Review of 2019 and 2020 - Bugs: Plant bugs - part 6: Phylini I (Asciodema to Oncotylus)

PLANT BUGS (MIRIDAE) (continued)


Tribe PHYLINI


Asciodema obsoleta - Another new bug for me with singles caught in my garden moth trap on 26th June 2019 and on exactly the same date in 2020.  Also swept from Broom at the meadows on 19th July 2019.

Asciodema obsoleta, North Elmham, 26th June 2019

Asciodema obsoleta, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 19th July 2019

Atractotomus parvulus - Singles caught in the garden moth trap on 11th and 12th August 2020.  I'd recorded this species here once before, in 2018.  It's the only member of the genus that I've seen but I don't find the differences particularly obvious so have resorted to gen detting them to make sure (they've all been males).

Atractotomus parvulus, North Elmham, 12th August 2020 - showing its aedeagus in second photo

Compsidolon salicellum - 4 singles trapped in my garden moth trap between 23rd July and 21st August 2019 then singles on 13th and 19th August 2020.

Compsidolon salicellum, North Elmham, 28th July 2019

Compsidolon salicellum, North Elmham, 13th August 2020

Harpocera thoracica - One knocked out of Oak at the meadows on 8th May 2020.  None at home in 2019 or 2020 despite recording it here in 2017 and 2018.

Harpocera thoracica, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th May 2020

Macrotylus horvathi - Singles caught in my garden moth trap on 25th July 2019 and 31st July 2020 (following 3 in 2018).

Macrotylus horvathi, North Elmham, 25th July 2019

Macrotylus horvathi, North Elmham, 31st July 2020

Macrotylus paykulli - One swept from Restharrow at Brancaster on 2nd July 2020, the first time I've recorded this species.

Macrotylus paykulli, Brancaster, 2nd July 2020

Macrotylus solitarius - One caught in my garden moth trap on 23rd June 2020 (following 3 in 2017 but none in between).

Macrotylus solitarius, North Elmham, 23rd June 2020 (showing close-up of faded wing membranes to show shape of dark markings)

Megalocoleus molliculus - Just one caught in my garden moth trap in 2019 (on 26th July) and none in 2020 (I'd caught 3 here in 2018).

Megalocoleus molliculus, North Elmham, 26th July 2019

Oncotylus viridiflavus - I caught 12 of these in my garden moth trap over 4 nights between 23rd and 30th July 2019 (max. 5 on 25th).  Also one at Foxley Wood on 17th August.  This was a particularly good showing considering I'd never identified this species before, and as its reasonably distinctive I like to think I would have done had I trapped any over the previous year or two at least.  There were some more in 2020 but only 4 - between 24th and 31st July.

Oncotylus viridiflavus, North Elmham, 23rd July 2019

Oncotylus viridiflavus, North Elmham, 24th July 2020

Oncotylus viridiflavus, North Elmham, 30th July 2020

Next page: more Miridae

A distinctive new beetle, Anthocomus fasciatus

The night of Wednesday 9th May wasn't anywhere near as good as the previous night but there were a few nice things.  New moths for the year included Common Mompha Mompha epilobiella, 2 Currant Pugs and Pale Prominent.

Common Mompha Mompha epilobiella, North Elmham, 9th May

Currant Pug, North Elmham, 9th May

Pale Prominent, North Elmham, 9th May

Other moths were Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, Little Ermel Swammerdamia pyrella, 2 Little Dwarfs Elachista canapennella, Many-plumed Moth Alucita hexadactyla, Chinese Character, 2 Common Pugs, Brindled Pug, Double-striped Pug, Purple Thorn, Waved Umber, Lesser Swallow Prominent, 3 Chocolate-tips, 3 Muslin Moths, Cinnabar, Clouded Drab, 2 Hebrew Characters and 2 Nut-tree Tussocks.

A few other nice bits and pieces in the trap including the caddisfly Rhyacophila dorsalis (not so common here - only 3 last year), Black Sexton Beetle, a very striking red-and-black Anthocomus fasciatus (a completely new species of beetle for me), the bug Harpocera thoracica (new for the year), the hoverfly Melanostoma scalare and the ant Lasius niger.

Rhyacophila dorsalis, North Elmham, 9th May

Anthocomus fasciatus, North Elmham, 9th May

Harpocera thoracica, North Elmham, 9th May

Next day I dropped something off at the allotments and found this Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet.

Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet (male, gen det), North Elmham allotments, 10th May

Not many moths in the trap that night: just Coxcomb Prominent, 3 Muslin Moths, Hebrew Character and Nut-tree Tussock.

Next day a Holly Blue was in the garden, and that night a Black Clock Beetle Pterostichus madidus on the ground by the moth trap.

Another Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet that night was new for the garden year list, as was a lovely Maiden's Blush.  Other moths were Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, 2 Beech Midgets Phyllonorycter maestingella, 3 Little Dwarfs Elachista canapennella, Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana, 2 Bee Moths Aphomia sociella, Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla, 3 Common Pugs, Brindled Pug, Brimstone Moth, Coxcomb Prominent, Pale Prominent, Muslin Moth, Cinnabar, 2 Shuttle-shaped Darts and 2 Hebrew Characters.

Maiden's Blush, North Elmham, 11th May

There were 3 species of caddisfly: Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, Limnephilus auricula and, new for the year, Micropterna lateralis. Other than that just Black Sexton Beetle and the hoverfly Platycheirus albimanus.

Micropterna lateralis (male), North Elmham, 11th May

A decent evening at last

Warm, calm and cloudy - a perfect recipe for moths.  For the first time this year all three were in play on Friday night (well, not quite calm, but no more than a light breeze) and we were sure to enjoy the best night of the year so far.  Indeed it proved, though I think I've had better nights at this time of year in better years.

