Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Eggars (Lasiocampidae), Emperor (Saturniidae) and Hawk-moths (Sphingiidae)

EGGARS (LASIOCAMPIDAE)


December Moth Poecilocampa populi - Totals of 22 in the garden between 16th November and 5th December 2019 and 37 between 6th November and 12th December 2020.  These were my best totals so far and included peaks of 7 on 22nd November 2019 (a record count) and 6 on 24th November 2020.  Also caterpillars in the garden on 23rd March 2019 and 5th April 2020.  Elsewhere singles at the meadows in both years.

December Moth, North Elmham, 23rd November 2019

December Moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 24th November 2019

December Moth caterpillar, North Elmham, 5th April 2020

December Moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November 2020

Pale Eggar Trichiura crategi - Singles trapped at home on 4 dates between 28th August and 5th September 2019 and on 24th August 2020.  Even allowing for the possibility of having re-trapped the same individual once or twice the 2019 series was a good showing as I've only ever caught 2 before (2015 and 2016).

Pale Eggar, North Elmham, 28th August 2019

Pale Eggar, North Elmham, 24th August 2020

Lackey Malacosama neustria - None.  I've never seen this species although it seems to be common enough in various parts of Norfolk.  Not round here though - a complete lack of modern-day records anywhere near here until one in the Reepham area in 2020 - maybe there is hope?


Small Eggar Eriogaster lanestris - None.  I'm yet to record this species at home despite seeing a colony of caterpillars in next door's hedge in 2018, less than 50m away from my moth trap.  It appears that this species doesn't come to light easily - I've only ever trapped one adult anywhere.


Oak Eggar Lasiocampa quercus - One at Weybourne on 5th July 2019 and one in the garden on 13th July 2020, my 5th record here in 6 years.

Oak Eggar, North Elmham, 13th July 2020 - making a Large Yellow Underwing look small

Fox Moth Macrothylacia rubi - None in Norfolk but 4 caterpillars at various points along the Cornish coast between Porthgwarra Moor and St Loy in October 2020.  Despite being quite easy to find in the Brecks, the west Norfolk heaths and parts of the east coast this species appears to be completely absent from central Norfolk, even from the heathy areas.  In view of that I'm probably not very likely to record one locally, but you never know...

Fox Moth caterpillar, St Loy (Cornwall), 5th October 2020

Drinker Euthrix potatoria - 2 very poor years for this species with singles in the garden moth trap on just 3 dates, 16th and 20th July 2019 and 20th July 2020.  I've averaged 4 a year here and never had as few as one before.  Elsewhere 2 at the meadows, 2 at Bintree Wood and singles at Hellesdon and Mull.

Drinker, Carsaig (Mull), 11th June 2019

Drinker, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July 2020

Lappet Gastropacha quercifolia - This was the main target on a visit to Brancaster dunes with Will and Sarah on 2nd July 2020 and we were made up when one came in to the LED lights.  An absolutely incredible moth, and one that had long been high up on my most-wanted list.

Lappet, Brancaster, 2nd July 2020

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EMPEROR (SATURNIIDAE)


Emperor Moth Saturnia pavonia - Attracted to pheremone lure here on 21st April 2019 and 9th April 2020, my second and third records here.  Also 5 to lure at the meadows between 29th March and 20th April 2019 and one on 8th April 2020.

Emperor Moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 29th March 2019

Emperor Moth, North Elmham, 21st April 2019

Emperor Moth, North Elmhamn Cathedral Meadows, 8th April 2020 (I had the lure out for just a couple of minutes; these were taken after I'd put it away but the smell must have remained on the surface where I'd placed it (it did fly off after a while)

Emperor Moth, North Elmham, 9th April 2020

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HAWK-MOTHS (SPHINGIDAE)


Lime Hawk-moth Mimas tiliae - One at Weybourne on 5th July 2019.  I've only ever had one of these at home (2016) - not sure where my nearest Limes are.  I had one at the meadows in 2018 despite no limes there either.  None in 2020.


Eyed Hawk-moth Smerinthus ocellata - None in the garden moth trap in 2019 despite averaging 7-8 a year over the previous 4 years, but 7 here between 20th May and 25th June 2020.  Elsewhere 2 to LED lights at the meadows, 2 at Weybourne and 2 at Brancaster.

Eyed Hawk-moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 23rd June 2019

Eyed Hawk-moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 17th May 2020

Eyed Hawk-moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th June 2020

Poplar Hawk-moth Laothoe populi - Totals of 32 at home between 7th May and 27th August 2019 and 40 between 9th May and 16th August - fairly typical years.  Elsewhere 2 next door, 2 at the meadows, 5 at Hellesdon, 3 at Weybourne and singles at Bintree Wood, Hills and Holes and on Mull.

Poplar Hawk-moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 30th June 2019

Poplar Hawk-moths, North Elmham, 26th May 2019

Poplar Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 9th May 2020

Convolvulus Hawk-moth Agrius convolvuli - None.  The only example of this migrant species that I've ever trapped was in my garden in October 2016.  My garden doesn't do well for migrants generally so it's never likely to be more than a very occasional visitor here.


