Review of 2019 and 2020 - Caddisflies: Sericostomatidae, Beraeidae, Molannidae and part 1 of Leptoceridae

Family SERICOSTOMATIDAE


Welshman's Button Sericostoma personatum - A female netted along the footpath west from Carsaig on Mull on 10th June 2019 was my first ever, but swiftly followed by another female closer to home at the meadows on 22nd August.  Then in 2020 I caught not one but 3 in my garden moth trap between 1st August and 3rd September.  These included 2 males with their distinctive enlarged palps.

female Welshman's Button Sericostoma personatum, between Carsaig and Rubha Dubh (Mull), 10th June 2019

female Welshman's Button Sericostoma personatum, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd August 2019

male Welshman's Button Sericostoma personatum, North Elmham, 1st August 2020

male Welshman's Button Sericostoma personatum, North Elmham, 14th August 2020

Notidobia ciliaris - None - there are quite a few widespread records in Norfolk so maybe some chance of finding one here sooner or later.

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Family BERAEIDAE


Beraea maurus - None.  Another caddisfly that is widespread in Norfolk but which I haven't found yet.


Beraea pullata - I finally found my first representative of this family on 24th April 2020 when I swept one from Broom (adjacent to a dyke) at the meadows.  That's not the way I usually find caddisflies and it was right next to where I often do mothing with lights so maybe this family is reluctant to come to light?

 female Beraea maurus, North Elmham, Cathedral Meadows, 24th April 2020

Beraeodes minutus - None.  Judging from the number of dots on the NBN Atlas this looks like it's the commonest member of the family in Norfolk, but it's escaped my detection so far.

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Family MOLANNIDAE


Molanna angustata - 3 in the garden moth trap between 7th and 26th August 2019 and 9 in the 6 nights between 9th and 14th August 2020.  Elsewhere 2 more August records from the meadows (one each year), one at Hills and Holes on 21st May 2020 and one at Bintree Woods on 24th July 2020.

male Molanna angustata, North Elmham, 7th August 2019

male Molanna angustata, North Elmham, 10th August 2019

Molanna angustata, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd August 2019

Molanna angustata, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

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Family LEPTOCERIDAE


Adicella reducta - None.  Apparently another common and widespread caddis that I haven't encountered yet.


Triaenodes bicolor - One in my garden moth trap on 22nd July 2019 was my first record of this species.  It was on its last legs but that did mean it posed with its wings spread providing a good look at the difference in the colour between its fore and hindwings.

Triaenodes bicolor, North Elmham, 22nd July 2019

Ylodes conspersus - None but I've had one here before in August 2017 which I gather was the first for the Wensum Valley.  A pretty scarce species in Norfolk with just 2-3 records from the Nar Valley and one from the Norwich area I believe.


Athripsodes albifrons - Singles in the garden trap on 28th August 2019 and 9th and 14th August 2020.

female Athripsodes albifrons, North Elmham, 28th August 2019

Athripsodes albifrons, North Elmham, 14th August 2020

Athripsodes bilineatus - One at the meadows on 22nd August 2019 was my first record of this species.

female Athripsodes bilineatus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd August 2019

Athripsodes cinereus - 2 at the meadows on 7th July and 22nd August 2019, my first records of this species, and then I added it to the garden list with one on 23rd August.  There were 2 more at the meadows in 2020, on 7th August and 8th September.  All but one of these were female.

female Athripsodes cinereus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th July 2019

male Athripsodes cinereus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd August 2019

female Athripsodes cinereus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

female Athripsodes cinereus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th September 2020

Another eventual candidate for this species was at home on 22nd June 2020.  Females are quite challenging for me, and up until 2020 the task was made easier by being able to compare genitalia with the images on the trichoptera.insects-online.de website.  With this site now down I'm pretty much relying entirely on the Barnard and Ross Handbook and this particular individual was tricky.  In many respects the genitalia looked very similar to Athripsodes aterrimus (one of which I was examining at the same time).  The indentation on the edge was perhaps closer to cinereus but the subgenital plate looked identical to the aterrimus, right down to the triangular wedge between where the two halves diverge at the tip.  But I don't think it can be aterrimus because that species always seems to have a slightly arched sub-rectangular sclerite beyond the tip of the subgenital plate (not sure what this bit is called but you can see it on the photo of aterrimus at the bottom of this page), whereas on this caddisfly there was no sign of this - instead a more square-shaped but with an obvious indentation on the top.  Unless someone more experienced gets back to me in the meantime I shall wait until I can catch more cinereus to compare with this before I record this one.

possible female Athripsodes cinereus, North Elmham, 22nd June 2020

Athripsodes aterrimus - The 2019 season started with singles at the meadows on 25th May and 15th June but then I caught 4 in the garden between 24th June and 3rd August.  In 2020 just 3 here, one on 26th June and 2 on 12th August.  I'd recorded far more than this here in each of the previous 3 year (with 23 in 2016).  Again all but one were female.

female Athripsodes aterrimus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 25th May 2019

female Athripsodes aterrimus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 24th June 2019

female Athripsodes aterrimus, North Elmham, 8th July 2019

female Athripsodes aterrimus, North Elmham, 16th July 2019

female Athripsodes aterrimus, North Elmham, 3rd August 2019

male (above) and female Athripsodes aterrimus, North Elmham, 12th August 2020

Next page: more Leptoceridae

Or return to Caddisfly index

New for Norfolk!