A little bit of dusking on the patch secured Skin Moth Monopis laevigella, Swan-feather Dwarf Elachista argentella and Hook-streaked Grass-Veneer Crambus lathoniellus in the Beetley area. 

Swan-feather Dwarf Elachista argentella, Rawhall Wood, 22nd May

Then I set up the light at Creaking Gate Lake where things got off to a slower start than I had anticipated.  Eventually it picked up and a reasonable selection was accrued.

The highlight was a new moth for me, Downland Marble Endothenia oblongana.There are very few inland records of this moth and it's not an easy ID to separate from the slightly more frequently-recorded Teasel Marble Endothenia gentianaeana.  Size was just about within range for a small gentianaeana and I thought at first I could detect the small pale mark beyond the post median fascia that is supposed to be shown by that species.  But it had little grey/violet irrotation in the base, no violet near the tip and the pattern of the apical region seemed better for oblongana - indeed one of the oblongana shown on Lepiforum looked  a very good match for my moth.  They're not the easiest to gen det either, but all internal features I could see seemed to support oblongana.

Downland Marble Endothenia oblongana, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Other highlights included Figure of Eighty, a species I've only seen occasonally, and my first Lime Hawkmoth of the year.

Figure of Eighty, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Lime Hawkmoth, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

The supporting cast were 3 Carrion Moths Monopis weaverella, 2 Ribwort Slenders Aspilapteryx tringipennella, 2 Dark-barred Tortrices Syndemis musculana, Common Birch Bell Epinotia immundana, Hook-streaked Grass-Veneer Crambus lathoniellus, Garden Pebble Evergestis forficalis, Common Swift, Pebble Hook-tip, 2 Silver-ground Carpets, 3 + Green Carpets, May Highflyer, Brindled Pug, Treble-bar, Brimstone Moth, Scalloped Hazel, Common White Wave, Iron Prominent, 2 Pebble Prominents, Coxcomb Prominent, 3 Pale Tussocks, Orange Footman, 2 White Ermines, Cinnabar, Least Black Arches, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, Hebrew Character, Angle Shades and Nut-tree Tussock.

Common Swift, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

May Highflyer, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Silver-ground Carpet, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Common Birch Bell Epinotia immundana, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Non-lepidopteran interest was kept up with a bug-lifer, Harpocera thoracica.

 Harpocera thoracica, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Among the beetles were a couple I can't identify and a couple I've tenatively identified - let me know if you can help.  Also Cream-spot Ladybird and, once again, 16 Cockchafers - seems to be a good year for them, unfortunately.

unidentified Beetle, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

unidentified Beetle, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

probable Athous haemorrhoidalis, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

apparent Cantharis nigricans, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Plenty of other insects there too, including the first Bramble Sawfly that I recall seeing.

Bramble Sawfly Arge cyanocrocea, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Birch Shieldbugs, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Chloeon diperum, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Downlooker Snipefly Rhagio scolopaceus, Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

Micropterna lateralis (I think), Creaking Gate Lake, 22nd May

I gave up shortly after midnight and returned home at which point it started drizzling.  The garden was heaving with moths.  I ended up with 68 moths of 41 species - including no less than 16 that were new for the year for the garden.  Those were Carrion Moth Monopis weaverella, Bird’s-nest Moth Tinea trinotella, Ribwort Slender Aspilapteryx tringipennella, Yarrow Conch Aethes smeathmanniana, Many-plumed Moth Alucita hexadactyla, Hook-streaked Grass-Veneer Crambus lathoniellus, Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, Water Carpet, Grey Pine Carpet, May Highflyer, Sandy Carpet, White-pinion Spotted, 2 Orange Footmen, Shears and Rustic Shoulder-knot.

Shears, North Elmham, 22nd May

Grey Pine Carpet, North Elmham, 22nd May

May Highflyer, North Elmham, 22nd May

Orange Footman, North Elmham, 22nd May

Rustic Shoulder-knot, North Elmham, 22nd May

White-pinion Spotted, North Elmham, 22nd May

Yarrow Conch Aethes smeathmanniana, North Elmham, 22nd May

Hook-streaked Grass-Veneer Crambus lathoniellus, North Elmham, 22nd May

Bird's-nest Moth Tinea trinotella, North Elmham, 22nd May

Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis, North Elmham, 22nd May

Water Carpet, North Elmham, 22nd May

Sandy Carpet, North Elmham, 22nd May

Among the others another Fen Flat-body Depressaria ultimella was notable, as were Pale Pinion and Herald.

Fen Flat-body Depressaria ultimella, North Elmham, 22nd May

Pale Pinion, North Elmham, 22nd May

Herald, North Elmham, 22nd May

5 Waved Umbers was my highest count ever of this species.

Waved Umbers, North Elmham, 22nd May

The others were Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatella, Narrow-winged Grey Eudonia angustea, 2 Bee Moths Aphomia sociella, 2 Chinese Characters, Blood-vein, 2 Red Twin-spot Carpets, Green Carpet, 9 Common Pugs, Treble-bar, 7 Brimstone Moths, 2 Scalloped Hazels, Buff-tip, 2 Pale Tussocks, White Ermine, 2 Cinnabars, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Bright-line Brown-eye, Angle Shades and 3 Treble Lines.

Angle Shades, North Elmham, 22nd May

Cinnabar, North Elmham, 22nd May

Treble-bar, North Elmham, 22nd May

Other insects included a Birch Shieldbug here too:

Birch Shieldbug, North Elmham, 22nd May

This caddisfly is a new one for me, I think - though I'm not 100% sure if the ID is correct or if there are other similar species that should be considered.

probable Ecnomus tenellus, North Elmham, 22nd May