Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Flat-bodies (Depressariidae) (part 1: Semioscopis, Luquetia and Agonopterix)

FLAT-BODIES (DEPRESSARIIDAE)


Dawn Flat-body Semioscopis steinkellneriana - 2 at the meadows and one in the garden trap, all on 22nd April 2019.  None in 2020.  I've only recorded this species at home once before, on 21st April 2018.

Dawn Flat-body Semioscopis steinkellneriana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd April 2019

Dawn Flat-body Semioscopis steinkellneriana, North Elmham, 22nd April 2019

Sloe Flat-body Luquetia lobella - 3 in the garden between 1st and 18th June 2019 but only one in 2020, on 15th June.  I do quite well for this species here with between 2 and 6 each year I've lived here up until the singleton in 2020.  2019 was the first time I recorded one anywhere else, though only just up the road at the meadows (on 23rd June).

Sloe Flat-body Luquetia lobella, North Elmham, 1st June 2019

Sloe Flat-body Luquetia lobella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 23rd June 2019

Red-letter Flat-body Agonopterix ocellama - None.  I've recorded this species here twice (2016 and 2018).


Small Purple Flat-body Agonopterix purpurea - One in my garden trap on 11th April 2020 was my third following records here in 2016 and 2018.  Then a day-flying one netted at the meadows on 2nd May and another netted (after dark) at Frost's Common on 21st May.

Small Purple Flat-body Agonopterix purpurea, North Elmham, 11th April 2020

Small Purple Flat-body Agonopterix purpurea, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 2nd May 2020

Sallow Flat-body Agonopterix conterminella - None.  I've never seen this species and probably wouldn't have included it here as a species likely to occur here in future except that there were 2 records in central Norfolk in 2020 (Dave N in Dereham and Keith in Litcham).


Broom Flat-body Agonopterix scopariella - None.  I'm quite keen to see this species having had it on my list for a short while before realising I'd made a slightly embarrassing error.  There was quite a bit of Broom by the railway at the bottom of the meadows so I was quite hopeful, but chances have been reduced since the Mid-Norfolk Railway have decimated the Broom.


Ruddy Flat-body Agonopterix subpropinquella - Singles in the garden trap on 17th April and 28th August 2019.  None in 2020, my first blank full year since moving here (1-3 records each other year).

male Ruddy Flat-body Agonopterix subpropinquella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 17th April

Black-spot Flat-body Agonopterix propinquella - None.  I'm yet to see this here in North Elmham (my only record was from Bawdeswell in 2012).


Brindled Flat-body Agonopterix arenella - 10 in the garden trap between 9th April and 16th June 2019 and another 3 between 22nd August and 12th September.  Slightly more in 2020 with a less obvious distinction between flight periods - 15 between 22nd April and 6th September.  Both fairly average showings.  Also 3 at the Cathedral Meadows on 22nd April and 15th September (2) 2019 and one at Whitwell Street in September 2020.

Brindled Flat-body Agonopterix arenella, North Elmham, 9th April 2019

Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana - 26 here between 25th January and 26th March 2019 then one on 25th May and 7 between 7th July and 14th August.  A total of 34 made it my worst year here, though 2 previous years scored 35 so not far behind, but 2020 was worse with only 15 - 11 between 16th February and 22nd April and 4 between 13th July and 8th August.  I suspect this is the bottom of cyclical fluctuation rather than a long-term decline, but if I had to pick a moth to go extinct then this would be pretty high up on my list of candidates...  Elsewhere a total of 43 at the meadows (mainly by torchlight and mostly in 2019) and 1 at Swanton Great Wood.

female Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana  North Elmham, 21st March 2019

female Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana  North Elmham, 26th March 2019

male Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana  North Elmham, 3rd August 2019

Large Carrot Flat-body Agonopterix ciliella - None.  I suspect this species has been massively over-recorded in the past and have checked every heracliana carefully for several years, dissecting the majority.  Having never found ciliella, even among the larger darker examples with pinkish underparts I have to conclude that this species isn't very common!  Now that it is deemed Grade 4 (dissection required to confirm the record) hopefully we will get a clearer picture of exactly how common or scarce it is.  I may have just been unlucky of course...


Dusted Flat-body Agonopterix assimillella - None.  I have only recorded this species once here (or anywhere), in 2017.


Straw Flat-body Agonopterix kaekeritziana - None.  I have recorded this species once here, in 2016.


Gorse Flat-body Agonopterix umbellana - None.  This is maybe the next most likely Agonopterix to be added to my local area list if not my garden list.


Dark-fringed Flat-body Agonopterix nervosa - 2 at the meadows on 22nd August 2019.  Neither were particularly obvious, being quite worn and lacking the dark fringe, so I resorted to gen detting to confirm them.  Also one at Row Heath (West Runton) on 31st August 2019.  None in 2020.  I'd only seen one of these before, in my garden in 2017.

male Dark-fringed Flat-body Agonopterix nervosa, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd August 2019

female Dark-fringed Flat-body Agonopterix nervosa, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd August 2019

Brown-spot Flat-body Agonopterix alstromeriana - One here on 9th April 2019 and then 5 between 27th July and 18th September 2020.  These doubled the number I've seen here since moving in in 2014 (2 in each of 2015 and 2016, singles only in 2017 and 2018).  One of the most attractive Agonopterix in my opinion, not that it has very strong competition.

