Twin-spot Carpet Mesotype didymata - One caught in my garden trap on 26th June 2019. This was only my second here following one in 2015. None in 2020.
Twin-spot Carpet, North Elmham, 26th June 2019
Rivulet Perizoma affinitata - None in the garden in 2019 but one on 12th June 2020 - I average one a year but 2019 wasn't my first blank. Elsewhere one at the meadows on 25th May 2019 and 3 on Mull in June 2019. I don't find the usually-stated feature of the indentation in the crossband to be consistent, or at least clear in many individuals, and when size isn't obvious I resort to measuring them and, in a few cases, dissecting them. They normally prove to be the species I thought they were going to be, but I have been surprised by a couple of individuals.
Rivulet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 25th May 2019
Rivulets, Carsaig (Mull), 13th June 2019
Rivulet, North Elmham, 12th June 2020
Small Rivulet Perizoma alchemillata - One in the garden trap on 19th May 2019 then 18 between 10th July and 6th August 2019 and 19 between 30th June and 20th August 2020. I average about 20 a year so these were fairly typical. Elsewhere 7 at the meadows (including 2 spring generation ones on 17th May 2020), one at Bintree Wood and one in Hellesdon.
Small Rivulet, North Elmham, 19th May 2019
Small Rivulet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 17th May 2020
Small Rivulet, North Elmham, 1st August 2020
Barred Rivulet Perizoma bifaciata - None. I've recorded this in the garden 3 times (2014 and 2017).
Grass Rivulet Perizoma albulata - Previously I've only ever seen this species during the day on wet flower-rich meadows so it wasn't really a moth I was expecting to trap at home. So one in my garden trap on 23rd June 2019 was a nice surprise, even if it wasn't the tidiest specimen I've ever seen.
Grass Rivulet, North Elmham, 23rd June 2019
Sandy Carpet Perizoma flavofasciata - Totals of 8 in the garden between 20th May and 23rd July 2019 and 8 between 17th May and 31st July 2020. I've averaged 13 a year and these were my lowest totals so far. Also 2 at the meadows and one at Bintree Wood.
Sandy Carpet, North Elmham, 20th May 2019
Sandy Carpet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 31st May 2019
Sandy Carpet, North Elmham, 12th June 2020
Marsh Carpet Gagitodes sagittata - None. I've never seen this fabulous moth but it occurs in the Wensum Valley at least as far up as Sparham Pools. Maybe, just maybe, there are a few a little bit further up the valley too, and one day one might come to light here or at the meadows...
Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata - A total of 11 in the garden between 21st March (my earliest ever) and 22nd April 2019 and then 24 between 24th June and 3rd September 2019. Then in 2020, 6 between 5th and 26th April and 34 between 24th June and 7th September. The totals of 35 and 40 were a bit below the average of 47. Recorded 3 times at the meadows and also at Whitwell Street, Swanton Great Wood, Sculthorpe Moor, Brancaster and in Cornwall.
Double-striped Pug, North Elmham, 21st March 2019
Double-striped Pug, North Elmham, 9th April 2020
V-Pug Chloroclystis v-ata - Singles caught in the garden on 24th June and 21st July 2019. This was my worst showing to date - I average 12 of these a year. A more typical 11 in 2020 between 18th May and 12th August. Elsewhere one at Sculthorpe Moor on 26th April 2019 was my earliest ever and one at Whitwell Street on 3rd September 2020 was my latest ever.
V-Pug, North Elmham, 18th May 2020
Sloe Pug Pasiphila chloerata - None in 2019 but my second and third records ever were in 2020: my first at home on 31st May and my first at the meadows on 18th June.
male Sloe Pug, North Elmham, 31st May 2020
female Sloe Pug, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th June 2020
Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata - Totals of 10 in my trap between 2nd June and 23rd July 2019 and 4 between 11th and 17th June 2020. Since the 39 in my first full year here (2015) numbers have decreased every year. I hope it's a dip rather than a long-term trend as they're beautiful little moths. Elsewhere 3 at the meadows and one at Weybourne.
