A visit to Burnham Overy on 14th June was as much for birding as it was for moths and other insects but it was the insects that provided the most interest in the end.  A selection of butterflies included 3 Painted Ladies.  I didn't see as many moths as I sometimes do but one good quality moth made up for that.  Common Swift and Cinnabar were the only moths seen until I went over to the Sea Wormwood to look for Scarce Pugs.  No luck with them but I did see a little moth flying around in the Sea Wormwood and duly netted it.  I didn't recognise it - it recalled a Timothy Tortrix Aphelia paleana but was the wrong colour, in particular lacking any yellow at the head end.  A quick look online revealed that there is a congener that was a dead-ringer for my moth, and later on I confirmed it back at home - it was a Bilberry Tortrix Aphelia viburnana.  Despite the common name it doesn't just feed on bilberry (good job as I don't think there is much in Norfolk).  Probably it feeds on Sea Wormwood as I subsequently discovered that the only record of this species in Norfolk since 2003 was one swept from Sea Wormwood at Burnham Overy about a year before mine (probably the same clump as I don't think there is much more growing here).

Bilberry Tortrix Aphelia viburnana (male, gen det), Burnham Overy, 14th June

I retained one of a couple of beetles to check.  I thought it was something familiar but it turned out to be Welsh Chafer Hoplia philanthus which I don't have down as having seen it before.  NBN Atlas doesn't show any records anywhere near here, so perhaps a good record?  Not sure, but I saw lots more here on a more recent visit.

Welsh Chafer Hoplia philanthus, Burnham Overy, 14th June

I attempted to attract Six-belted and Thrift Clearwings to lure but with no success - hardly surprising in the case of Thrift Clearwing which is mainly a west coast species and hasn't been recorded anywhere near Norfolk (but you never know unless you try) but it ought to be good for Six-belted here.  Maybe a little early?  Anyway all was not lost as while I was trying for them a Red-veined Darter flew past.  For a flight view it was a good view - in steady flight I managed to keep focussed on it with my bins and even saw the blue on the bottom of the eyes (as well as red in the wings).  Flying directly west past the west end of the dunes I can only assume it was on active migration.

As I approached the dunes on my arrival I saw a tweet from John W who was apparently already there mentioning 'plague proportions' of Sawflies.  I'd seen a few Turnip Sawflies but nothing remarkable, and while I was in the dunes that didn't really change.  Yes, quite a few more than usual, now but still nothing like the extremes implied by John's message.  But then I saw another tweet from Steve G at Cley referring to "MILLIONS of Turnip Sawflies swarming west".  I started to wonder if I was going blind - why wasn't I seeing such vast numbers?  As I returned up the seawall on my way back I started to see them in much bigger numbers.  There was a cloud of them moving alongside me as I approached the sluice and I thought I was disturbing them from the vegetation and pushing them along as I moved.  But quickly it became clear that I was not seeing the same insects all the time, because when I stopped they carried on!  There was a constant procession of Turnip Sawflies moving south along the seawall, mainly along the sheltered western side of it.  It was hard to estimate how many were involved but as a really conservative estimate there were over 100 Turnip Sawflies moving south past me every minute - and I suspect it was really more like 500!  In the end I put down 10,000 as a bare minumum for just the ones I clapped eyes on, but I'd imagine a more carefuly census would have produced a six-figure estimate if not more.  I don't know if they're migrants - but a southerly movement might suggest they were coming in off the sea rather than dispersing from inland after a big emergence.  On the other hand if they were dispersing from inland, accumulating on the coast and then moving along the coast (west at Cley per Steve's report) they might, I suppose, turn inland at the seawall to avoid going out into the saltmarsh. So perhaps they were the product of a large emergence inland after all?

That night at home moth-trapping was excellent!  73 species wasn't an excessively big total but it included some real quality.  The star was my first ever Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis, a very attractive pyralid moth.

Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis, North Elmham, 14th June

A Double Dart wasn't so pretty but this macro can be quite hard to find - it was a first for the garden.  Also new for the garden, and a species I only recently saw for the first time anywhere, was Brindled Argent Argyresthia curvella.

Double Dart, North Elmham, 14th June

Brindled Argent Argyresthia curvella, North Elmham, 14th June

Several more were new for the year here: Bordered Carl Coptotriche marginea, Buff Cosmet Mompha ochraceella, Hawthorn Cosmet Blastodacna hellerella, Elder Pearl Anania coronata, White Plume Pterophorus pentadactyla, Common Emerald, Freyer's Pug and Clouded Silver.

Bordered Carl Coptotriche marginea, North Elmham, 14th June

Buff Cosmet Mompha ochraceella, North Elmham, 14th June

Hawthorn Cosmet Blastodacna hellerella, North Elmham, 14th June

Elder Pearl Anania coronata, North Elmham, 14th June

White Plume Pterophorus pentadactyla, North Elmham, 14th June

Common Emerald, North Elmham, 14th June

Freyer's Pug, North Elmham, 14th June

Other moths recorded that night were Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, Hedge Case-bearer Coleophora striatipennella, 2 Buff Rush Case-bearers Coleophora caespititiella, Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Sloe Flat-body Luquetia lobella, London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella, 2 Hook-marked Straw Moths Agapeta hamana, 2 Black-headed Conches Cochylis atricapitana, 2 Large Fruit-tree Tortrixes Archips podana, Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana, Large Ivy Tortrix Lozotaenia forsterana, Barred Marble Celypha striana, 11 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana, 4 Triple-blotched Bells Notocelia trimaculana, 5 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, 2 Hook-streaked Grass-Veneers Crambus lathoniellus, Meadow Grey Scoparia pyralella, 6 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, 2 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, 8 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Fenland Pearl Anania perlucidalis, 2 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla, Ghost Moth, 4 Single-dotted Waves, Treble Brown Spot, Silver-ground Carpet, 3 Barred Straws, Common Marbled Carpet, Currant Pug, 5 Common Pugs, Green Pug, Clouded Border, Brown Silver-line, Scorched Wing, Brimstone Moth, 5 Willow Beauties, Mottled Beauty, Pale Oak Beauty, Common White Wave, Pale Prominent, Common Footman, White Ermine, 11 Buff Ermines, 2 Cinnabars, 5 Heart and Darts, Flame, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, 3 Ingrailed Clays, Common Wainscot, 4 Shoulder-striped Wainscots, 4 Brown Rustics, Dark Arches, Small Clouded Brindle, 3 Middle-barred Minors, 2 Treble Lines, Uncertain, 6 Mottled Rustics, 7 Straw Dots and Small Fan-foot.

Caddisflies consisted of Tinodes waeneri, new for the year, and Hydropsyche siltalai.

Hydropsyche siltalai (male), North Elmham, 14th June