Lacewing larvae and other interesting insects

On 18th July I spent the evening at the meadows where I found a few insects worth noting.  Butterflies included 2 Purple Hairstreaks.  Bugs included Hairy Shieldbug, a couple of Potato Capsids Closterotomus norwegicus and my first Field Damsel Bug Nabis ferus.  Also the leafhopper Alebra albostriella.

Hairy Shieldbug, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

Potato Capsid Bugs Clostertomus norwegicus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

Field Damsel Bug Nabis ferus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

Alebra albostriella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

There were a couple more Broom Leaf Beetles on the Broom:

Broom Leaf Beetle, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

I took home a couple of lacewings to check their ID - the green one was Dichrochrysa flavifrons and the brown one was Hemerobius micans.  I didn't get to them straight away and by the time I did the Dichochrysa must have laid egss and these had already hatched, as there were one or two larvae running around in the pot with it.  Interesting to see these without a covering of debris as they would have if they were in the wild.

Dichochrysa flavifrons, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

Dichochrysa flavifrons larva, 30th July (from above adult caught North Elmham Cathedral Meadows on 18th July)

Hemerobius micans, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

I stayed at the meadows until dark fell and looked for moths with my torch around dusk, finding 2 Clover Case-bearers Coleophora alcyonipennella, Orange Crest Helcystogramma rufescens, Knapweed Conch Agapeta zoegana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, White-foot Bell Epiblema foenella, Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella, 40 Straw Grass-veneers Agriphila straminella, Common Grass-veneer Agriphila tristella, Pearl Grass-veneer Catoptria pinella, 2 Pale Straw Pearls Udea lutealis, 9 Six-spot Burnets, Least Carpet, 2 Small Fan-footed Waves, 2 Yellow Shells, Dingy Footman and Silver Y. Also a Common Blue butterfly roosting.

Least Carpet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

Six-spot Burnet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

Common Blue, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July

I'd also found a leaf-mine on an Apple that I suspect belonged to Pear-leaf Blister Moth Leucoptera malifoliella.  My photo didn't come out very well though and I'm not entirely sure, and couldn't find it again when I returned later on.  That's a species of moth I've not seen before so I'll have to look out for these again next year.

Quite a few moths at home that night too, with over 400 moths of 98 species, 7 of which were new for the year: Spotted Black Pigmy Ectoedemia subbimaculella*, Bordered Carl Coptotriche marginea, Sloe Midget Phyllonorycter spinicolella, Obscure Neb Bryotropha similis, Brown Elm Bell Epinotia abbreviana, 2 Ear Moths and Fen Wainscot. 

*I won't formally record the Ectoedemia subbimaculella because heringi and hannoverella can be very similar on external and internal features, so I do not consider the identification to be 100% positive.  Indeed I have recently deleted my three records of Ectoedemia hannoverella from last year which I now consider were more likely to be subbimaculella.  It may be possible to separate these on genitalia but from the images on the Dissection Group website I am not clear which differences, if any, are reliable.

probable Spotted Black Pigmy Ectoedemia subbimaculella, North Elmham, 18th July

Sloe Midget Phyllonorycter spinicollela (female, gen det), North Elmham, 18th July