Brown-spot Flat-body Agonopterix alstromeriana, North Elmham, 9th April 2019

Brown-spot Flat-body Agonopterix alstromeriana, North Elmham, 18th September 2020

Angelica Flat-body Agonopterix angelicella - None.  Another one that I have a reasonable chance of recording locally (there is Angelica growing locally, including sometimes just below the meadows), but haven't done so yet.


Coastal Flat-body Agonopterix yeatiana - None.  Again, one that could turn up locally (despite its common name there are plenty of inland records too and there is Wild Carrot growing along the railway at the bottom of the meadows).  I'm yet to see it in Norfolk though...


Next page: more Depressariidae plus

One moth, two caddis and two bug lifers all in a night's work

This Dark-fringed Flat-body Agonopterix nervosa was one of several highlights on Thursday 17th August, a new species of moth for me.

Dark-fringed Flat-body Agonopterix nervosa (male, gen det), North Elmham, 17th August

I suspected that this peculiar-looking moth would turn out to be a Common Carpet despite it looking very different from the normal appearance of this species, and so it was - but I have never seen one looking anything like this before - has anyone else?  The dark band across the middle is very much narrower than normal and the outer darkish band is much broader than normal filling up the space.

Common Carpet (male, gen det), North Elmham, 17th August

This Six-striped Rustic was new for the year.

Six-striped Rustic, North Elmham, 17th August

The other moths were Brown Birch Slender Parornix betulae, Bird-cherry Ermine Yponomeuta evonymella, Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis heparana, Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana, Dover Shade Cnephasia genitalana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella, 2 Pearl Veneers Agriphila straminella, 17 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer Agriphila geniculea, Ringed China-mark Parapoynx stratiotata, 3 Garden Pebbles Evergestis forficalis, 2 Pale Straw Pearls Udea lutealis, 3 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, 2 Grey Knot-horns Acrobasis advenella, Beautiful Plume Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla, Orange Swift, Maiden's Blush, Single-dotted Wave, Garden Carpet, another normal Common Carpet, Common Marbled Carpet, Currant Pug, 2 Brimstone Moths, 3 Willow Beauties, 3 Pale Prominents, 9 Flame Shoulders, 5 Large Yellow Underwings, 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, 8 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, Bright-line Brown-eye, Common Wainscot, Straw Underwing, Flounced Rustic and 4 Straw Dots.

As if a new moth wasn't good enough there were also a few other insect lifers.   There were 8 caddisflies and all 8 were different species.  I've not been doing caddisflies for long but even so it already seems quite unusual to get a new species at home, so this haul was remarkable - two lifers Limnephilus hirsutus and Micropterna sequax and one new for the house Holocentropus picicornis.

Limnephilus hirsutus (female), North Elmham, 17th August

Micropterna sequax (male), North Elmham, 17th August

I'd had my first picicornis just 3 days earlier at Potter Heigham - if you read my diary entry for that excursion you may recall reading about it being the unspotted form rather than the usual spotted one - this time it was the typical form and very striking it was too.

Holocentropus picicornis (male), North Elmham, 17th August

The other 5 caddisflies were Hydropsyche pellucidula, Agrypnia pagetana, Crunoecia irrorata, Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus and Limnephilus lunatus.  Other insects included 5 species of bug including two lifers, the mirid bug Neolygus contaminatus and the water boatman Sigara dorsalis.  Now strictly speaking the Water Boatman could have been Sigara striata (there is a subtle difference in the genitalia but I couldn't resolve this one) but my understanding is that dorsalis is very common in Norfolk whereas striata is, or at least was, very much rarer.  Other bugs were 2 Forest Bugs and the leafhoppers Oncopsis subangulata and Empoasca vitis.

Neolygus contaminatus, North Elmham, 17th August

presumed Sigara dorsalis (male), North Elmham, 17th August

Oncopsis subangulata, North Elmham, 17th August

The rest of the insects I recorded were 5 Pond Olives Cloeon dipterum (mayflies), 2 Chrysoperla carnea (female agg. and male carnea) (green lacewings), Rhantus suturalis (water beetle) and Aphodius rufipes (dung beetle).  Also 2 Common Frogs watching proceedings, one from the lid of the trap.

A visit to Ryburgh the next day produced a Mouse Moth and a Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana. That night at home there were far fewer insects.  Square-spot Rustic was new for the year.

Square-spot Rustic, North Elmham, 18th August

The other moths were Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, Dark-triangle Button Acleris laterana, 2 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, Marbled Piercer Cydia splendana, 5 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, Single-dotted Wave, 2 Brimstone Moths, Poplar Hawk-moth, Pale Prominent, 2 Flame Shoulders, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Setaceous Hebrew Character, 3 Six-striped Rustics, 2 Common Wainscots, Burnished Brass and Snout.

There weren't many other insects either but two beetles were both new for the house: Eyed Ladybird and Cortinicara gibbosa (I wouldn't have identified the gibbosa in previous years but I think the ladybird was genuinely a good record here).

Eyed Ladybird, North Elmham, 18th August

Cortinicara gibbosa, North Elmham, 18th August