Green Pug, North Elmham, 2nd June 2019
Green Pug, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 23rd June 2019
Green Pug, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 30th June 2019
Haworth's Pug Eupithecia haworthiata - None. I've had 4 here, all between 2016 and 2018.
Slender Pug Eupithecia tenuiata - Totals of 4 in the garden trap between 10th and 25th July 2019 and 3 between 17th and 31st July 2020. I've had up to 5 in a year (2015 and 2018) but also none (2017). I've not found this species anywhere but in my garden since I moved here in 2014.
Slender Pug, North Elmham, 10th July 2019
Slender Pug, North Elmham, 23rd July 2019
female Slender Pug, North Elmham, 17th July 2020
female Slender Pug, North Elmham, 31st July 2020
Maple Pug Eupithecia inturbata - Totals of 15 caught here between 22nd July and 9th August 2019 and 18 between 29th July and 15th August - my best years for this species so far (average is less than 10/year). Elsewhere 2 at the meadows on 4th August 2019 and 2 on 7th August 2020. A high proportion of Maple Pugs I catch are too worn to identify based on external appearance, although I've usually got a pretty good idea what they are before confirming. One of the 2020 moths was partially melanic - the forewings were mostly uniform dark (though not as dark as the stigma which were still clear) except at the base which was paler, and a pale subterminal line (last photo below).
male Maple Pug, North Elmham, 30th July 2019
male Maple Pug, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019
female Maple Pug, North Elmham, 9th August 2019
female Maple Pug, North Elmham, 4th August 2020
female Maple Pug, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020
male Maple Pug, North Elmham, 7th August 2020
melanic female Maple Pug, North Elmham, 9th August 2020
Toadflax Pug Eupithecia linariata - None in 2019 and then 2 in the garden trap on 12th August 2020, a new moth for the garden. I find this and the next species a much more troublesome duo to identify than the literature suggests they should be, with considerable overlap in the main characteristic.
male and female Toadflax Pugs, North Elmham, 9th August 2020
Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata - Totals of 5 in my garden between 1st June and 25th July 2019 and 3 between 20th May and 2nd July 2020. Annual totals here have fluctuated between one in 2017 and 19 in 2016. Elsewhere 4 on Mull, 3 at Hills and Holes, one at Bintree Wood and a late one at Row Heath (West Runton) on 31st August 2019. I'm slightly worried about that one as it's a very late date for this species (much less so for Toadflax Pug) but I didn't remember that at the time - this was a group event and I don't recall if it was my identification or someone else's, or how carefully I or anyone else checked it.
Foxglove Pug, North Elmham, 20th May 2020
Foxglove Pug, Hills and Holes, 21st May 2020
Foxglove Pug, Bintree Wood, 13th June 2020
Marsh Pug Eupithecia pygmaeata - None in 2019. I was keen to record this species locally after having a possible at Creaking Gate Lake a few years ago that I didn't quite see well enough to clinch it. I got my chance unexpectedly on 12th August 2020 when I netted one along the railway at the bottom of the meadows. I wondered if it might be Marsh Pug but it was a very late date for this species and it was unusually plain and dark (though it was a bit worn). In the absence of any other clear contenders, but in view of the importance of getting this interesting record correct, it went under the microscope and proved indeed to be a Marsh Pug.
male Marsh Pug, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th August 2020
Netted Pug Eupithecia venosata - One in my garden moth trap on 21st May 2020. I had never seen one before and it was pretty high up on my list of most-wanted moths, maybe even at the top, so it was very exciting to find it in my trap. There hadn't been any records from my 10km square before, but a few from the squares to the east and Keith caught one at Litcham to the west in 2018, so I had high hopes.
Netted Pug, North Elmham, 21st May 2020
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