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

A new psyllid and a Mere Wainscot

A wander round the meadows on 30th August produced a nice selection of insects including 8 Common Darters and both Field and Meadow Grasshoppers.  Butterflies included Large, Small and Green-veined Whites, Small Copper, Common Blue, Comma, Red Admiral and at least 17 Speckled Woods.

Large White, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Small Copper, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Common Blue, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Speckled Wood, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Not many moths seen - just a Yellow Shell and some leafmines (at least one occupied) of Common Oak Midget Phyllonorycter quercifoliella.

occupied leafmine of Common Oak Midget Phyllonorycter quercifoliella, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Shaking ash keys into a net produced a few insects including at least 10 green lacewings (all those checked were Chrysoperla carnea), Common Earwigs, 7-spot and Harlequin Ladybirds and a new one for me, the (relatively) large green psyllid Psyllopsis fraxinicola.

Psyllopsis fraxinicola, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Elsewhere around the meadows there were the hoverflies Eupeodes latifasciatus and Eristalis pertinax, and at least 3 Hornets.

Eristalis pertinax, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

An attempt to identify some spiders was met with limited success.  I think this one from Ash keys was probably an Araniella sp., but was immature preventing a full ID.  However it did moult, but although I could just make out its epigyne then, it wasn't clear - it seemed to look closer to Araniella cucurbitina but wasn't really clear.  Maybe still not fully mature, or is it actually something else entirely?

possible immature Common Cucumber Spider Araniella ccuurbitana, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August - top photo was taken on the day, lower photo taken a few days later after a moult

The epigyne wasn't clear on this one either (immature?) but a combination of features leads me moderately satisfied that it was Xysticus cristatus.

Xysticus cristatus, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Slightly easier were Garden Spider Araneus diadematus and Nurseryweb Spider Pisaura mirabilis.

Nurseryweb Spider Pisaura mirabilis, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Wildflowers included a good display of Autumn Hawkbit.

Autumn Hawkbit, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

Thanks again to James Emerson for help with identifying some fungi.  Among those identified were Brown Mottlegill, Pleated Inkcap, Sulphur Tuft, Dryad's Saddle, Bolete Mould and Hogweed Powdery Mildew.  Others not fully identified included Bolete spp. and Agaricus sp.

Hogweed Powdery Mildew, North Elmham Catherdal Meadows, 30th August

It wasn't a great night for moths that night, but Mere Wainscot was nice, my fifth here.  Other moths were 2 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer Agriphila geniculea, Small Dusty Wave, Single-dotted Wave, Latticed Heath, Common Wave, Large Yellow Underwing, 4 Lesser Yellow Underwings, Square-spot Rustic, Common Wainscot, 4 Flounced Rustics and Snout. The only other insect of taxa that I record was the caddisfly Limnephilus lunatus.

Mere Wainscot (male, gen det), North Elmham, 30th August

August went out with a whimper,  Just a small handful of moths: Clover Case-bearer Coleophora alcyonipennella, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, Common Grass-veneer Agriphila tristella, Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer Agriphila geniculea, Lesser Pearl Sitochroa verticalis, Orange Swift, Large Yellow Underwing, 5 Lesser Yellow Underwings, 5 Square-spot Rustics, Centre-barred Sallow and 4 Flounced Rustics.  Also the brown lacewing Hemerobius lutescens and caddisflies 3 Limnephilus lunatus, Limnephilus marmoratus and Ceraclea albimacula.

Lesser Pearl Sitochroa verticalis, North Elmham, 31st August