Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Tortrix Moths (Tortricidae) (Part 4: Buttons II (Acleris to Pseudargyrotoza))

 TORTRIX MOTHS (TORTRICIDAE) (continued)


Tufted Button Acleris cristana - None in 2019 but one in the garden moth trap on 30th January 2020.  2019 wasn't my first blank year here but I had 6 here in the previous 3 years.

male Tufted Button Acleris cristana, North Elmham, 30th January 2020

Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana - A total of 92 in the garden trap between 20th July and 18th October 2019.  Although only one less than 2018 this was my worst year since moving here and I recorded double this number in 2016.  It picked up a bit in 2020 with 123 between 6th July and 28th October.  Very few elsewhere: one next door, one at the meadows and 2 in Cornwall.

Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd August 2019

Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 6th July 2020

Ginger Button Acleris aspersana - None.  I've only recorded 3 of these, all in my garden in 2016-2017.


Meadow-sweet Button Acleris shepherdana - One at the meadows and 2 in my garden trap on the same night, 4th August 2019, and another at home 5 nights later.  3 in my garden is exceptional - I'd only ever had one here before, in 2015, but it wasn't a particularly good year for the species elsewhere in Norfolk - in fact there were only 2 others reported in the county in 2019!  None in 2020.

male Meadow-sweet Button Acleris shepherdana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019

male and female Meadow-sweet Buttons Acleris shepherdana, North Elmham, 4th August 2019

male Meadow-sweet Button Acleris shepherdana, North Elmham, 9th August 2019

Sallow Button Acleris hastiana - One in the garden trap on 25th December 2019, a nice Christmas present being a species I have only recorded here 3 times before (2016 and 2017).  None in 2020.

male Sallow Button Acleris hastiana, North Elmham, 25th December 2019

Heath Button Acleris hyemana - I caught my first ever example of this species in my parent's garden in Keswick (the one in Cumbria not the one in Norfolk) on 6th April 2019.  It was quite a worn individual that wasn't showing the distinctive markings often associated with this species, and so required gen detting to resolve (although I did have an inkling that it might be this species).  This species does occur in Norfolk and can apparently be seen on sunny days, though it hasn't ever been recorded close to here, and nowhere even remotely close since the start of this millenium.

male Heath Button Acleris hyemana, Keswick (Cumbria), 6th April 2019

Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana - A total of 8 caught in my garden trap in 2019 which is just about my highest annual total here (average 5 a year).  3 were between 15th March and 22nd April, the spring (hibernated) generation, one on 12th July was the only one from the summer generation and the other 4 were from the autumn (and overwintering) generation between 28th September and 25th November.  The same generation made up 4 of 2020's records between 16th January and 15th February and then there were singles on 11th and 13th July.  Elsewhere a larval record from the meadows on 24th August 2020 (thanks to Rob Edmunds for confirming this one).

male Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham, 15th March 2019

female Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham, 22nd April 2019

female Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham, 12th July 2019

male Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham, 28th September 2019

male Rusty Oak Buttons Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham, 25th November 2019

male Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham, 31st January 2020

male Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham, 4th February 2020

male Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham, 13th July 2020

caterpillar and pupa of Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 24th August 2020 (pupa photographed on 9th December)

Rusty Birch Button Acleris notana - None.  Despite the close proximity of 2 Birch trees (one very mature) to my garden I have never recorded this species here (or anywhere locally).


Elm Button Acleris kochiella - None.  I've never seen this species but the species has increased significantly in recent yearas and is now widespread in Norfolk, so I should think I must be in with a good chance of catching one locally.


Grey Birch Button Acleris logiana - One in my garden moth trap on 5th July 2020 was my first here, and indeed my first anywhere since just before I moved here in 2014.

female Grey Birch Button Acleris logiana, North Elmham, 5th July 2020

Lichen Button Acleris literana - None.  Another one I'm yet to connect with, but with a scattering of records around the county there must be a fair chance of me finding one round here.  Hope so anyway - they look fabulous!


Brassy Tortrix Eulia ministrana - One in my garden trap on 31st May 2019 was a new moth for the garden.  None in 2020.