Privet Hawk-moth Sphinx ligustri - 8 caught in my garden between 5th June and 4th August 2019 and 9 between 26th May and 6th July 2020, fairly typical showings.  Elsewhere one at the meadows and one at Weybourne.

Privet Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 5th June2019 - with a Treble Lines for scale

Privet Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 6th July 2020

Pine Hawk-moth Sphinx pinastri - One in the garden trap on 22nd July 2019.  That was only my 5th since moving in in August 2014 so it was pretty remarkable that I caught 8 here between 19th May and 29th July 2020 (all singles except 2 on 18th July).  Elsewhere one at Swanton Great Wood on 27th August 2019 and 3 at Bintree Wood in 2020.

Pine Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 22nd July 2019

Pine Hawk-moth, Swanton Great Wood, 27th August 2019

Pine Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 18th July 2020

Pine Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 29th July 2020

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth Hemaris fuciformis - None.  I've never recorded this species locally but there are a small number of recent records from not far away so it's feasible that I will someday.


Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum - One at the meadows on 29th July 2019 hovered  briefly at a Rosebay Willowherb flower but didn't actually feed before flying off, and I was unable to relocate it.  I've never recorded this species in my garden but with it being a small sheltered garden there isn't much room to grow suitable sun-loving flowers.


Bedstraw Hawk-moth Hyles gallii - None.  I've never seen this scarce migrant locally (only at the coast where it breeds).  Records in mid Norfolk are few and far between but there's a chance I might get one here one day.


Elephant Hawk-moth Deilephila elpenor - Totals of 37 caught in the garden between 30th May and 1st August 2019 and 33 between 18th May and 23rd July 2020 - both at or close to the bottom end of the range of annual numbers of this species here.  Elsewhere 3 at the meadows, 5 at Hellesdon, 2 at Weybourne, one at Brancaster and a total of 8 on Mull.  A neighbour asked my to go and have a look at a mystery creature she had found on a plant in her garden on 16th August 2020 - it was an Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar.

Elephant Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 30th May 2019

Elephant Hawk-moth, Carsaig (Mull), 11th June 2019

Elephant Hawk-moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th July 2019

Elephant Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 17th July 2020

Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar, North Elmham, 16th August 2020

Small Elephant Hawk-moth Deilephila porcellus - One at Weybourne on 5th July 2019.  I caught 3 in my garden in 2015 and one the following year but none now for 4 consecutive years.  None in 2020.

Small Elephant Hawk-moth, Weybourne, 5th July 2019

Next page: Geometridae

Derby Fen

I was supposed to be 'in charge' at the Norfolk Moth Survey event at Derby Fen as none of the usual suspects could make it that night (9th June).  I'd not been there before so Dave and I arrived early and had a wander round. We managed to find a good range of moths in the lower parts of the fen including my first ever confirmed Marsh Pug, a Hawthorn Bent-wing Bucculatrix bechsteinella and a variety of the commoner Coleophora species.  We also found Little Grass-veneer Platytes cerussella to be abundant here, a species I’ve only previously seen in those sorts of numbers in the Brecks.

Marsh Pug, Derby Fen, 9th June

We were then joined by Tony and Garry and set up light traps. What may perhaps have been the best area to set them was too far to lug all the equipment, although Tony did manage to get his smaller trap down as far as a patch of Bog Myrtle. I was hoping we might find a Light Knot Grass there, but no such luck – but between us we did trap a nice variety of species including a few decent ones like Wood Carpet and Sloe Pug (both lifers for me).

Wood Carpet, Derby Fen, 9th June

Sloe Pug (male, gen det), Derby Fen, 9th June

We were surprised to find a Saltmarsh Plume Agdistis bennetii, but it seems like it was a good year for this species turning up inland.

Saltmasrh Plume Agdistis bennetii, Derby Fen, 9th June

Hawk-moths included Pine, Eyed, Poplar, Elephant and Small Elephant Hawk-moths and there were 3 Fox Moths. There were good numbers of July Belles and Sharp-angled Carpets along with 2 Shaded Pugs, 2 Four-dotted Footmen, a Broom Moth, 2 Bird’s Wings and a Dark Spectacle.

