Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Noctuids (Noctuidae) part 5: Frosted Orange to Rush Wainscot

NOCTUIDS (NOCTUIDAE) (continued)


Frosted Orange Gortyna flavago - Totals of 13 caught in the garden between 21st August and 20th September 2020 and 10 between 22nd August and 15th September 2020, just a little below the average for here.  I very rarely encounter this species anywhere other than at home.

Frosted Orange, North Elmham, 21st August 2019

Frosted Orange, North Elmham, 22nd August 2020

Rosy Rustic Hydraecia micacea - Totals of 14 trapped in the garden between 20th July and 4th October 2019 and 25 between 17th July and 8th November 2020 (the last being my latest ever).  The average annual total here is around 17 but 4 on 30th August 2019 was the first time I've trapped more than 2 together here.  Elsewhere recorded next door on 3 nights, 4 caught at the meadows and 2 in Cornwall.

Rosy Rustic, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019

Rosy Rustic, North Elmham, 14th August 2020

Butterbur Hydraecia petasitis - Singles caught in the garden on 26th July 2019 and 20th August 2020.  Here is the only place I've ever found this rather scarce species - I had 3 here in 2016 and 3 again in 2018, but none in other years.

Butterbur, North Elmham, 26th July 2019

Butterbur, North Elmham, 20th August 2020 (with Rosy Rustic)

Saltern Ear Amphipoea fucosa - None.  There are quite a few inland records of this species so I never assume my Ear Moths aren't this species and check all of them, but so far no luck.


Ear Moth Amphipoea oculea - Singles trapped in the garden on 23rd and 27th July 2019 and 5th and 8th August 2020 - my worst years here to date.  Numbers fluctuate widely here, with 13 in 2015 the best year.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 4th August 2019 and one there on 18th July 2020.  Another Ear sp. there on 7th August 2020 escaped before I could get it in a pot so I was unable to confirm it - I usually check them all.  They're nearly always male but I caught my first female in 2020.

male Ear Moth, North Elmham, 23rd July 2019

male Ear Moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019

male Ear Moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July 2020

female Ear Moth, North Elmham, 5th August 2020

male Ear Moth, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

Flounced Rustic Luperina testacea - At least 440 caught in the garden between 4th August and 28th September (my latest ever).  I didn't count them on 7 nights so the true total may have been a little higher, but in any case this was my best year so far.  Records are there to be broken though and in 2020 I caught 1,126 between 27th July (my earliest ever) and 17th September, peaking at 94 on 24th August.  Previous annual totals had varied from 164 to 332.  Elsewhere recorded next door (on 3 nights), 4 at the meadows and one at Whitwell Street.

Flounced Rustic, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd September 2019

Flounced Rustic, North Elmham, 27th July 2020

Flounced Rustic, North Elmham, 4th September 2020

Large Wainscot Rhizedra lutosa - I caught 5 in the garden between 25th September and 24th October 2019 and 5 again between 18th September and 9th November 2020 (the last being my latest ever).  Numbers of this species vary considerably with 27 in 2014, 11 in 2017 but only 2-4 in the other 3 other years.  Also one at the meadows on 8th November 2020.

Large Wainscot, North Elmham, 25th September 2019

Large Wainscot, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November 2020

Bulrush Wainscot Nonagria typhae - None.  I've only caught this species here once, in 2016.


Fen Wainscot Arenostoia phragmitidis - After my first blank year for this species at home in 2019 I caught 3 between 17th and 23rd July 2020.  2-3 a year is typical although I had 9 in 2018.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 18th July 2020 and a caterpillar at Titchwell on 1st June 2019.

Fen Wainscot caterpillar, Titchwell, 1st June 2019

Fen Wainscot, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July 2020

Twin-spotted Wainscot Lenisa geminipuncta - None at home in 2019 but one here on 14th August 2020.  I had 5 here in 2018 but 0-2 is normal.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 4th August 2019.

Twin-spotted Wainscot, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019

Twin-spotted Wainscot, North Elmham, 14th August 2020

Brown-veined Wainscot Archanara dissoluta - None.  I've never seen this species locally - records are few and far between in mid Norfolk but there are enough to think it should be a possibility here.


Small Rufous Coenobia rufa - 2 trapped in the garden on 17th July 2019 and then in 2020 singles on 31st July and 7th August.  2-3 a year is average here.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 7th August 2020.

Small Rufouses, North Elmham, 17th July 2019

Small Rufous, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

Small Rufous, North Elmham, 7th August 2020

Small Wainscot Denticucullus pygmina - None.  I've never recorded this species locally but there are quite a few records in mid Norfolk so it should turn up round here sometime.


Mere Wainscot Photedes fluxa - 4 caught in the garden between 4th and 20th July 2019 making it my best year to date for this species.  I caught 5 here between 2015-2018.  None in 2020 but even so it seems quite surprising that I should get so many of these relatively scarce moths here, especially as there isn't much of its foodplant round here so far as I know (and the Flora atlas seems to support that).  Finding it rather tricky to tell these from Small Wainscot I have gen detted a few of them to make quite sure, but these have confirmed we are dealing with this species.

Mere Wainscot, North Elmham, 4th July 2019

Mere Wainscot, North Elmham, 16th July 2019

Mere Wainscot, North Elmham, 20th July 2019

Small Dotted Buff Photedes minima - Singles trapped in the garden on 30th June 2019 and 31st July 2020.  I'd only caught 2 of these here before, in 2015 and 2018.

male Small Dotted Buff, North Elmham, 30th June 2019

female Small Dotted Buff, North Elmham, 31st July 2020

Webb's Wainscot Globia sparganii - One caught at home on 22nd August 2019.  This was my 4th record here following 2 in 2015 and one in 2017.  None here in 2020 but one at the meadows on 7th August.

