Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Slenders and Midgets (Gracillariidae) (part 7: Cameraria and Phyllocnistis Leaf-miners)

SLENDERS and MIDGETS (GRACILLARIIDAE) (continued)


Maple Midget Phyllonorycter acerifoliella - None in 2019 but new to my garden in 2020 when I caught 3, on 31st July and 5th and 8th August.  Also found at the meadows on 27th April and 17th May 2020.

male Maple Midget Phyllonorycter acerifoliella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th April 2020

male Maple Midget Phyllonorycter acerifoliella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 17th May 2020

male Maple Midget Phyllonorycter acerifoliella, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

White-bodied Midget Phyllonorycter joannisi - None.  I've only ever seen this species at one location (Bittering) where good numbers were found on Norway Maple trunks in 2014 (and fewer in 2017) but I didn't look here in 2019-20.  The capture of Etainia sericopeza here in my garden suggests Norway Maple may grow nearby so finding this joannisi here must be feasible too.


Sycamore Midget Phyllonorycter geniculella - One in my garden trap on 28th September 2019 was the first adult I've ever seen.  Another caught here on 22nd August 2020 was an interesting individual as both valvae showed a long hooked spine on the tip.  I'm not sure how unusual that is but on all the photos of this species' genitalia that I've found so far this spine is only present on the left valva.  I assume it is a variant of this species rather than some exotic species that I've never heard of...  Incidentally, I always gen det these now, after finding what looked absolutely perfect for this species at the meadows in 2018.  My suspicions were aroused because it was flying around Field Maple some distance away from Sycamore so I checked its genitalia and sure enough it was in fact acerifoliella despite its external appearance.

female Sycamore Midget Phyllonorycter geniculella, North Elmham, 28th September 2019

male Sycamore Midget Phyllonorycter geniculella, North Elmham, 22nd August 2020

Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner Cameraria ohridella - 6 in my garden trap between 23rd July and 8th August 2019 and 34 between 20th May and 15th September 2020.  Previous annual totals here had varied between 9 and 21 so these were my worst and best ever years here.  Plenty of them at the meadows though including thousands of mines near the chapel and 20 adults flying beneath them on 16th September 2020.  Elsewhere one next door in 2019 and one at Bintree Wood in 2020.

Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner Cameraria ohridella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 19th April 2019

Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner Cameraria ohridella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 13th July 2020

Willow Bent-wing Phyllocnistis saligna - One in my garden trap on 4th August 2019 and a record 8 between 29th July (when 3) and 5th August 2020.  I've trapped this species here every full year I've lived here with 5 in each of the previous 2 years (though I didn't submit some of them as I was caught out when it was lingering as a 'grade 4' for a bit due to potential confusion with a species that hasn't occurred in Norfolk; looks like a more pragmatic approach has been taken now at least until such time as ramulicola is found in Norfolk too).  I checked most in 2019-20 just in case.

male Willow Bent-wing Phyllocnistis saligna, North Elmham, 4th August 2019

male Willow Bent-wing Phyllocnistis saligna, North Elmham, 4th August 2020

male Willow Bent-wing Phyllocnistis saligna, North Elmham, 5th August 2020

Poplar Bent-wing Phyllocnistis unipunctella - One netted at the meadows on 11th September 2019 in the same area as I netted 4 one day in early September 2018.  This is clearly a good place for them despite being 300 yards from the nearest poplars.  I've only ever had one of these at home (in 2016).

Poplar Bent-wing Phyllocnistis unipunctella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th September 2019

Kent Bent-wing Phyllocnistis xenia - None.  I've never seen this recent colonist but with records from north Norfolk, east Norfolk (lots), Norwich area (lots), south Norfolk and west Norfolk it's high time the big glaring gap in the middle of Norfolk got filled.


Next page: Yponomeutidae

A few interesting insects at the meadows

Southern Hawker, 2 Speckled Woods, Field Grasshopper, Hornet and Common Carder Bee were among the insects seen at the meadows on the afternoon of 1st September.  There was also a new froghopper for me, Neophilaenus lineatus.