Fox Moth, Derby Fen, 9th June

Four-dotted Footman, Derby Fen, 9th June

Broom Moth, Derby Fen, 9th June

Bird's Wing, Derby Fen, 9th June

Other macro moth species we recorded were Ghost Moth, 4 Common Swifts, 2 Pebble Hook-tips, Treble Brown Spot, Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, 3 Silver-ground Carpets, Common Carpet, Yellow Shell, 2 Purple Bars, 3 Common Marbled Carpets, 5 Green Carpets, May Highflyer, Sandy Carpet, 's Pug, Wormwood Pug, 2 Common Pugs, 2 Grey Pugs, Small Yellow Wave, 2 Clouded Borders, Brown Silver-line, 5 Scorched Wings, 4 Brimstone Moths, 2 Peppered Moths, Willow Beauty, 3 Clouded Silvers, Light Emerald, Pebble Prominent, 2 Lesser Swallow Prominents, 2 Marbled Browns, 2 Pale Tussocks, 5 White Ermines, 2 Buff Ermines, 2 Cinnabars, Heart and Club, 6 Heart and Darts, 4 Flame Shoulders, Ingrailed Clay, 3 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 4 Shears, 2 Light Brocades, 2 Bright-line Brown-eyes, Lychnis, Common Wainscot, 5 Shoulder-striped Wainscots, Grey or Dark Dagger, 6 Brown Rustics, Angle Shades, 3 Dark Arches, 2 Clouded-bordered Brindles, 2 Small Clouded Brindles, Large Nutmeg, 2 Rustic Shoulder-knots, 5 Marbled Minors, 2 Tawny Marbled Minors, 18 Middle-barred Minors, 6 Treble Lines, Mottled Rustic, Marbled White Spot, 4 Burnished Brasses, 2 Silver Ys, Dark Spectacle, Spectacle, Beautiful Hook-tip, 12 Straw Dots and Snout.

The rest of the micros were 3 Sorrel Bent-wings Opostega salaciella, Yellow-barred Long-horn Nemophora degeerella, Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, Gorse Case-bearer Coleophora albicosta, Hedge Case-bearer Coleophora striatipennella, Grey Rush Case-bearer Coleophora glaucicolella, Common Rush Case-bearer Coleophora alticolella, 3 Buff Rush Case-bearers Coleophora caespititiella, Large Groundling Teleiopsis diffinis, 2 Black-headed Conches Cochylis atricapitana, 2 Barred Fruit-tree Tortrixes Pandemis cerasana, Timothy Tortrix Aphelia paleana, Flax Tortrix Cnephasia asseclana, 9 Light Grey Tortrixes Cnephasia incertana, 6 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, 3 Triple-blotched Bells Notocelia trimaculana, Bright Bell Eucosma hohenwartiana, 4 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, 2 Hook-streak Grass-veneers Crambus lathoniellus, 15 Meadow Greys Scoparia pyralella,

Caddisflies included Hydropsyche pellucidula and Limnephilus sparsus and there was a Glow-worm.

After all that lot it was a surprisingly quiet night back at home - which made me wonder how good Derby Fen would have been on a better night.  Single-dotted Wave and Snout were the only new moths for the year at home, the rest being Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, Barred Marble Celypha striana, 3 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatella, 2 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, Hook-streak Grass-veneer Crambus lathoniellus, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, Garden Pebble Evergestis forficalis, 2 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Pebble Hook-tip, Cream Wave, Treble Brown Spot, 3 Silver-ground Carpets, Currant Pug, Pale Oak Beauty, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Buff-tip, Pale Tussock, 2 Orange Footmen, Common Footman, White Ermine, 4 Buff Ermines, Cinnabar, Flame Shoulder, 4 Ingrailed Clays, 3 Common Wainscots, Brown Rustic, Tawny Marbled Minor, Middle-barred Minor, 2 Mottled Rustics, 8 Straw Dots; also the caddisfly Limnephilus flavicornis.

Cinereous Neb Bryotropha terrella, North Elmham, 9th June

The following night was dire - just 19 species at what was coming up to the peak time of the year: Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella, London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella, Narrow-winged Grey Eudonia angustea, Garden Pebble Evergestis forficalis, Small Magpie Anania hortulata, Treble Brown Spot, Clouded Border, Buff-tip, 2 White Ermines, 6 Buff Ermines, Heart and Dart, Flame Shoulder, Ingrailed Clay, 2 Common Wainscots, 2 Brown Rustics, Middle-barred Minor, Mottled Rustic and Burnished Brass.

There was a better range of moths during the day at the Cathedral Meadows next day, with Sorrel Bent-wing Opostega salaciella, Buff Long-horn Nematopogon metaxella, Cork Moth Nemapogon cloacella, Cherry-fruit Moth Argyresthia pruniella, Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, Common Yellow Conch Agapeta hamana, Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, 2 Light Grey Tortrixes Cnephasia incertana, 12 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatella, Hoary Bell Eucosma cana, 11 Hook-streak Grass-veneers Crambus lathoniellus, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, Yellow Shell, 4 Green Carpets and Straw Dot.

Buff Long-horn Nematopogon metaxella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

Cherry-fruit Moth Argyresthia pruniella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

Light Grey Tortrix Cnephasia incertana (male, gen det), North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

Common Marble Celypha lacunana, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

Bugs included 2 Leptopterna dolabrata and a female leafhopper would have been a new species for me if I'd managed to identify it to species-level - it was either Cicadula persimilis or Cicadula quadrinotata, but you need a male to get any further than that.

Leptopterna dolobrata, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

 Cicadula persimilis/quadrinotata, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

I netted a beetle seen flying over the railway and this proved to be Hydrobius fuscipes.  I think this is a very common species as I've found several since but this was the first one I'd identified.  There was also a 24-spot Ladybird and the hoverfly Eupeodes corollae.

Hydrobius fuscipes, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

Eupeodes corollae, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June

I think this spider is Tetragnatha extensa, another I'd not identified before.

Tetragnatha extensa, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th June