Obscure Neb Bryotropha similis (male, gen det), North Elmham, 18th July

Ear Moth (male, gen det), North Elmham, 18th July

Fen Wainscot, North Elmham, 18th July

The other moths were 2 Bird’s-nest Moths Tinea trinotella, Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, 10 Bird-cherry Ermines Yponomeuta evonymella, Ermine sp. Yponomeuta padella/malinellus/cagnagella, Hawthorn Ermine Paraswammerdamia nebulella, Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, Golden-brown Tubic Crassa unitella, 2 Small Dingy Tubics Borkhausenia fuscescens, 2 Brown House Moths Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Cinerous Neb Bryotropha terrella, Gorse Crest Brachmia blandella, 3 Orange Crests Helcystogramma rufescens, Four-spotted Obscure Oegoconia quadripuncta (and another Oegoconia sp. that got away), 2 Dingy Dowds Blastobasis adustella, Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis heparana, Red-barred Tortrix Ditula angustiorana, Grey Tortrix Cnephasia stephensiana, Flax Tortrix Cnephasia asseclana, 2 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, Nut-bud Moth Epinotia tenerana, Holly Tortrix Rhopobota naevana, 2 Hoary Bells Eucosma cana, 2 Many-plume Moths Alucita hexadactyla, 4 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, 2 Inlaid Grass-veneers Crambus pascuella, 202 Straw Grass-veneers Agriphila straminella, 2 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, 2 Pearl Grass-veneers Catoptria pinella, Chequered Grass-veneer Catoptria falsella, 2 Water Veneers Acentria ephemerella, 2 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, 2 Small Greys Eudonia mercurella, Ringed China-mark Parapoynx stratiotata, 3 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Elder Pearl Anania coronata, Pale Straw Pearl Udea lutealis, 9 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, Rosy Tabby Endotricha flammealis, Bee Moth Aphomia sociella, Grey Knot-horn Acrobasis advenella, Dotted Oak Knot-horn Phycita roborella, 3 Ash-bark Knot-horns Euzophera pinguis, Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla, Chinese Character, 4 Least Carpets, 14 Small Fan-footed Waves, 7 Single-dotted Waves, 7 Riband Waves, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Large Twin-spot Carpet, Shaded Broad-bar, 2 July Highflyers, Small Rivulet, 2 Slender Pugs, Currant Pug, V-Pug, 3 Double-striped Pugs, 6 Clouded Borders, 3 Brimstone Moths, 2 Early Thorns, 2 Scalloped Oaks, Peppered Moth, 5 Willow Beauties, Elephant Hawk-moth, Coxcomb Prominent, 6 Yellow-tails, 2 Rosy Footmen, 13 Dingy Footmen, 8 Scarce Footmen, 28 Common Footmen, 3 Buff Ermines, 2 Ruby Tigers, 6 Double Square-spots, Dot Moth, Antler Moth, Clay, 5 Smoky Wainscots, Common Wainscot, 2 Knot Grasses, 2 Dun-bars, 6 Dark Arches, Cloaked Minor, 4 Common Rustics, Dusky Sallow, 23 Uncertains, 3 Rustics, 2 Nut-tree Tussocks, Beautiful Hook-tip, 2 Snouts and 2 Fan-foots.

Slender Pug, North Elmham, 18th July

A new species of caddisfly is always noteworthy nowadays and there was one in the trap this night: Hydropsyche instabilis.   There were also Hydropsyche pellucidula, Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus and Limnephilus marmoratus.

Hydropsyche instabilis (female), North Elmham, 18th July

There was also a new bug for me, Macrotylus horvathi.

Macrotylus horvathi, North Elmham, 18th July

And also a new barkfly, Metylophorus nebulosus, making it an altogether very successful night's trapping.

Metylophorus nebulosus, North Elmham, 18th July

There were also 3 Blue-winged Olives Serratella ignita, and beetles included Nicrophorus investigator and Orange Ladybird.

Tens of thousands of moths

On Saturday morning I was up at Titchwell birding and swimming in Diamond-back Moths Plutella xylostella.  OK, perhaps that's an exaggeration, but there really were a lot of them.  They were everywhere, but some places were thick with them - you could see maybe 50-100 in some small patches of vegetation with more appearing if the vegetation was disturbed.  I put down 1000 in my records but that really was a very conservative estimate - just of the moths I'd seen.  I couldn't possibly guess how many were actually there.  Tens of thousands obviously, hundreds of thousands probably, millions mabye?  I wouldn't be surprised.

Not much else of lepidopteran note - a Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana and 2 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana were the only other moths I saw in the misty murk.  A Scorpion Fly proved to be Panorpa germanica (gen det).