Brassy Tortrix Eulia ministrana, North Elmham, 31st  May 2019

Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana - Singles caught in my garden on 4 nights between 31st May and 31st July 2019 and 3 between 12th June and 4th July 2020.  Although these are average showings I've had 2 blank years (and 10 in 2016).  Elsewhere 3 at the meadows and one at Weybourne.

Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 21st June 2019

Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 23rd June 2020

Next page: more Tortricidae

Roydon Common

Dave and I rolled up to Roydon Common at 6 pm on Saturday, two and a half hours early for the organised Norfolk Moth Survey event.  We hoped to find some day-flying moths before putting the lights on, and I'm glad we made the effort.  We parked at the west end and walked through the woodland to the south-west corner, kicking up Diamond-back Moths Plutella xylostella on every footstep.  It's impossible to say how many we saw - I put down 2000 but wouldn't be surprised if it was more like 20,000.

What was more surprising was the difficulty we found in finding anything else, although in the end we came up with some good stuff.  Fairly quickly we found a couple of Common Marbles Celypha lacunana and a more impressive 8 Brassy Tortrixes Eulia ministrana (doubling the total number I had ever seen before).  We found a Plain Fanner Glyphipterix fuscoviridella and a couple of Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, and Common Groundhopper, a Kidney-spot Ladybird and the red-and-black bug Cercopis vulnerata, but in the first hour or so that was about the lot.

Brassy Tortrix Eulia ministrana, Roydon Common, 4th June

Common Groundhopper, Roydon Common, 4th June

Hoof Fungus, Roydon Common, 4th June

When we reached some small clearings in the woodland things stepped up a gear. They were so thick with Diamond-back Moths it was hard to pick out anything else and the most productive technique turned out to be just to swing the net a few times and then sift through the Diamond-backs in the net for anything else.  Not that we recorded a vast array of species deploying this technique, but we did start to see a bit more quality.  Best was my first ever White-headed Dwarf Elachista albifrontella.

White-headed Dwarf Elachista albifrontella, Roydon Common, 4th June

Also here were White Oak Midget Phyllonorycter harrisella, my second ever Speckled Fanner Glyphipterix thrasonella (like my first, belonging to the plain form), Yarrow Conch Aethes smeathmanniana and 2 Rush Marbles Bactra lancealana.

Speckled Fanner Glyphipterix thrasonella, Roydon Common, 4th June

We continued along the track running west along the southern edge of the common adding Cocksfoot Moth Glyphipterix simpliciella (our third Glyphipterix species of the evening) and Red Roller Ancylis mitterbacheriana.  With the north wind cutting across the heathland we were more exposed here and saw a reduction in Diamond-back numbers, though they were still very easy to find.

A couple more White Oak Midgets Phyllonorycter harrisella were found in the row of small Oaks along this track, and it was at this point we bumbed into Paul Cobb who had also arrived early, but mainly to look for Lacewings.  We were just leaving him to head back to the car park when he knocked a small moth out of the oaks and called us back. "This is one for you" he said, finding it to be a moth and not a Lacewing, so we headed back and had a look.  It was another white Phyllonorycter, but this one had orangey transverse fascias in the basal half.  I was immediately reminded of Scarce Oak Midget Phyllonorycter kuhlweiniella, and taken back to the extraordinary events of 2014 when I discovered several of this species in north Norfolk.  Back then I wrote: "This species was not recorded in the UK between 1949 and 1982 when a population was discovered in south Norfolk. Subsequently it was recorded in south Norfolk only up until 1996 and has been looked for since but not found. There have been 3 Suffolk records, the last in 2002. There have never been any records in north Norfolk. So it seems I've uncovered a hitherto unknown population of a Red Data Book moth that has been looked for but not found for over a decade even in the places where it was once known to occur."  I went on to find lots more at several sites, and others were soon finding them too that year.  But 2014 was an extraordinary year for many Phyllonorycter species and the population explosion clearly allowed this very scarce species to be detected in places where it had presumably been hanging on undetected in small numbers all along.  Last year was back to normal and there were no more records in Norfolk (I don't know about elsewhere but haven't heard of any).  So had we got another, at another new location for the species?  Or is there another similar-looking oak-feeding species?  I couldn't remember for sure so took it home with me to confirm.  It was on its last legs and by the time it got home it had expired, but it was indeed another Scarce Oak Midget Phyllonorycter kuhlweiniella.  Nice one!