On Thursday 1st June I had a first for Norfolk in my moth trap!  It wasn't a moth, but a Wax Fly, not flies but relatives of Lacewings.  Unlike the larger and more familiar green and brown lacewings these tiny insects are covered in white powdery scales.  They are otherwise pretty non-descript and there are a number of species - some can be identified by external features such as wing venation while others, including this one, require examination of the male genitalia.  Fortunately this one was a male, and I did the necessary... it proved to be Coniopteryx esbenpeterseni, a species first recognised in Britain 30 years ago but subsequently found (by checking museum specimens) to have been present here much longer.  It has proved to be fairly common and widespread across much of southern and central England and was presumed to be present in Norfolk... but until now there were no actual records in Norfolk.

Coniopteryx esbenpeterseni (male, gen det), North Elmham, 1st June - the first record for Norfolk!

Among the moths only a couple of species were new for the year: 2 Common Rush Case-bearers Coleophora alticolella and Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana.

Common Rush Case-bearer Coleophora alticolella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 1st June

Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana, North Elmham, 1st June

Other moths that night were 8 Buff Rush Case-bearers Coleophora caespititiella, Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Hook-marked Straw Moth Agapeta hamana, 4 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Crescent Bell Epinotia bilunana, 2 Triple-blotched Bells Notocelia trimaculana, Hoary Bell Eucosma cana, Hook-streaked Grass-Veneer Crambus lathoniellus, 5 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, Small Magpie Anania hortulata, Chalk Knot-horn Phycitodes maritima, Maiden's Blush, Blood-vein, Treble Brown Spot, 2 Silver-ground Carpets, 2 Common Marbled Carpets, 4 Green Carpets, 2 Mottled Pugs, 9 Common Pugs, Clouded Border, Brimstone Moth, 2 Willow Beauties, Poplar Hawk-moth, Coxcomb Prominent, Pale Prominent, 7 White Ermines, 5 Buff Ermines, 3 Cinnabars, Heart and Dart, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, 2 Ingrailed Clays, Bright-line Brown-eye, Lychnis, Rustic Shoulder-knot, 3 Brown Rustics, Angle Shades, Clouded-bordered Brindle, 7 Treble Lines and 9 Straw Dots.

Chalk Knot-horn Phycitodes maritima, North Elmham, 1st June

Buff Ermine, North Elmham, 1st June

The Mayfly Lake Olive Cloeon simile was my first here this year.

Lake Olive Cloeon simile, North Elmham, 1st June

Caddisflies included Athripsodes aterrimus and Mystacides longicornis, the former being new for the year.

Athripsodes aterrimus, North Elmham, 1st June

This soldier beetle proved to be the reddish form of Cantharis rufa - the first time I've positively identified this species.

Cantharis rufa, North Elmham, 1st June

The bug Kleidocerys resedae was my first this year.

Kleidocerys resedae, North Elmham, 1st June

Holkham moth night

A couple of unsuccessful attempts to see Great Knot at Titchwell produced 3 Diamond-back Moths Plutella xylostella (17th) and a Timothy Tortrix Aphelia paleana (18th).

At home 17th wasn't a great night with just 40 species, none of which were new for the year: 5 Diamond-back Moths Plutella xylostella, Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana, Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, Barred Marble Celypha striana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana, 3 Hook-streaked Grass-Veneers Crambus lathoniellus, 2 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, 2 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, 4 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Common Swift, Treble Brown Spot, 3 Silver-ground Carpets, Garden Carpet, Small Rivulet, Foxglove Pug, Scorched Wing, Brimstone Moth, Willow Beauty, Light Emerald, Pale Tussock, Orange Footman, Common Footman, 5 White Ermines, 7 Buff Ermines, 5 Heart and Darts, Large Yellow Underwing, Ingrailed Clay, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lychnis, Common Wainscot, Brown Rustic, 7 Marbled Minors, 2 Middle-barred Minors, 8 Treble Lines, Mottled Rustic, 3 Burnished Brasses, Beautiful Golden Y, 3 Straw Dots and 2 Snouts.