Next I headed to Dersingham Bog.  I thought there might be fewer moths here with it being further inland, or at least further from a north/east facing coast.  But there were loads of Diamond-back Moths Plutella xylostella here too.  The heath itself was quite windswept and there weren't many here (although still kicking up a few every few steps) but in the shelter of the woodland above the heath there were hundreds.  I didn't spend long here and didn't cover that much ground, but even so I must have easily seen 500.

I managed a few other moths too: 2 Green Long-horns Adela reaumurella, Brassy Tortrix Eulia ministrana, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis and 3 Common Heaths.

Common Heaths, Dersingham Bog, 4th June

A leafhopper turned out to be Chamaepsylla hartigii, a first for me.  A wildflower tick for me here too, which I might not have noticed if it wasn't for the display board telling me about it.  Cranberry.  The flowers aren't exactly tiny and they're bright pink, yet they were strangely hard to see even when looking down on them.  I must have walked past them before, here at least if not elsewhere.

I wish I'd spent longer trying to get a decent photo of an amazing insect that I found on a log pile close to where I parked.  Turned out none of my photos of it were in focus, which is a bit disappointing.  It was obviously an Ichneumon wasp, but what an Ichneumon!  It was a monster!  An absolute beast!  Off the top of my head I can't think of another insect I have ever seen anywhere in the world as long as this.  The body was probably well over an inch long, the antennae about as long on top and then the ovipositor!  Wow!  I believe it's something called Ephialtes manifestator.

Ephialtes manifestator, Dersingham Bog, 4th June

But good as this was, top trump goes to a hoverfly.  A large and very distinctive hoverfly that I was pretty sure I hadn't ever seen before.  Turns out it was Sericomyia lappona, a species with a relatively restricted range in Norfolk.  Looks like it occurs only in west and north-west Norfolk, and given its preference of boggy habitat I would hazard a guess that Dersingham Bog might be the best place to see it in this county.

Sericomyia lappona, Dersingham Bog, 4th June

To the untrained eye this Hoverfly looks even more distinctive, but alas there are 2-3 similar species and the quality of my photos is not high enough for me to be 100% certain of its ID.  Probably Helophilus pendulus.  Not a greatly significant record even if the ID was clinched (either way).

Helophilus sp., probably Helophilus pendulus, Dersingham Bog, 4th June

My next stop was a little further inland, a footpath close to the Babingley River just south of West Newton.  I've been meaning to explore this path for ages.  The path starts running down the edge of a crop field on one side and on the other, a strip of low vegetation, a dyke and then a hedgerow.  It goes on like this for maybe a third of a mile before crossing a sheepfield and then running alongside the river itself.  I only got as far as the sheepfield.  Being a bit further inland I didn't expect especially huge number of Diamond-backs, although with the numbers I'd seen elsewhere I knew it would hold a good few.  Well, it was spectacular.  I have never seen anything like it.  As soon as I opened my car door a cloud of Diamond-back Moths got up beside me.  But this was only the start - they continued all the way down the path.  Counting them was impossible but I was keen to document how many there were so set about to estiamte numbers as accurately (but conservatively) as possible.  To give you an idea, a single stinging-nettle held about 20 - and that was just the ones I could see without disturbing it.  There were a lot of stinging nettles, and a lot of other plants with moths on.  In just one small section in front of me I could see hundreds, and that went on for pretty much the whole footpath.  A very conservative estimate for just this small stretch of footpath was 10-15,000 Diamond-back Moths.

With so many moths present it was hard to pick out any that were different, but I did manage a few.  Best was a new moth for me, and a very attractive one too - White-barred Gold Micropterix aruncella.  They're not hugely rare (indeed my second followed a couple of days later) but a first is always exciting, especially when they're so stunning.

