Water Shrew gobbling up the moths

On the evening of Monday 14th August Dave and I headed off to Potter Heigham for some mothing.  Conditions weren't idea with a little more breeze than we would have liked but we thought it was worth a shot. There were certainly a lot of flies attracted to the light - if not quite so many moths.

My second ever Reed Smudge Orthotelia sparganella was one of the highlights but there were a number of interesting moths like Hemp-agrimony Plume Adaina microdactyla, Chevron and 2 Dotted Footmen. Unsurprisingly in the habitat there was a nice variety of Wainscots and the like including 4 Southern Wainscots, Smoky Wainscot, 5 Reed Daggers, 2 Small Wainscots, 3 Bulrush Wainscots, 2 Twin-spotted Wainscots, 4 Webb's Wainscots, 2 Small Rufous and Silky Wainscot.

Hemp-agrimony Plume Adaina microdactyla (male, gen det), Potter Heigham, 14th August

Chevron, Potter Heigham, 14th August

Dotted Footman, Potter Heigham, 14th August

Silky Wainscot, Potter Heigham, 14th August

Other moths were Carrion Moth Monopis weaverella, Triple-spot Dwarf Elachista maculicerusella, Brindled Flat-body Agonopterix arenella, Bulrush Cosmet Limnaecia phragmitella, 2 Hook-marked Straw Moths Agapeta hamana, 3 Cyclamen Tortrixes Clepsis spectrana, Flax Tortrix Cnephasia asseclana, Blotched Marble Endothenia quadrimaculana, 5 Wainscot Veneers Chilo phragmitella, Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella, Pearl Veneer Agriphila straminella, 2 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, 2 Giant Water-veneers Schoenobius gigantella, 4 Marsh Greys Eudonia pallida, 3 Brown China-marks Elophila nymphaeata, 2 Ringed China-marks Parapoynx stratiotata, Small China-mark Cataclysta lemnata, 2 Drinkers, Blood-vein, 2 Common Carpets, Lime-speck Pug, Double-striped Pug, Brimstone Moth, Willow Beauty, Poplar Hawk-moth, Sallow Kitten, Pale Prominent, Yellow-tail, Black Arches, 3 Garden Tigers, Ruby Tiger, Shuttle-shaped Dart, 4 Flame Shoulders, 2 Large Yellow Underwings, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Least Yellow Underwing, 2 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, Square-spotted Clay, Six-striped Rustic, Nutmeg, Cabbage Moth, 2 Dog's Tooths, Antler Moth, 2 Dark Arches, 3 Common Rustics, Lesser Common Rustic, 2 Burnished Brasses, 6 Gold Spots and 3 Straw Dots.

Giant Water-veneer Schoenobius gigantella, Potter Heigham, 14th August

One visitor to the sheet beneath one of the MV lights was a very welcome surprise, even if it was gobbling up moths ten to the dozen.  It was this Water Shrew.  Technically a lifer for me though I've seen 2-3 run across the path in front of me that I've been 99% sure about plus one or two dead animals.  Great to see one up close like this.  It sniffed a few flies but largely ignored them in favour of the larger juicier moths.

Water Shrew, Potter Heigham, 14th August

Another lifer was the only caddisfly I retained for checking - Holocentropus picicornis.  The typical form has yellow mottling like many other caddisflies in the Polycentropidae family so I assume this is the form aurata which has unmarked yellowish-brown wings.

Holocentropus picicornis (male), Potter Heigham, 14th August

A reasonable selection of moths at home that night including a Little Cosmet Mompha raschkiella which I'd only added to my garden list in July. A Rush Marble Bactra lancealana was an interesting form - I think moths looking like this are often put down as robustana but the genitalia seem to confirm this one as lancealana.   Bactra furfurana also has a form quite similar to this - I think this genus is harder to identify than some people give it credit for - and gen detting them isn't always easy either.

Rush Marble Bactra lancealana (female, gen det), North Elmham, 14th August

Other moths were Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, Bird-cherry Ermine Yponomeuta evonymella, Woundwort Case-bearer Coleophora lineolea, Golden-brown Tubic Crassa unitella, Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Long-horned Flat-body Carcina quercana, Dark Groundling Bryotropha affinis, House Groundling Bryotropha domestica, Dingy Dowd Blastobasis adustella, 6 Light Brown Apple Moths Epiphyas postvittana, Maple Button Acleris forsskaleana, Dark-triangle Button Acleris laterana, 2 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, 3 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Pale-streak Grass-veneer Agriphila selasella, 3 Pearl Veneers Agriphila straminella, 12 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, 3 Chequered Grass-veneers Catoptria falsella, 2 Small Greys Eudonia mercurella, Garden Pebble Evergestis forficalis, Small Purple and Gold (Mint Moth) Pyrausta aurata, Pale Straw Pearl Udea lutealis, 9 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, 2 Grey Knot-horns Acrobasis advenella, Beautiful Plume Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, Orange Swift, 2 Single-dotted Waves, 2 Riband Waves, Garden Carpet, 3 Common Carpets, 5 Brimstone Moths, Canary-shouldered Thorn, 3 Willow Beauties, Pale Prominent, Dingy Footman, 4 Flame Shoulders, 2 Large Yellow Underwings, Lesser Yellow Underwing, 6 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, 2 Small Square-spots, Setaceous Hebrew Character, 2 Square-spotted Clays, Burnished Brass, 2 Spectacles, 7 Straw Dots and Pinion-streaked Snout.

