Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Geometers (Geometridae) - part 4: Carpets III (Pennithera to Dysstroma)

GEOMETERS (GEOMETRIDAE) (continued)


Pine Carpet Pennithera firmata - Singles here on 24th September and 5th October 2019 and 1st August and 27th September 2020, making it 4 consecutive years that I've trapped 2 here (before that one in 2016 and none in 2014/15).  Elsewhere singles at Swanton Great Wood and Row Heath (West Runton) on 27th and 31st August 2019 and one at Bintree Wood on 13th June 2020.

Pine Carpet, Swanton Great Wood, 27th August 2019

Pine Carpet, North Elmham, 5th October 2019

Spruce Carpet Thera britannica - Singles here on 23rd October and 2nd November 2019, 2 on 27th May and one on 18th October 2020.  That's about average here.  Elsewhere singles at Swanton Great Wood and Row Heath (West Runton) on 27th and 31st August 2019.

Spruce Carpet, North Elmham, 23rd October 2019

Spruce Carpet, North Elmham, 27th May 2020

male Spruce Carpet, North Elmham, 18th October 2020

Grey Pine Carpet Thera obeliscata - Despite having averaged about 7 a year I didn't catch any of these at home in 2019 and only 3 in 2020 (21st May and 14th and 15th August).  A few elsewhere including one at the meadows on 22nd April 2019, one at Bintree Wood, 6 at Hills and Holes, 6 at Row Heath (West Runton), one in Cornwall and singles at 3 sites on Mull.  One or two of the latter (shown below) were types that I find quite tricky to tell apart from Spruce Carpet - fortunately they were males enabling me to check their diagnostic antennae.

male Grey Pine Carpet, Carsaig (Mull), 13th June

male Grey Pine Carpet, Ceann Chnocain (Mull), 13th June - showing the diagnostic antenna

Grey Pine Carpet, Hills and Holes, 21st May 2020

Juniper Carpet Thera juniperata - None.  This is a rare example of a moth that I caught regularly at my last house in Bawdeswell (25 in the bedroom between 2007 and 2013) but which I haven't caught at all since moving to North Elmham in 2014.


Blue-bordered Carpet Plemyria rubiginata - Singles in the garden on 23rd July 2019 (my latest ever record, though only by a day) and 24th June 2020.  I just about record this here annually with a total of 9 since 2015.

Blue-bordered Carpet, North Elmham, 23rd July 2019

Blue-bordered Carpet, North Elmham, 24th June 2020

Barred Yellow Cidaria fulvata - 6 caught in the garden between 24th June and 5th July 2019 and then just 2 in 2020, on 22nd and 26th June.  About 8 is average.  Elsewhere one at the meadows, one at Weybourne and 4 at Brancaster.

Barred Yellow, North Elmham, 27th June 2019

Barred Yellow, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 30th June 2019

Barred Yellow, North Elmham, 22nd June 2020

Broken-barred Carpet Electrophaes corylata - None in 2019, my first blank year since moving here, and just 2 in 2020, on 18th and 20th May.  I had caught 3-4 in the garden in each of the previous 4 years.

Broken-barred Carpet, North Elmham, 18th May 2020

Purple Bar Cosmorrhoe ocellata - 3 caught in my garden between 21st and 30th August 2019 and 6 between 30th July and 22nd August 2020.  Also one next door, 2 at Bintree Wood and one at Sculthorpe Moor (26th April 2019).  A fairly typical showing.


Phoenix Eulithis prunata - One in my garden trap on 26th July 2019 but none in 2020.  I recorded 13 here in 2 years (2016-17) but none in 2018 so this species seems to be quite erratic in its occurrence here.  Elsewhere one at Swanton Great Wood on 27th August 2019, my latest ever record.

Phoenix, North Elmham, 26th July 2019

Chevron Eulithis testata - None in 2019; one in the garden on 11th August 2020 was a first for the garden.  The only other relatively local example that I've ever caught was one at my old house in Bawdeswell back in 2010.

Chevron, North Elmham, 11th August 2020

Spinach Eulithis mellinata -None.  This was one of the biggest holes in my moth list until 2018 but it remains a gap in my garden list despite there being a record from the other moth-trapper in my street.