White-barred Gold Micropterix aruncella, Babingley River near West Newton, 4th June

I also found 5 Cocksfoot Moths Glyphipterix simpliciella, a Common Marble Celypha lacunana and a Drinker caterpillar, but an interesting-looking small Plume moth sadly evaded my net.  Bugs included a number of Hairy Shieldbugs and the striking Cercopis vulnerata.

Hairy Shieldbugs, Babingley River near West Newton, 4th June

Cercopis vulnerata, Babingley River near West Newton, 4th June

Dragonflies included at least 20 Azure Damselflies and about 3 Blue-tailed Damselflies.

Azure Damselfly, Babingley River near West Newton, 4th June

Next stop was Roydon Common where I was to join the Norfolk Moth Survey for an evening's trapping.  I got there early - a lot early - with Dave so as to give ourselves plenty of time to look for day-flying moths before the trapping started.  A good time was had, with thousands more Diamond-back Moths, but I'll save the details for my next post...

Another Prays ruficeps as the moths make way for non-Lepidopteran interest

I recently posted about my first ever Dark Ash Bud Moth Prays ruficeps, but when I caught that one I didn't have time to work out what it was and potted it up to look at later.  I hadn't done so when I caught another unfamiliar moth on 24th September, and I hadn't a clue what it was.  This one was a bit worn, and the pale reddish collar from which it gets its name ruficeps wasn't clear.  It was not only a species I wasn't familiar with, but a member of a whole family I wasn't familiar with, and it wasn't really on my radar.  At first I thought it was a Tineid, but although some of the rarer clothes moths could look superficially similar it didn't really look right for a Tineid and none of the likely species matched at all.  Perhaps a worn Scythrid I pondered, but it would have to be not only a very rare species that normally flies in daytime (it was caught overnight) but also flying much later than normal.  Not likely.  Eventually I followed Rob's advice and used the Kleine Vinders key to families in order to at least resolve what family it was in.  These keys aren't always easy to use, but it pointed to Yponomeutidae.  Well, there aren't any Yponomeutids that look anything like this, so that can't be right.  But the size and shape of the moth was somewhat reminiscent of some Yponomeutids.  Then I remembered that some species formerly considered part of Yponomeutidae are now treated as a separate family - specifically Prayidae.  Some of my references don't cover Prays ruficeps as it used to be considered to be a dark form of Ash Bud Moth Prays fraxinella, so perhaps that's my excuse for overlooking it, but anyway once I checked the Prayidae thumbnails on Norfolk Moths, all became clear.

Dark Ash Bud Moth Prays ruficeps, North Elmham, 24th September

Otherwise it was a pretty poor night with just Rhomboid Tortrix Acleris rhombana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 3 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Brimstone Moth, Light Emerald, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, 18 Lunar Underwings and Sallow.

I think this Harvestman may be Odiellus spinosus, but if anyone who knows their Arachnids can confirm that would be great...

possible Odiellus spinosus, North Elmham, 24th September

On 25th September another attempt to find avian migrants in my lunch break failed, but I did find Stoat, Migrant Hawker and Hairy Shieldbug.

Hairy Shieldbug, Thornham, 25th September

The next couple of nights' mothing was extremely poor: 2 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, 5 Lunar Underwings and Sallow on 25th (along with a Speckled Bush-Cricket), Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana and 2 Lunar Underwings on 26th.

 Speckled Bush-Cricket, North Elmham, 25th September

On 27th I enjoyed some interesting non-avian activity while out birding, which I've already posted about on my birding diary.  Specifically this Stoat 12' up a tree (with a Yellow-browed Warbler) was interesting...

Stoat, Brancaster Staithe, 27th September

...and I enjoyed watching Bats (were they Noctules?) in the evening:

Bats (Noctules?), Burnham Norton, 27th September

With cold clear nights continuing the mothing remained poor: 2 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Square-spot Rustic and 5 Lunar Underwings on 27th and Narrow-winged Grey Eudonia angustea, Dusky Thorn, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing and 5 Lunar Underwings on 28th.