Small Purple and Gold (aka Mint Moth) Pyrausta aurata, North Elmham, 14th August

Lacewings and caddisflies consisted of Chrysoperla carnea agg., Cunctochrysa albolineata, Ithytrichia lamellaris, Hydropsyche siltalai and Limnephilus lunatus. There was a Forest Bug and the beetle list was Ilybius ater, 4 Bradycellus verbasci, Nicrophorus investigator and Aphodius rufipes.

Lolly Longhorn

Meadow Long-horn is one of those moths that has been on my radar for a while but which I'd not managed to find.  Photos on Twitter by Mark Clements of one on Cuckoo Flowers near Sheringham made me think.  Lolly Moor has Cuckoo Flower - I bet they're there.  So on Sunday afternoon a brief spell of brightness was enough to get me down to Lolly Moor with Dave.  First observation, apart from the mass of Grass Rivulets (50+) was that there wasn't so much Cuckoo Flower there as I'd thought.  There was a bit, and I checked it but to no avail.

A few other moths were flying.  It wasn't long before we'd seen the first of at least 14 Cinereous Pearls Anania fuscalis.  One in the Attleborough square in 1996 was the first post-Victorian record in Norfolk and there were no more until Dave found some here at Lolly Moor last year.  Great to see they're still thriving this year and shows the importance of what is quite a poorly-known and very small NWT reserve.

Cinereous Pearl Anania fuscalis, Lolly Moor, 22nd May

A couple of weeks ago we'd found Knapweed Conches Epiblema cirsiana here and today at least 6 were seen again.  I took one home to check it and that proved quite interesting.  The best feature for males is the colour of the hindwing - very dark in cirsiana and paler in scutulana (it's dark on both species for females).  This wasn't very dark so by rights should have been scutulana, but I don't think it was.  It was a small moth - way smaller than the bottom end of the quoted size range of scutulana, and it lacked the extensive white at the rear dorsal corner of the wings that is apparent in most (not all) photos of scutulana and apparently not in cirsiana.  The male genitalia are extremely similar (I can't see any difference in photos) so that doesn't help but in view of the size, overall appearance and the fact that there are definitely cirsiana there makes me think it was cirsiana, and the reason for its not-too-dark hindwing being wear - it was quite a worn individual.

presumed Knapweed Bell Epiblema cirsiana, Lolly Moor, 22nd May

Many of the Buttercups scattered around the fen supported a few Plain Golds Micropterix calthella - I rough-counted 180 of them altogether.  Interestingly the dense stand of buttercups near the entrance didn't have a single moth on them.  Different species of Buttercup perhaps - I didn't check.  Quite a few (at least 8) Common Marbles Celypha lacunana were seen - my first this year.

Common Marble Celypha lacunana, Lolly Moor, 22nd May

Other moths included Swan-feather Dwarf Elachista argentella, Green Carpet and Scorched Carpet, and then we found a tiny Hemp-agrimony Plume Adaina microdactyla.

Hemp-agrimony Plume Adaina microdactyla (male, gen det), Lolly Moor, 22nd May

We were nearly done when I checked one last Cuckoo Flower and there on it was the moth I went there looking for, my first ever Meadow Long-horn Cauchas rufimitrella.

Meadow Long-horn Cauchas rufimitrella, Lolly Moor, 22nd May

Around the same time I netted a small moth that turned out to be another new moth for me, Triple-striped Piercer Grapholita compositella.

Triple-striped Piercer Grapholita compositella, Lolly Moor, 22nd May

This Drinker caterpillar was by the path on the way out.

Drinker, Lolly Moor, 22nd May

Not bad for an hour or so's work at a small reserve 10 minutes from home.

