A new lacewing: Sympherobius pygmaeus

The moth trap highlight on 2nd June wasn't a moth, but a lacewing.  I aim to identify all the lacewings I catch now and it's not very often I find a new species.  This was a brown lacewing, though smaller and darker than the commoner species I catch regularly so I knew it was going to be something interesting.  It turned out to be Sympherobius pygmaeus.  There are Norfolk records from 1991 and 1994 but none since, unless there have been others in the last year or two that I've not yet heard about.

 Sympherobius pygmaeus, North Elmham, 2nd June

There were a couple of decent moths too - Oblique Carpet, my second example here of this species that is very scarce in Norfolk away from the Broads, and Scallop Shell - again my second example here though it turned out to be the first of 5 here this year.

 Oblique Carpet, North Elmham, 2nd June

Scallop Shell, North Elmham, 2nd June

Other new moths for the year were Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella, Woundwort Case-bearer Coleophora lineolea, London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella, Privet Tortrix Clepsis consimilana, Mottled Marble Bactra furfurana, Lesser Pearl Sitochroa verticalis, Sharp-angled Carpet and Light Emerald.

Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 2nd June

Mottled Marble Bactra furfurana (female, gen det), North Elmham, 2nd June

Sharp-angled Carpet, North Elmham, 2nd June

Other moths that night were 2 Diamond-backs Plutella xylostella, 7 Buff Rush Case-bearers Coleophora caespititiella, Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, 2 Brown House Moths Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 3 Light Brown Apple-moths Epiphyas postvittana, Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana, 4 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, Rush Marble Bactra lancealana, 2 Yellow-faced Bells Notocelia cynosbatella, 12 Hook-streak Grass-veneers Crambus lathoniellus, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, Narrow-winged Grey Eudonia angustea, Garden Pebble Evergestis forficalis, 6 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Elder Pearl Anania coronata, 4 Common Swifts, Pebble Hook-tip, Treble Brown Spot, Red Twin-spot Carpet, 5 Silver-ground Carpets, Garden Carpet, Green Carpet, Mottled Pug, 4 Common Pugs, Clouded Border, Scorched Wing, Common White Wave, 2 Clouded Silvers, Poplar Hawk-moth, 2 Elephant Hawk-moths, Marbled Brown, Pale Tussock, 2 White Ermines, Cinnabar, 2 Heart and Darts, 2 Ingrailed Clays, 2 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 2 Common Wainscots, Brown Rustic, 6 Treble Lines, Mottled Rustic, 2 Spectacles and 4 Straw Dots.

Caddisflies consisted of Plectrocnemia conspersa, Hydropsyche pellucidula, Limnephilus auricula, Limnephilus sparsus, Micropterna lateralis and Grouse Wing Mystacides longicornis, the first and last of which were both new for the year here.

Plectrocnemia conspersa, North Elmham, 2nd June

The next day my next-door neighbours popped round to ask me about some caterpillars they'd found in their garden.  I went round to have a look and found a communal web full of Small Eggar caterpillars (at least 30 visible).  With them breeding a stone's throw from my garden it's amazing I've never caught one, but this does seem to be a species that doesn't come to light readily.

Small Eggar caterpillars, North Elmham, 3rd June