Barred Straw Gandaritis pyraliata - Totals of 61 in the garden between 22nd June and 14th July 2019 and 57 between 13th June and 12th July, including a record count of 9 on 5th July 2019.  Despite the record the overall numbers were average.  Elsewhere 9 at the meadows (5 nights), one at Bintree Wood and one at Hellesdon.

Barred Straw, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 30th June 2019

Barred Straw, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th July 2019

Barred Straw, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July 2020

Small Phoenix Ecliptopera silaceata - Totals of 5 trapped at home between 21st July and 7th August 2019 and 3 between 26th May and 11th August 2020.  Although I've recorded up to 8 in a year here, 2 out of 5 years were blank.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 31st May, one in Hellesdon and a total of 10 on Mull.

Small Phoenix, Carsaig (Mull), 10th June 2019

Small Phoenix, North Elmham, 7th August 2019

Small Phoenix, North Elmham, 26th May 2020

Small Phoenix, North Elmham, 23rd July 2020

Red-green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata - In the spring flight period one in the garden on 23rd May 2019 and one at the meadows a couple of nights later, then singles at home on 20th and 21st May 2020.  In the autumn singles in the garden on 4th October and 26th November 2019 (my latest ever) and one at the meadows on 4th October, then 3 between 20th September and 20th October 2020 and 2 at the meadows on 8th November.  After 13 here in my first autumn (2014) I thought this species was going to be commoner here but it must have been a good year as I've only had a total of 20 in 6 years since then (with none in 2018).

Red-green Carpet, North Elmham, 23rd May 2019

Red-green Carpet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th October 2019

Red-green Carpet, North Elmham, 20th May 2020

Red-green Carpet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November 2020

Common Marbled Carpet Dysstroma truncata - In 2019, 9 in the garden between 1st and 15th June and then 5 between 7th and 28th September.  In 2020, 11 between 21st May and 24th June and 11 between 8th August and 30th September.  These were my worst showings so far - I was averaging 65 a year previously.  Elsewhere 2 at the meadows, 2 at Swanton Great Wood, 2 at Whitwell Street, 2 on Mull and 26 in Cornwall.

Common Marbled Carpet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 31st May 2019

Common Marbled Carpet, Swanton Great Wood, 27th August 2019

Dark Marbled Carpet Dysstroma citrataa - None.  I have never seen this species, in fact I'm not convinced it exists in Norfolk...


Next page: more Geometridae

3 new moths for the garden, including Epinotia tedella, bringing the garden list past 800

Apparently the Common Spruce Bell Epinotia tedella is indeed common in coniferous forests across the UK, but it is rare in Norfolk (can go several years in a row without any records), and there aren't any coniferous forests in my back garden.  So finding one in my trap on 17th June was one of the best, if not the best, find of the summer.  I have to say it wasn't much to look at, being very worn, and although tedella was always a contender I had to gen det it to be sure what it was.

Common Spruce Bell Epinotia tedella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 17th June

This wasn't the only new moth for the garden that night - there was also an Agrimony Case-bearer Coleophora follicularis, a species I'd had at Bawdeswell three times (confirmed by Jon Clifton as I wasn't gen detting back then) but not here at North Elmham despite checking all possible candidates since moving here.

Agrimony Case-bearer Coleophora follicularis (male, gen det), North Elmham, 17th June

Yet another new moth for the garden was a Thistle Conch Aethes cnicana, a species I'd only seen twice before.  I must have had photos of this as my notes about it refer to them but they aren't in the folder where they should be and I can't find them anywhere else either.  It would appear that I have accidentally deleted them, or just maybe incorrectly labelled them and filed them away under something else.  Three new moths for the garden in one night is an increasingly rare occurrence!  They also take my garden moth list through a milestone - past the 800 mark to 801.

There were some more new moths for the garden year list too: Oak Carl Tischeria ekebladella, Cypress-tip Moth Argyresthia cupressella, Purple Bar, Barred Yellow, Bordered Pug, Tawny-barred Angle and Cream-bordered Green Pea.