A new caddisfly, Athripsodes aterrimus, saved the night.  Other caddis included Limnephilus auricula, Limnephilus flavicornis, Limnephilus lunatus and 2 Limnephilus marmoratus.

Athripsodes aterrimus, North Elmham, 17th June

On Saturday 18th I headed up to Holkham for the Norfolk Moth Survey event.  The forecast hadn't been great but it turned out to be cloudier than we'd expected, the wind had dropped right down and at first it didn't feel as cold as we'd feared.  But things seemed a bit slow anyway, despite several highlights.

I didn't get there early enough to do any dusking beforehand but those that did found and retained some New Holm-Oak Pigmies Ectoedemia heringella, the first time I've seen this species.

Surprisingly we saw more micro moths than macro, though slightly less variety according to my personal totals (which are always incomplete for events like this).  Apart from Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, the most numerous micro was Large Groundling Teleiopsis diffinis, for which I estimated a dozen, followed by Beautiful Groundling Caryocolum marmorea (maybe half a dozen or more?).

Beautiful Groundlings Caryocolum marmorea, Holkham, 18th June

Large Groundling Teleiopsis diffinis, Holkham, 18th June

Someone found a Small Saltern Conch Gynnidomorpha vectisana, a new moth for me.  I only saw it in a pot so my photos aren't worth sharing.  Another moth passed round in a pot was claimed as a Strophedra.  I didn't get a good enough look to challenge that but subsequently it turns out that it's probably Pine-cone Piercer Cydia conicolana.  I've not heard that it's been gen detted yet but assuming the ID proves correct then that's another lifer for me.  We also caught a Momphid which I wasn't able to identify on the night.  It was very worn and frankly looked nothing like the Little Cosmet Mompha raschkiella that it proved to be on dissection.  Surprisingly, as this is a much commoner and more widespread species, this was also a new moth for me.

Little Cosmet Mompha raschkiella (male, gen det), Holkham, 18th June

The other micros were 4 Diamond-back Moths Plutella xylostella, Painted Neb Eulamprotes wilkella, Desert Groundling Bryotropha desertella, London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella, Hedge Shade Isotrias rectifasciana, 3 Hook-streaked Grass-Veneers Crambus lathoniellus, Pearl Grass-veneer Catoptria pinella, 2 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, Narrow-winged Grey Eudonia angustea and Ochreous Pearl Anania crocealis.

Ochreous Pearl Anania crocealis, Holkham, 18th June

Desert Groundling Bryotropha desertella (female, gen det), Holkham, 18th June

Painted Neb Eulamprotes wilkella, Holkham, 18th June

Pearl Grass-veneer Catoptria pinella, Holkham, 18th June

Among the macros the highlight for me was 2 Pine Carpets - a species I've only seen once before.

Pine Carpet, Holkham, 18th June

Nothing else remarkable among the macros - the others I recorded were Common Swift, Cream Wave, 3 Silver-ground Carpets, 3 Green Carpets, Common Pug, 2 Clouded Borders, 2 Scorched Carpets, Brimstone Moth, Peppered Moth, Privet Hawkmoth, Buff Ermine, 12 Cinnabars, Archer's Dart, Shoulder-striped Wainscot, Brown Rustic, Treble Lines, Spectacle and 2 Straw Dots.

Privet Hawkmoth, Holkham, 18th June

Scorched Carpet, Holkham, 18th June

I think this beetle is the Marram Weevil Philopedon plagiatum.  Assuming my ID is correct then that's a new one for me.  Another new beetle that should be correct as Andy M gave me the ID was the Click Beetle Prosternon tessellatum.

Marram Weevil Philopedon plagiatum (I think), Holkham, 18th June

Prosternon tessellatum, Holkham, 18th June

The Caddisflies didn't turn up anything that I don't get at home: Phryganea grandis, 4 Limnephilus auricula and 4 Limnephilus marmoratus.

Back at home the moth trap wasn't exactly overloaded with goodies.  I didn't get any False Cacao Moths Ephestia unicolorella last year so this one was new for the house.

False Cacao Moth Ephestia unicolorella (male, gen det), Holkham, 18th June

Riband Wave and Common Wave were new for the year here and the other moths recorded at home were 2 Barred Marbles Celypha striana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, Hook-streaked Grass-Veneer Crambus lathoniellus, Small Magpie Anania hortulata, Common Swift, 2 Silver-ground Carpets, Common Marbled Carpet, Common Pug, Clouded Border, 2 Willow Beauties, Common White Wave, Elephant Hawkmoth, Common Footman, 2 White Ermines, 5 Buff Ermines, Cinnabar, 2 Heart and Darts, Ingrailed Clay, Brown Rustic, 4 Treble Lines, 2 Mottled Rustics, 2 Burnished Brasses and Straw Dot.  Limnephilus lunatus was the only caddisfly recorded.