A troublesome little plume

Among the catch on 10th August was a small pale plume moth.  It keyed out fairly straightforwardly as far as either Citron Plume Euleioptilus carphodactyla or Hemp-agrimony Plume Adaina microdactyla and given its pale lemon-yellow colouration I anticipated it would prove to be carphodactyla. Adaina microdactyla colour is variable - "usually pale ochreous, sometimes pale brown, rarely yellow or light grey" compared to "pale lemon-yellow" for Euleioptilus carphodactyla (from Colin Hart's British Plume Moths).  Pale lemon-yellow described this well (especially when looking under the microscope), but as microdactyla can rarely be yellow it warranted further work on the keys.  The underside of the forewing was dark brown at the base, becoming paler towards the cleft - that matched carphodactyla and was wrong for microdactyla which should be more uniformly dark.  However there was no sign of the contrast between the costal fringe of the first lobe and the inner fringe, which should be present on carphodactyla (but not microdactyla) - but then again the fringe was pretty much worn away at the tip, so that could be why.

I dissected it fully expecting to confirm it as Citron Plume Euleioptilus carphodactyla but had some trouble.  Apparently I hadn't left it in the acid long enough as it as difficult to see all I needed to and I damaged it in the process.  Nevertheless the large coiled ductus seminalis was plain to see and there was no sign of any forked tips to the apophyses anteriores, which won't mean a thing to you if you don't do dissections, but clearly identifies it as Hemp-agrimony Plume Adaina microdactyla rather than Euleioptilus carphodactyla if you do!  I suppose in hindsight it was pretty small for carphodactyla, but an interesting learning experience.

Hemp-agrimony Plume Adaina microdactyla (female, gen det), North Elmham, 10th August

Next best was a White-speckled Clothes Moth Nemapogon wolffiella.  In 2011-13 I recorded the second, third, fourth and fifth county records of this nationally scarce species, though only one of five records between then and now.  This is a new location, so nice to connect with another one here.

White-speckled Clothes Moth Nemapogon wolffiella, North Elmham, 10th August

A Grey-streaked Smudge Plutella porrectella was only my second ever, but unfortunately made its escape before I could get a photo.  New macros for the year were Oak Hook-tip and White-spotted Pug.

Oak Hook-tip, North Elmham, 10th August

White-spotted Pug, North Elmham, 10th August

Other macros were 2 Pebble Hook-tips, Maiden's Blush, Small Fan-footed Wave, 6 Single-dotted Waves, 7 Riband Waves, 2 Shaded Broad-bars, Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, Common Carpet, Lime-speck Pug, Wormwood Pug, 2 Early Thorns, Purple Thorn, Scalloped Oak, 4 Willow Beauties, Elephant Hawkmoth, Pebble Prominent, Lesser Swallow Prominent, 2 Coxcomb Prominents, 3 Yellow-tails, Black Arches, 4 Dingy Footmen, 6 Scarce Footmen, 3 Common Footmen, 2 Ruby Tigers, 2 Shuttle-shaped Darts, 2 Flame Shoulders, 4 Large Yellow Underwings, 8 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, 2 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 2 Six-striped Rustics, Smoky Wainscot, 2 Straw Underwings, 2 Dun-bars, 3 Dark Arches, 3 Common Rustics, 2 Flounced Rustics, Ear Moth, 2 Uncertains, 2 Nut-tree Tussocks and Straw Dot.

The rest of the micros were Carrion Moth Monopis weaverella, Bird’s-nest Moth Tinea trinotella, 2 Horse Chestnut Leaf-miners Cameraria ohridella, 3 Bird-cherry Ermines Yponomeuta evonymella, Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, 3 Woundwort Case-bearers Coleophora lineolea, Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana, Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Common Groundling Teleiodes vulgella, 2 Dark Groundlings Bryotropha affinis, Gorse Crest Brachmia blandella, Orange Crest Helcystogramma rufescens, Timothy Tortrix Aphelia paleana, Red-barred Tortrix Ditula angustiorana, 2 Maple Buttons Acleris forsskaleana, 2 Garden Rose Tortrices Acleris variegana, Barred Marble Celypha striana, Holly Tortrix Rhopobota naevana, Marbled Piercer Cydia splendana, 2 Codling Moths Cydia pomonella, Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella, 22 Pearl Veneers Agriphila straminella, 27 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, 2 Pearl Grass-veneers Catoptria pinella, Chequered Grass-veneer Catoptria falsella, Little Grey Eudonia lacustrata, 2 Small Greys Eudonia mercurella, Ringed China-mark Parapoynx stratiotata, 2 Garden Pebbles Evergestis forficalis, 3 Chequered Straws Evergestis pallidata, 5 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, 2 Rosy Tabbies Endotricha flammealis and Ash-bark Knot-horn Euzophera pinguis.

Common Groundling Teleiodes vulgella, North Elmham, 10th August

Other goodies in the moth trap included this fine Campyloneura virgula, a new species of bug for me.

Campyloneura virgula, North Elmham, 10th August

I'm pretty sure I've seen this species of Mayfly before though I can't find any I've identified as such, so perhaps not.  I think it's Ephemera vulgata*.  *Edit 2017: no it wasn't - it was Green Drake Ephemera danica.

Ephemera danica, North Elmham, 10th August