Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Geometers (Geometridae) - part 3: Carpets II (Epirrhoe to Hydriomena)

GEOMETERS (GEOMETRIDAE) (continued)


Small Argent & Sable Epirrhoe tristata - On Mull, one west of Carsaig on 10th June 2019 and 2 along the road to Glengorm on 12th June.  This was the first time I've seen this non-Norfolk species in the UK.

Small Argent & Sable, west of Carsaig (Mull), 10th June 2019

Small Argent & Sable, Glengorm Road (Mull), 12th June 2019

Common Carpet Epirrhoe alternata - At least 40 caught in the garden between 25th May and 12th September 2019.  Not counted on 6 nights but with 1s and 2s around this time I doubt if the true figure was much higher than 40-50, so probably below average (about 60).  In 2020 67 between 21st May and 24th August, my second best total here in 6 years.  Elsewhere recorded next door, at the meadows (27 across 15 dates), and at Bintree Wood, Whitwell Street, Hills and Holes and Weybourne.

Common Carpet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd May 2019

Wood Carpet Epirrhoe rivata - One caught at home on 7th July 2019.  Until 2018 I was pretty skeptical about Wood Carpet records having noted a number of big pale-banded moths that I had taken to be extreme Common Carpets.  However in 2018 we found such a strong candidate for Wood Carpet at Derby Fen that I was forced to start taking them more seriously.  That individual was identified as Wood Carpet by a combination of features:

1. It was very big – forewing length of about 15.5 mm so outside the given range for Common Carpet and towards the upper end of the range even for Wood Carpet;
2. The white outer band on the forewing was broad, very white and with only very faint trace of a grey line dividing it through the centre (3-4 slightly more prominent grey dots near the leading edge but still faint);
3. The white outer band on the hindwing was similarly broad and white and lacked any grey dividing line;
4. Also the rear border of the white outer band on the forewing was very smooth (I’ve never seen this cited as a feature but it seems to be pretty consistent in most convincing photos of Wood Carpet online – Common Carpet nearly always having a more scalloped rear border to the white outer band on the forewing, at least when fresh).

That individual was a male, but although there are no known differences in male genitalia between the two species the consensus of opinion among all consulted was that this was indeed a Wood Carpet.  Two days later I caught another good candidate at home.  This was a female and although it is not clear that genitalia differences in females are consistent, there is a substantial difference between online images of female Wood Carpet genitalia and all the images I can find of female Common Carpet - and mine resembled the Wood Carpet's genitalia.  I caught one more apparent male at home a little while later and while not all of these 3 showed every character of Wood Carpet in perfection, I'm pretty much satisfied that that's what they all were.  If I'm right then I'm pretty sure that I've overlooked these in the past - the big pale-banded "Common" Carpets probably were Wood Carpets after all.  However, all this assumes that there are actually two clearly distinct different species, and I gather that isn't universally accepted.  Anyway, 2019's was another male, slightly worn and thus not as perfect as the Derby Fen individual but seems to me that it probably sits within the bounds of whatever Wood Carpets actually are.  None in 2020.

apparent Wood Carpet, North Elmham, 7th July 2019

Galium Carpet Epirrhoe rivata - None.  I'm yet to catch this species but there are a scattering of records in mid Norfolk so maybe I'll catch one some time.


Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata - Only one trapped in the garden in 2019, on 23rd June.  I had been averaging over 5 a year and caught 3 in my previous worst year (2018).  2020 was better with 6 between 22nd June and 19th August.  Elsewhere 5 caught at the meadows, 5 at Bintree Wood and one at Hills and Holes.

Sharp-angled Carpet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 23rd June 2019

Sharp-angled Carpet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th July 2019

Sharp-angled Carpet, Bintree Wood, 13th June 2020

Sharp-angled Carpet, North Elmham, 22nd June 2020

Shoulder Stripe Earophila badiata - Totals of 5 trapped in the garden between 21st March and 24th April 2019 and 6 between 19th March and 11th April 2020.  5 is my worst annual total here - I've averaged 9 a year.  Elsewhere just 2 at the meadows on 20th March 2019.

Shoulder Stripe, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th March 2019

Shoulder Stripe, North Elmham, 24th April 2019

Shoulder Stripe, North Elmham, 9th April 2020

Streamer Anticlea derivata - Just 3 caught in the garden between 24th April and 19th May 2019 and 16 between 8th April and 9th May 2020.  These were my worst and second-best showings - apart from 23 in 2016 I've caugt 4-5 in the other years.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 22nd April 2019.

Streamer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd April 2019

Streamer, North Elmham, 24th April 2019

Beautiful Carpet Mesoleuca albicillata - None.  I have only ever caught one of these, at my last place in Bawdeswell in 2010.  It was quite early in my mothing career and I don't think I realised quite how good it was at the time.  I look forward to the next one, hopefully here in North Elmham.


Dark Spinach Pelurga comitata - Singles caught in my garden on 8th August 2019 and 29th July 2020, then one at the meadows on 7th August 2020.  I'd only ever seen 3 before, all here (one in 2016 and 2 in 2018).

Dark Spinach, North Elmham, 8th August 2019

Dark Spinach, North Elmham, 29th July 2020

Dark Spinach, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

Mallow Larentia clavaria - Totals of 6 trapped in my garden between 23rd September and 10th October 2019 and 11 between 21st September and 19th October 2020.  These were below par and 2019 was my lowest total so far.

Mallow, North Elmham, 21st September 2020

July Highflyer Hydriomena furcata - 5 caught in my garden between 6th July and 7th August 2019 was below average but 2 in 2020 (29th June and 11th July) was my worst year here so far.  I average 7 a year here but often catch a lot more at other sites - only 3 elsewhere in 2019/20 though, with singles at the meadows, Bintree Wood and Weybourne.

July Highflyer, North Elmham, 5th August 2019

July Highflyer, North Elmham, 29th June 2020

May Highflyer Hydriomena impluviata - One here on 25th May 2019 and 3 between 17th and 21st May 2020.  This species isn't quite annual here though I usually catch 2-3.  Also one at Sculthorpe Moor on 26th April 2019 and 2 at Hills and Holes on 21st May 2020.

May Highflyer, North Elmham, 25th May 2019

May Highflyer, North Elmham, 17th May 2020

Next page: more Geometridae

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