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.

Lolly Moor reveals its secrets

On Tuesday Dave had visited the NWT reserve, Lolly Moor, and discovered what he thought looked like Cinereous Pearl Anania fuscalis.  Not one, but at least two and probably several more.  What's the deal?  Well, there was one Anania fuscalis recorded in the Attleborough square in 1996 but apart from that there have been no records in Norfolk since the 1800s.  Surely Dave had made a mistake...

I looked at his photos and thought they did indeed resemble Anania fuscalis so on Wednesday evening I headed down there with him to have a look.  It's a tiny wet meadow south of Dereham and surrounded by big hedgerows or woodland.  The first thing I noticed was Yellow Rattle growing there - the favoured foodplant of Anania fuscalis - a promising start!  The second thing I noticed was that the whole reserve was crawling with small pale moths which quickly proved to be Grass Rivulets (Dave had photographed these the day before too).  I've only ever seen Grass Rivulets at one site before, and I could count all of them over two visits on one hand.  Here I reckon we saw a bare minimum of 100 Grass Rivulets.  Among them we quickly picked out at least 3 Cinereous Pearls Anania fuscalis.  With a good view of their underwings there was no real doubt about the ID but I dissected one moribund individual just to make triply sure.  Dave had done good!

Cinereous Pearl Anania fuscalis, Lolly Moor, 10th June

Grass Rivulet, Lolly Moor, 10th June

We weren't there for long but in the time we were we recorded a good variety of other species too: Yellow-barred Long-horn Nemophora degeerella (I'd had 3 of these in my lunch break too, at Barrow Common), Cork Moth Nemapogon cloacella, Large Lance-wing Epermenia falciformis (a species I've only ever seen twice before), Buff Rush Case-bearer Coleophora caespititiella, Water-mint Conch Phalonidia manniana, Hook-marked Straw Moth Agapeta hamana, 3 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Red Piercer Lathronympha strigana, 3 Meadow Greys Scoparia pyralella, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis and 2 Straw Dots.

Large Lance-wing Epermenia falcifornis, Lolly Moor, 10th June

Water-mint Conch Phalonidia manniana (male, gen det), Lolly Moor, 10th June

Buff Rush Case-bearer Coleophora caespititiella (female, gen det), Lolly Moor, 10th June

Yellow-barred Long-horns Nemophora degeerella, Barrow Common, 10th June

Among the plantlife were several Common Spotted Orchids and also Common Twayblade, a new species for me.

Common Twayblade, Lolly Moor, 10th June

 probable Leptoterna dolabrata nymph, Lolly Moor, 10th June

The warm sunny evening gave way to a cool clear night so not such a good night at home.  Mottled Rustic was new for the year and the rest were 6 Silver-ground Carpets, Garden Carpet, 2 Common Marbled Carpets, Common Pug, Peppered Moth, Light Emerald, Poplar Hawkmoth, 2 Buff-tips, White Ermine, Cinnabar, 3 Heart and Darts, 2 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 2 Shears, 2 Brown Rustics, Marbled Minor agg., 4 Treble Lines and 2 Vine's Rustics. 

Buff-tip, North Elmham, 10th June

 Setaceous Hebrew Character (left) and Mottled Rustic (right), North Elmham, 10th June