Oak Carl Tischeria ekebladella, North Elmham, 17th June

Purple Bar, North Elmham, 17th June

Barred Yellow, North Elmham, 17th June

Bordered Pug, North Elmham, 17th June

Tawny-barred Angle, North Elmham, 17th June

Cream-bordered Green Pea, North Elmham, 17th June

Other moths were 2 Blackthorn Slenders Parornix torquillella, Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Fen Crest Brachmia inornatella, London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella, Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana, Large Ivy Tortrix Lozotaenia forsterana, Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana, 2 Barred Marbles Celypha striana, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, Hoary Bell Eucosma cana, 3 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, Hook-streak Grass-veneer Crambus lathoniellus, 2 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, Marsh Grey Eudonia pallida, 3 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, 2 Ringed China-marks Parapoynx stratiotata, 3 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Elder Pearl Anania coronata, Fenland Pearl Anania perlucidalis, Bee Moth Aphomia sociella, 2 False Cacao Moths Ephestia woodiella, Small Dusty Wave, 4 Treble Brown Spots, 5 Riband Waves, 2 Silver-ground Carpets, Grey Pine Carpet, 2 Green Carpets, 2 Sandy Carpets, Freyer's Pug, Common Pug, Grey Pug, V-Pug, Double-striped Pug, Treble-bar, Clouded Border, Peppered Moth, 4 Willow Beauties, Pale Oak Beauty, 4 Clouded Silvers, 3 Light Emeralds, Common Footman, Buff Ermine, 3 Heart and Darts, Flame, 2 Flame Shoulders, 2 Large Yellow Underwings, 2 Ingrailed Clays, 3 Common Wainscots, 4 Brown Rustics, Small Angle Shades, 3 Dark Arches, Tawny Marbled Minor, 3 Middle-barred Minors, Treble Lines, 4 Uncertains, 3 Burnished Brasses, 25 Straw Dots and 9 Snouts.

The green lacewing Chrysopidia ciliata was new for the year, as was a Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius.  Other things included the bugs Orthotylus tenellus and Psallus varians, the leafhopper Oncopsis flavicollis and the soldier beetle Cantharis cryptica.

Chrysopidia ciliata, North Elmham, 17th June

Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius, North Elmham, 17th June

Next day a Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum was attracted to a Grapholita lobarzewskii pheronome lure, a new bug for the garden.

Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum, North Elmham, 18th June

Two more trigeminella on the best night of the year?

I've just realised that the Black-blothched Marble Endothenia nigricostana that I posted about yesterday was my 750th species of moth in my garden - another milestone reached.  Reached, and galloped past the following night with another four new moths for the garden.

The night of Wednesday 21st June was probably the best night of the year with 325 moths of 114 species, though that's quite a long way short of the best few nights of 2016.  There were no lifers among the moths but as I say, four new for the house including one remarkable record.  The Ash Bud Moth Prays fraxinella wasn't a surprise addition to the garden list, with the next door neighbour having a large Ash tree in their garden, and other Ashes growing nearby.  Netted Argent Argyresthia retinella wasn't much of a surprise either.  A Fen Crest Brachmia inornatella was a little less expected being a reedbed species but what was a real surprise was 2 Scarce Thorn Case-bearers Coleophora trigeminella.  This is the moth which I recorded at Warham Greens five nights earlier, the second ever for Norfolk - so these were the third and fourth for Norfolk!

Ash Bud Moth Prays fraxinella, North Elmham, 21st June

Fen Crest Brachmia inornatella, North Elmham, 21st June

Scarce Thorn Case-bearers Coleophora trigeminella (males, gen det), North Elmham, 21st June

Others new for the year here were Large Clothes Moth Morophaga choragella, Hawthorn Argent Argyresthia bonnetella, Larch Case-bearer Coleophora laricella, 3 Bud Moths Spilonota ocellana, Gold Triangle Hypsopygia costalis, Large Emerald, Least Carpet, 2 Shaded Pugs, Round-winged Muslin, Brown-line Bright Eye and Dingy Shears.

