Review of 2019 and 2020 - Caddisflies: Goeridae, Lepidostomidae and part 1 of Limnephilidae

Family GOERIDAE


Medium Sedge Goera pilosa - A total of 8 in the garden trap between 23rd June and 30th July 2019 and 11 between 17th June and 8th August 2020; also one at the meadows on 22nd August 2019.

male Medium Sedge Goera pilosa, North Elmham, 23rd June 2019

female Medium Sedges Goera pilosa, North Elmham, 10th July 2019

female Medium Sedge Goera pilosa, North Elmham, 24th July 2019

female Medium Sedge Goera pilosa, North Elmham, 17th June 2020

female Medium Sedge Goera pilosa, North Elmham, 20th June 2020

Silo nigricornis - None.  There are loads of records of this species in Norfolk so it is perhaps surprising that I haven't come across it yet.

Silo pallipes - Female in the garden trap on 10th July 2019 and 25th June 2020.  I'd caught this species twice before, both in 2017.

female Silo pallipes, North Elmham, 10th July 2019

female Silo pallipes, North Elmham, 25th June 2020

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Family LEPIDOSTOMATIDAE


Crunoecia irrorata - Singles caught in the garden on 21st July and 25th August 2019 and 18th and 31st July 2020.  Also a male netted between Carsaig and Rubha Dubh on Mull on 10th June 2019.

male Crunoecia irrorata, between Carsaig and Rubha Dubh (Mull), 10th June 2019

male Crunoecia irrorata, North Elmham, 21st July 2019

female Crunoecia irrorata, North Elmham, 25th August 2019

male Crunoecia irrorata, North Elmham, 18th July 2020 - showing distinctive genital capsule

female Crunoecia irrorata, North Elmham, 31st July 2020

Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum - 3 caught in the garden on consecutive nights 27th to 29th August 2019 and 6 between 14th August and 8th September; elsewhere one at Swanton Great Wood on 27th August 2019 and 2 at the meadows on 8th September 2020.  All 12 were females and I didn't alwasys find it easy to eliminate Lepidostoma basale (although as far as I know that species doesn't occur in East Anglia).  The Barnard and Ross Handbook points to a single feature on its diagrams of the genitalia, the shape of the subgenital plate, and on at least a few individuals (especially the first one in 2020) this looked better for basale.  But there are other differences in the diagrams, although when they're not arrowed or drawn attention to in the text I'm never sure if these are differences between the species or just differences between the specimens used as a basis for the diagram.  Anyway, hirtum is illustrated with wide shoulders (not a technical term!) before the tip of the abdomen, and all mine shared this characteristic - the basale diagram in the Handbook shows much less of a step.  When I first encountered this problem I found a photo of hirtum genitalia online that looked similar (I can't find it now - maybe it was on the defunct website but I thought it was more recent than that), so given basale is so unlikely here I think it's safe to call them all hirtum.  Photos of the genitalia of the most troublesome individual are below, along with a more straightforward one.  Please let me know if you disagree.

female Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum, Swanton Great Wood, 27th August 2019

female Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum, North Elmham, 28th August 2019

female Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum, North Elmham, 29th August 2019

presumed female Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum, North Elmham, 14th August 2020 - showing what looks like a very flat rounded tip to the subgenital plate (as on L basale); this happened to be the first time I've found the corpus bursae on a caddisfly - the ductus bursae is very thin and delicate so I assume this normally breaks and gets lost during the preparation (as far as I know this isn't helpful for identification but was of interest to me

female Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum, North Elmham, 24th August 2020 - this one shows a subgenital plate with a longer more narrowly rounded tip as I would expect on L hirtum

female Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum, North Elmham, 30th August 2020

female Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th September 2020

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Family APATANIIDAE


Apatania muliebris - None.  Judging from the NBN Atlas maps this species occurs in the Wensum Valley but I've not come across it here or anywhere else yet.

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Family LIMNEPHILIDAE


Drusus annulatus - None.  The NBN Atlas maps indicate that this species has occurred nearby but I haven't found it yet.


Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa - One caught in the garden on 22nd October 2019 and 4 between 21th and 21st October (I had caught 8 here in 2018).  Elsewhere 2 caught at the meadows on 12th October and 4 there on 1st November 2019 and 2 at Stiffkey on 16th October 2020.  The other member of this genus, Anabolia brevipennis, occurs in Norfolk but there are no records on the NBN Atlas for the Wensum Valley area.

male Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th October 2019

male Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, North Elmham, 21st October 2019

male Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st November 2019

Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, North Elmham, 12th October 2020<

Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, Stiffkey, 16th October 2020

Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus - A total of 56 between 1st May 31st October 2019 and 39 between 8th May and 29th October 2020.  A total of 22 at the meadows on 7 dates including 15 on 25th May 2020 and elsewhere singles at Swanton Great Wood, Row Heath (West Runton), Whitwell Street and Tresidder (in Cornwall).  My records of this species show two clear peaks, one from May to early June and one from late July to October (especially late August to late September) but I've had a few odd records throughout the diapause in June-July.

Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, North Elmham, 1st May 2019

Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 25th May 2019

Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 15th May 2020

Grammotaulius nigropunctatus - Singles caught in the garden trap on 12th September 2019 and 11th and 23rd April 2020 (I'd had 3-4 in each of the previous 3 years).  Also one at Hills and Holes on 21st May 2020.  There are no records of the much scarcer Grammotaulius nitidus showing in the NBN Atlas for the Wensum Valley although it does occur in the Broads and has been recorded in the Norwich area.

male Grammotaulius nigropunctatus, North Elmham, 12th September 2019

male Grammotaulius nigropunctatus, Hills and Holes, 21st May 2020

Next page: more Limnephilidae

Or return to Caddisfly index

Mervs, a Hummer and some Ivy Bees

When I got back from Cornwall on 8th October pretty much the first thing I did was get the moth trap on. I didn't catch many moths that night, but 2 Merveille du Jour were new for the year.  Other moths in the trap were Long-horned Flat-body Carcina quercana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 2 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Common Marbled Carpet, 11 Large Yellow Underwings, 4 Black Rustics, 2 Green-brindled Crescents, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker, 2 Beaded Chestnuts, 5 Lunar Underwings, Sallow and 2 Snouts.

Merveille du Jours, North Elmham, 8th October

Also new for the year was the caddisfly Anabolia nervosa, aka Brown Sedge.  Other caddis were Limnephilus affinis and 2 Limnephilus lunatus.

Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, North Elmham, 8th October

Next day I was keen to get back to the meadows after a week away.  Butterflies included 6 Small Coppers, 2 Red Admirals and a Speckled Wood.

Small Copper, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October

Also found a Forest Bug, a Broom Psyllid Arytaina genistae and a yellow leafhopper that turned out to be Fagocyba carri, a nice result as I don't think that's an especially common species.

Fagocyba carri (male, gen det), North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October

There were also 2 7-spot Ladybirds, 3 Willow Flea Beetles, a Hornet and the green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea agg.  I think this spider is Phylloneta sisyphia.  The epigynal features weren't totally clear but this seemed to be the best match.

Phylloneta sisyphia, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October

Wildflowers included a late showing of Musk Mallow (also one plant that seemed to have leaves that were intermediate between this species and Common Mallow - a hybrid perhaps?) and Lady's Bedstraw.

Lady's Bedstraw, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October

That evening there was a Many-plume Moth Alucita hexadactyla indoors, and in the trap, 2 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Large Yellow Underwing, 5 Black Rustics, 4 Green-brindled Crescents, Merveille du Jour, Red-line Quaker, 2 Beaded Chestnuts, Lunar Underwing and the caddisfly Limnephilus lunatus.

The following night the trap was a little busier with Fulvous Clothes Moth Tinea semifulvella, Long-horned Flat-body Carcina quercana, Light Brown Apple-moth Epiphyas postvittana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 17 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Treble Brown Spot, Garden Carpet, Common Marbled Carpet, Shuttle-shaped Dart, 4 Black Rustics, 3 Beaded Chestnuts, 2 Lunar Underwings, Pink-barred Sallow, Sallow, Rosy Rustic and Snout.

There was also the green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea, the beetle Lagria hirta and the following caddisflies: Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, 5 Limnephilus auricula, Limnephilus flavicornis, 11 Limnephilus lunatus and Halesus radiatus.

I did some birding at Brancaster on 11th.  The non-avian highlight was a Hummingbird Hawk-moth in the dunes between the golf-course and the beach.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Brancaster, 11th October

There were also a couple of caddisflies Anabolia nervosa along the seawall and an Ivy Bee at Broad Lane.

Anabolia nervosa, Brancaster, 11th October

Ivy Bee, Brancaster, 11th October

I also popped along to the chalk pit at Titchwell where there were lots more Ivy Bees.

Ivy Bees, Titchwell Chalkpit, 11th October

That night a Large Wainscot was new for the year at home.

Large Wainscot, North Elmham, 11th October

The other moths were 5 Privet Tortrixes Clepsis consimilana, 2 Light Brown Apple-moths Epiphyas postvittana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 18 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Single-dotted Wave, Mallow, Common Marbled Carpet, 6 Shuttle-shaped Darts, White-point, 3 Black Rustics, 7 Green-brindled Crescents, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker, 7 Beaded Chestnuts, Lunar Underwing, 3 Barred Sallows, Sallow, Rosy Rustic, Straw Dot and Snout.

There were 5 green lacewings, at least one of which was Chrysoperla carnea (the other 4 were female aggs., presumably the same species).  There were several caddisflies: Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, Limnephilus affinis, 4 Limnephilus auricula, 11 Limnephilus lunatus, Limnephilus vittatus and Halesus radiatus.

Bugs consisted of Tarnished Plant Bug Lygus rugulipennis and 2 Pinalitus cervinus.  Also 7 Kybos leafhoppers (all female so not identifiable) and another Fagocyba carri, this time a new species for the garden.

Fagocyba carri (male, gen det), North Elmham, 11th October

Beetles consisted of Black Sexton Beetle, Lagria hirta and a new genus of rove beetle for me, Philonthus.  Unfortunately I don't have references that enable me to make a positive species-level ID, though I suspect it is carbonarius.

Philonthus sp., possibly Philonthus carbonarius, North Elmham, 11th October