Description


A diary of my mothing activity covering highlights and photos from my moth trapping activities. Mainly Norfolk (UK), occasionally beyond. I may mention other wildlife sightings here, especially insects, but for birds see my birding diary.

Wednesday 17 February 2021

Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Slenders and Midgets (Gracillariidae) (part 3: Parornix)

SLENDERS and MIDGETS (GRACILLARIIDAE) (continued)

With the genus Parornix you can sometimes make a pretty good educated guess as to which species is involved but unfortunately they require dissection to prove the ID.  This can be quite rewarding as you can find a good range of species occurring in the same locality.

This isn't going to be a colourful page though...



Brown Birch Slender Parornix betulae - Just one at home in 2019, on 25th July.  Having averaged 4.5 a year that was quite a poor showing but I made up for it in 2020 with a record 9 between 18th July and 7th September.  Elsewhere recorded in 2019 at Sculthorpe Moor (26th April) and Swanton Great Wood (27th August).

male Brown Birch Slender Parornix betulae, Sculthorpe Moor, 26th April 2019


male Brown Birch Slender Parornix betulae, North Elmham, 25th July 2019


female Brown Birch Slender Parornix betulae, North Elmham, 18th July 2020


female Brown Birch Slender Parornix betulae, North Elmham, 23rd July 2020


male Brown Birch Slender Parornix betulae, North Elmham, 19th August 2020


female Brown Birch Slender Parornix betulae, North Elmham, 20th August 2020



Beech Slender Parornix fagivora - One found inside the house on 23rd July 2019.  This was a completely new species for me which makes it all the more remarkable that I caught 4 in 2020, on 17th May, 27th July and 5th and 6th August.  My 7th Parornix species here - just the Hornbeam species left now I think (carpinella), but that one's going to be tricky with just one Norfolk record so far.

female Beech Slender Parornix fagivora, North Elmham, 23rd July 2019


female Beech Slender Parornix fagivora, North Elmham, 5th August 2020


male Beech Slender Parornix fagivora, North Elmham, 6th August 2020



Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella - 10 here between 22nd April and 31st August 2019, making it my joint best year for them here (level with 2018), but the record was broken in 2020 with 19 between 11th April and 19th August.  Also 5 at the meadows (1 in 2019, 4 in 2020) and singles at Sculthorpe Moor and Weybourne in 2019.

male Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May 2019


male Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th June 2020


male Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, North Elmham, 9th August 2020


male Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, North Elmham, 17th August 2020



Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella - 4 caught at home between 24th April and 16th July 2019, half the number recorded in 2018.  An unprecedented total of 23 caught here between 18th May and 15th August 2020.  None anywhere else.

male Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, North Elmham, 24th April 2019


female Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, North Elmham, 20th May 2020


female Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, North Elmham, 1st July 2020


female Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, North Elmham, 26th July 2020


female Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, North Elmham, 1st August 2020


female Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, North Elmham, 10th August 2020



Rowan Slender Parornix scoticella - Singles caught in my garden moth trap on 30th July and 7th August 2020.  Previously I'd only caught this species here twice, in 2014 and 2018.

male Rowan Slender Parornix scoticella, North Elmham, 30th July 2020


male Rowan Slender Parornix scoticella, North Elmham, 7th August 2020



Pointed Slender Parornix finitimella - None.  I've caught 5 of these here in the previous 3 years (3 in 2018).


Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella - One at the meadows on 25th May 2019 then 4 in the garden moth trap up to 27th August.  I had caught 14 here in 2018 but apart from that 2019's showing was fairly typical.  But 2020 saw a new record with 18 between 22nd May and 19th August.

A leaf-fold on Blackthorn at the meadows on 14th October could in theory have been this species or finitimella so I examined the larva to see if its legs had black rings or if they were concolorous with the body.  Well they certainly didn't have black rings (which finitimella should have) though I would argue that they weren't quite concolourous with the body having vaguely greyish rings.  I decided to rear it through but what emerged on 2nd November was a parasitic wasp (which, with the help of Gavin Broad, was a Diadegma sp., probably Diadegma crataegi).

male Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella, North Elmham, 9th August 2019





larva of Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella, North Elmham, 14th October 2019


male Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella, North Elmham, 22nd May 2020


female Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella, North Elmham, 8th August 2020


male Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella, North Elmham, 9th August 2020


female Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella, North Elmham, 10th August 2020


Next page: more Gracillariidae (Phyllonorycters)



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