Large Clothes Moth Morophaga choragella, North Elmham, 21st June

Hawthorn Argent Argyresthia bonnetella, North Elmham, 21st June

Larch Case-bearer Coleophora laricella (female, gen det), North Elmham, 21st June

Bud Moth Spilonota ocellana, North Elmham, 21st June

Least Carpet, North Elmham, 21st June

Dingy Shears, North Elmham, 21st June

3 Cnephasia sp. escaped and a very worn male Argyresthia was practically bare so couldn't be identified from external features.  So far I've been unable to match its genitalia to any species, though I can't find any images of male dilectella genitalia to compare it to (or a few of the rarer species).  The other micros were 3 Bird-cherry Ermines Yponomeuta evonymella, Meadow Case-bearer Coleophora mayrella, Woundwort Case-bearer Coleophora lineolea, 2 Brown House Moths Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 3 Burdock Nebs Metzneria lappella, 3 London Dowds Blastobasis lacticolella, 4 Buff Cosmets Mompha ochraceella, Garden Cosmet Mompha subbistrigella, 5 Hawthorn Cosmets Blastodacna hellerella, 6 Hook-marked Straw Moths Agapeta hamana, Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana, 9 Large Fruit-tree Tortrixes Archips podana, 8 Privet Tortrixes Clepsis consimilana, Large Ivy Tortrix Lozotaenia forsterana, Red-barred Tortrix Ditula angustiorana, Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, White-barred Tortrix Olindia schumacherana, 12 Grey Tortrixes Cnephasia stephensiana, 2 Flax Tortrixes Cnephasia asseclana, 3 Yellow Oak Buttons Aleimma loeflingiana, 3 Barred Marbles Celypha striana, 5 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, 2 Marbled Orchard Tortrixes Hedya nubiferana, Triangle-marked Roller Ancylis achatana, Brown Elm Bell Epinotia abbreviana, Common Cloaked Shoot Gypsonoma dealbana, Bramble Shoot Moth Notocelia uddmanniana, Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana, 23 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella, 2 Hook-streaked Grass-Veneers Crambus lathoniellus, 10 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, 3 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, 2 Ringed China-marks Parapoynx stratiotata, 4 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, 2 Elder Pearls Anania coronata, Fenland Pearl Anania perlucidalis, 2 Bee Moths Aphomia sociella, 4 White Plumes Pterophorus pentadactyla and 2 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla.

dark form of Common Marble Celypha lacunana, North Elmham, 21st June

Brown Elm Bell Epinotia abbreviana (female, gen det), North Elmham, 21st June

The other macros were 2 Common Emeralds (including an exceptionally small individual), 3 Small Blood-veins, 3 Small Fan-footed Waves, Dwarf Cream Wave, 9 Single-dotted Waves, 4 Treble Brown Spots, 19 Riband Waves, Large Twin-spot Carpet, Garden Carpet, Common Carpet, 2 Phoenixes, 3 Barred Straws, 2 Barred Yellows, Blue-bordered Carpet, Sandy Carpet, Currant Pug, Common Pug, 2 V-Pugs, 4 Green Pugs, Double-striped Pug, 2 Small Yellow Waves, Clouded Border, 2 Scorched Wings, 2 Brimstone Moths, Willow Beauty, 2 Mottled Beauties, 2 Engraileds, 4 Common White Waves, Common Wave, 6 Clouded Silvers, 3 Elephant Hawk-moths, Coxcomb Prominent, 4 Rosy Footmen, Dingy Footman, 8 Common Footmen, 3 Buff Ermines, Cinnabar, Heart and Dart, 2 Flame Shoulders, Large Yellow Underwing, 4 Double Square-spots, Clay, 3 Smoky Wainscots, Poplar Grey, 3 Brown Rustics, Small Angle Shades, 3 Dark Arches, Middle-barred Minor, Treble Lines, 13 Uncertains, Marbled White Spot, Green Silver-lines, 5 Beautiful Hook-tips, 3 Straw Dots, 5 Snouts, 3 Fan-foots and Small Fan-foot.

Barred Yellow, North Elmham, 21st June

If the moths were good then the other insects were just as good!  So good in fact that I think I'll save them for another post!