daed Scarce Oak Midget Phyllonorycter kuhlweiniella, Roydon Common, 4th June

We returned to the car park and moved round to the meeting place before deciding where to place our traps.  Some traps were set south of the western car park while others went on near the bog myrtle on the southern side in the hope of finding Light Knot Grass.  But it was pretty exposed there and I thought we ought to set some up in the more sheltered woodland on the east side, even though this is technically not part of the NWT reserve.  Dave, Richard and I set up in a clearing here, joined by Peter and Paul, and some of the others joined us for a while.  I'm glad we opted for this as we caught far more moths than the other sites I think, and no-one found the target Light Knot Grass.

The highlight for us was a White Colon, a species none of us were expecting and which Dave had arranged to search for in NW Norfolk later this week.  Apparently the group at the west end caught one too.

White Colon, Roydon Common, 4th June

Other decent macros included 2 Small Seraphims, Peacock Moth, Bordered White, 2 Lime Hawkmoths, Small Elephant Hawkmoth, 3 Lobster Moths, 2 Great Prominents and Dog's Tooth.

Peacock Moth (male, gen det), Roydon Common, 4th June

Dog's Tooth, Roydon Common, 4th June

Bordered White, Roydon Common, 4th June

Small Seraphim, Roydon Common, 4th June

Small Elephant Hawkmoth, Roydon Common, 4th June

Lime Hawkmoths, Roydon Common, 4th June

Lobster Moth, Roydon Common, 4th June

The remaining macros included 2 Common Swifts, Pebble Hook-tip, Common Carpet, Common Marbled Carpet, Grey Pine Carpet, 4 Green Carpets, 2 Mottled Pugs, Common Pug, Grey Pug, 2 Clouded Borders, Tawny-barred Angle, Pale Oak Beauty, White-pinion Spotted, Iron Prominent, 2 Lesser Swallow Prominents, Coxcomb Prominent, Pale Prominent, 2 Marbled Browns, 3 Pale Tussocks, 8 Orange Footmen, Least Black Arches, 2 Flame Shoulders, Large Yellow Underwing, Small Square-spot, Setaceous Hebrew Character, 2 Rustic Shoulder-knots, Brown Rustic, Angle Shades, Middle-barred Minor, Treble Lines and Straw Dot.

Grey Pug (female, gen det), Roydon Common, 4th June

There weren't nearly as many Diamond-back Moths coming to light as we'd seen in the clearing earlier, but other micros included Yellow-barred Long-horn Nemophora degeerella, 4 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana, Grey Gorse Piercer Cydia ulicetana, Hook-streaked Grass-Veneer Crambus lathoniellus, Meadow Grey Scoparia pyralella and 20 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis.

Yellow-barred Long-horn Nemophora degeerella, Roydon Common, 4th June

Additionally this very dark Cnephasia had us stumped.  I recognised the Cnephasia pattern but have never seen such a dark individual before (I think it looks paler in the photo than it did in life).  It turned out to be Flax Tortrix Cnephasia asseclana.

Flax Tortrix Cnephasia asseclana (male, gen det), Roydon Common, 4th June

Among the caddisflies was my first Plectrocnemia conspersa.  No photos of that alive but here are a couple of other caddisflies recorded: Grammotaulius nigropunctatus and Limnephilus sparsus.

Grammotaulius nigropunctatus (male), Roydon Common, 4th June

Limnephilus sparsus (female), Roydon Common, 4th June

Other inverts included 2 Common Striped Woodlice Philoscia muscorum and the mirid bug Stenodema laevigata.

Common Striped Woodlouse Philoscia muscorum, Roydon Common, 4th June

Stenodema laevigata, Roydon Common, 4th June