Webb's Wainscot, North Elmham, 22nd August 2019

Webb's Wainscot, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

Rush Wainscot Globia algae - One of the mothing highlights of 2019 was finding one of these in my trap on 25th July.  Not only a new moth for me but this Red Data Book species is so rare that it isn't recorded every year in the county and had never been seen round here before.  It was a fresh individual early in the flight period suggesting that it had bred locally, and this was further supported in 2020 when another fresh one turned up in the trap on 26th July, followed by another on 8th August.

Rush Wainscot, North Elmham, 25th July 2019

Rush Wainscot, North Elmham, 26th July 2020

Rush Wainscot, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

Next page: more Noctuidae

Mervs, a Hummer and some Ivy Bees

When I got back from Cornwall on 8th October pretty much the first thing I did was get the moth trap on. I didn't catch many moths that night, but 2 Merveille du Jour were new for the year.  Other moths in the trap were Long-horned Flat-body Carcina quercana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 2 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Common Marbled Carpet, 11 Large Yellow Underwings, 4 Black Rustics, 2 Green-brindled Crescents, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker, 2 Beaded Chestnuts, 5 Lunar Underwings, Sallow and 2 Snouts.

Merveille du Jours, North Elmham, 8th October

Also new for the year was the caddisfly Anabolia nervosa, aka Brown Sedge.  Other caddis were Limnephilus affinis and 2 Limnephilus lunatus.

Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, North Elmham, 8th October

Next day I was keen to get back to the meadows after a week away.  Butterflies included 6 Small Coppers, 2 Red Admirals and a Speckled Wood.

Small Copper, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October

Also found a Forest Bug, a Broom Psyllid Arytaina genistae and a yellow leafhopper that turned out to be Fagocyba carri, a nice result as I don't think that's an especially common species.

Fagocyba carri (male, gen det), North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October

There were also 2 7-spot Ladybirds, 3 Willow Flea Beetles, a Hornet and the green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea agg.  I think this spider is Phylloneta sisyphia.  The epigynal features weren't totally clear but this seemed to be the best match.

Phylloneta sisyphia, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October

Wildflowers included a late showing of Musk Mallow (also one plant that seemed to have leaves that were intermediate between this species and Common Mallow - a hybrid perhaps?) and Lady's Bedstraw.

Lady's Bedstraw, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October

That evening there was a Many-plume Moth Alucita hexadactyla indoors, and in the trap, 2 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Large Yellow Underwing, 5 Black Rustics, 4 Green-brindled Crescents, Merveille du Jour, Red-line Quaker, 2 Beaded Chestnuts, Lunar Underwing and the caddisfly Limnephilus lunatus.

The following night the trap was a little busier with Fulvous Clothes Moth Tinea semifulvella, Long-horned Flat-body Carcina quercana, Light Brown Apple-moth Epiphyas postvittana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 17 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Treble Brown Spot, Garden Carpet, Common Marbled Carpet, Shuttle-shaped Dart, 4 Black Rustics, 3 Beaded Chestnuts, 2 Lunar Underwings, Pink-barred Sallow, Sallow, Rosy Rustic and Snout.

There was also the green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea, the beetle Lagria hirta and the following caddisflies: Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, 5 Limnephilus auricula, Limnephilus flavicornis, 11 Limnephilus lunatus and Halesus radiatus.

I did some birding at Brancaster on 11th.  The non-avian highlight was a Hummingbird Hawk-moth in the dunes between the golf-course and the beach.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Brancaster, 11th October

There were also a couple of caddisflies Anabolia nervosa along the seawall and an Ivy Bee at Broad Lane.

Anabolia nervosa, Brancaster, 11th October

Ivy Bee, Brancaster, 11th October

I also popped along to the chalk pit at Titchwell where there were lots more Ivy Bees.

Ivy Bees, Titchwell Chalkpit, 11th October

That night a Large Wainscot was new for the year at home.

Large Wainscot, North Elmham, 11th October

The other moths were 5 Privet Tortrixes Clepsis consimilana, 2 Light Brown Apple-moths Epiphyas postvittana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 18 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Single-dotted Wave, Mallow, Common Marbled Carpet, 6 Shuttle-shaped Darts, White-point, 3 Black Rustics, 7 Green-brindled Crescents, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker, 7 Beaded Chestnuts, Lunar Underwing, 3 Barred Sallows, Sallow, Rosy Rustic, Straw Dot and Snout.

There were 5 green lacewings, at least one of which was Chrysoperla carnea (the other 4 were female aggs., presumably the same species).  There were several caddisflies: Brown Sedge Anabolia nervosa, Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, Limnephilus affinis, 4 Limnephilus auricula, 11 Limnephilus lunatus, Limnephilus vittatus and Halesus radiatus.

Bugs consisted of Tarnished Plant Bug Lygus rugulipennis and 2 Pinalitus cervinus.  Also 7 Kybos leafhoppers (all female so not identifiable) and another Fagocyba carri, this time a new species for the garden.

Fagocyba carri (male, gen det), North Elmham, 11th October

Beetles consisted of Black Sexton Beetle, Lagria hirta and a new genus of rove beetle for me, Philonthus.  Unfortunately I don't have references that enable me to make a positive species-level ID, though I suspect it is carbonarius.

Philonthus sp., possibly Philonthus carbonarius, North Elmham, 11th October