Tansy Plume and more

After a good evening at the meadows I had an even better night at home on 5th July.  I caught 418 moths of 108 species and these included a very nice lifer, a Tansy Plume Gillmeria ochrodactyla.  Remarkably, given that there are 30 county records, all 30 were in east Norfolk (if only just over the border in one or two cases) so mine becomes the first record for west Norfolk, vice county VC28.  Even in the east it's pretty scarce - there were no records in 2017 for example.

Tansy Plume Gillmeria ochrodactyla, North Elmham, 5th July

This little Beech Pigmy Stigmella hemargyrella was new for the garden.

Beech Pigmy Stigmella hemargyrella (female, gen det), North Elmham, 5th July

Another potential new moth for the garden escaped before I could determine it but it looked suspiciously like Brown-dotted Clothes Moth Niditinea fuscella.  The much commoner Case-bearing Clothes Moth Tinea pellionella, as well as other rarer clothes moths, can look very similar and you really need to gen det them to be sure - this one got away before I'd even taken a photo let alone got it near a microscope.

Perhaps the rarest moth on a county-level was Spikenard Case-bearer Coleophora conyzae - my second here following one in 2016 but just the 10th record for the county.  This one wasn't in great nick with broken antennae and a mite bothering it.

Spikenard Case-bearer Coleophora conyzae (male, gen det), North Elmham, 5th July

Other new moths for the year were Ash-coloured Crest Acompsia cinerella, Pale Water-veneer Donacaula forficella, Slender Pug and Marbled Beauty.

Ash-coloured Crest Acompsia cinerella, North Elmham, 5th July

Marbled Beauty, North Elmham, 5th July

There were 2 Viburnum Buttons Acleris schalleriana.  Although records of this species appear to be increasing, catching two adults together in one night appears to be unprecedented in Norfolk (although some records are listed as 'present' without a count, so these could feasibly have involved multiples).  I caught my first in 2016, four in 2017 and will end up with considerably more than this in 2018 (8 confirmed so far but a few more candidates pending confirmation).   They can look very similar to Dark-triangle Button Acleris laterana and I have overlooked some of mine as that species until getting them under the microscope (and at least one has gone the other way, with schalleriana suspected but turned out to be laterana).

Viburnum Buttons Acleris schalleriana (males, gen det), North Elmham, 5th July

There were 97 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, the largest count of any single moth species so far this year, and the peak count for this species.

Other moths were Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, Cypress-tip Moth Argyresthia cupressella, 2 Bird-cherry Ermines Yponomeuta evonymella, 4 Hawthorn Ermines Paraswammerdamia nebulella, 2 Diamond-backs Plutella xylostella, 3 Little Dwarfs Elachista canapennella, 2 Brown House Moths Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 2 Long-horned Flat-bodies Carcina quercana, Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, Orange Crest Helcystogramma rufescens, London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella, 3 Plain Conches Phtheochroa inopiana, 7 Common Yellow Conches Agapeta hamana, Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis heparana, 3 Large Fruit-tree Tortrixes Archips podana, 13 Privet Tortrixes Clepsis consimilana, 2 Red-barred Tortrixes Ditula angustiorana, 3 Grey Tortrixes Cnephasia stephensiana, 3 Flax Tortrixes Cnephasia asseclana, 8 Barred Marbles Celypha striana, 12 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, 2 Marbled Orchard Tortrixes Hedya nubiferana, Triangle-marked Roller Ancylis achatana, 2 Common Cloaked Shoots Gypsonoma dealbana, 2 Bramble Shoots Notocelia uddmanniana, Hoary Bell Eucosma cana, 3 Many-plume Moths Alucita hexadactyla, 4 Inlaid Grass-veneers Crambus pascuella, 5 Satin Grass-veneers Crambus perlella, 6 Straw Grass-veneers Agriphila straminella, 3 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, 7 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, 2 Small Greys Eudonia mercurella, 3 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Elder Pearl Anania coronata, 11 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, Rosy Tabby Endotricha flammealis, 3 Bee Moths Aphomia sociella, Ermine Knot-horn Phycitodes binaevella, Brown Plume Stenoptilia pterodactyla, White Plume Pterophorus pentadactyla, Buff Arches, Common Emerald, Small Blood-vein, 12 Small Fan-footed Waves, 3 Dwarf Cream Waves, 8 Single-dotted Waves, 15 Riband Waves, 2 Garden Carpets, Common Carpet, 4 Barred Straws, Common Marbled Carpet, Barred Yellow, Scallop Shell, 2 Sandy Carpets, Wormwood Pug, 3 Common Pugs, 2 V-Pugs, Green Pug, 4 Double-striped Pugs, Small Yellow Wave, Clouded Border, Brimstone Moth, 2 Early Thorns, Swallow-tailed Moth, Willow Beauty, Mottled Beauty, Engrailed, Common White Wave, Clouded Silver, 3 Elephant Hawk-moths, Coxcomb Prominent, 2 Yellow-tails, Round-winged Muslin, 10 Rosy Footmen, 5 Dingy Footmen, 2 Scarce Footmen, Buff Footman, 30 Common Footmen, 2 Buff Ermines, 2 Heart and Clubs, 2 Flames, 4 Double Square-spots, Bright-line Brown-eye, Clay, Smoky Wainscot, Dark Arches, Common Rustic, 9 Uncertains, Rustic, 4 Mottled Rustics, Marbled White Spot, Spectacle, 2 Straw Dots, 2 Snouts, Pinion-streaked Snout, 9 Fan-foots and Small Fan-foot.

Scallop Shell, North Elmham, 5th July

Pinion-streaked Snout, North Elmham, 5th July

There was a good range of other insects in the trap too, including a new beetle for me, Ocys quinquestriatus.  Other beetles were Strawberry Seed Beetle Harpalus rufipes (new for the year here), 4 Common Red Soldier Beetles Rhagonycha fulva, Orange Ladybird and Lagria hirta.

Ocys quinquestriatus, North Elmham, 5th July

Strawberry Seed Beetle Harpalus rufipes, North Elmham, 5th July

The mayfly Blue-winged Olive Serratella ignita, the green lacewing Dichochrysa flavifrons and the leafhopper Iassus lanio were all new for the year; there was also the brown lacewing Hemerobius humulinus, the caddisflies Limnephilus lunatus and Leptocerus tineiformis and the mirid bug Phylus coryli.

the brown form of Iassus lanio, North Elmham, 5th July