Neophilaenus lineatus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st September

Shaking ash keys produced a few more including Common Green Capsid Lygocoris pabulinus, a Common Green Shieldbug, a 7-spot Ladybird, a small black ichneumid that is probably Gelis agilis and 5 Common Earwigs (including a juvenile which I retained in the hope that I could string it into one of the smaller earwig species - I failed but it was interesting to see it had moulted into an adult by the following day).

Common Green Capsid Lygocoris pabulinus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st September

Common Green Shieldbug, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st September

probable Gelis agilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st September

Common Earwig, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st-2nd September (before and after moult)

A quick sweep of some Broom also produced a few bits and pieces including another spider that I think was Xysticus cristatus (another presumed immature female) and two new bugs for me, Orthotylus concolor, and Broom Psyllid Arytaina genistae.  The latter was to prove very common here, with lots more records over the following months.

Orthotylus concolor, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st September

Broom Psyllid Arytaina genistae, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st September

I remainded out until it got dark and most of the following moths were found in torchlight: 2 White-headed Ermines Paraswammerdamia albicapitella, 7 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Blood-vein, Green Carpet, Double-striped Pug, 3 Brimstone Moths, 6 Square-spot Rustics, Angle Shades and 4 Snouts.

 That night an Old Lady was the best moth at home, the only one I recorded last year (and there were none the year before).  Other moths were Privet Tortrix Clepsis consimilana, 2 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, 2 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, 2 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla, 2 Blood-veins, Single-dotted Wave, Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, 2 Yellow Shells, Light Emerald, 2 Large Yellow Underwings, 4 Lesser Yellow Underwings, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Square-spot Rustic, Common Wainscot, 2 Flounced Rustics and 2 Frosted Oranges.

Old Lady, North Elmham, 1st September

Caddisflies consisted of 2 Hydropsyche pellucidula, 2 Small Silver Sedges Lepidostoma hirtum, 2 Limnephilus auricula, 8 Limnephilus lunatus and Limnephilus marmoratus. Other things included the brown lacewing Hemerobius lutescens, the bug Phytocoris tiliae, the beetle Aphodius rufipes, a Hornet and a Common Frog.

Phytocoris tiliae, North Elmham, 1st September

The following night the garden moth trap produced Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, Common Grass-veneer Agriphila tristella, 2 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneers Agriphila geniculea, Garden Pebble Evergestis forficalis, Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla, Chinese Character, Green Carpet, Large Yellow Underwing, 6 Lesser Yellow Underwings, 4 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 3 Square-spot Rustics, Common Wainscot, Centre-barred Sallow, 4 Flounced Rustics and 2 Straw Dots. Also the mayfly Pond Olive Cloeon dipterum, 3 caddisflies, all Limnephilus lunatus and a Hornet.

A walk round the meadows on 3rd didn't end up with many records but some good ones.  A Maple Midget Phyllonorycter acerifoliella was only my second record ever (though slightly disapppointing as I was sure it was my first having completely forgotten about one I apparently saw at Creaking Gate Lake in 2013!).

Maple Midget Phyllonorycter acerifoliella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd September

More unexpected were a number of other small white moths seen in flight.  I netted four of them, from two different meadows, and all four were Poplar Bent-wings Phyllocnistis unipunctella.  It's a species I don't see very often (have only ever seen three times) and I wouldn't expect to see such numbers away from poplars.  Well in fact there is a stand of poplars about 300m away from the north-east corner of the meadows, about 400m away from the furthest of these moths, so this is presumably where they had all come from.

Poplar Bent-wings Phyllocnistis unipunctella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd September

There was a Mottled Grasshopper calling, the only record I had of this species at the meadows last year (though I didn't search for grasshoppers very rigorously).  There were 2 Chrysoperla carnea (green lacewings) and 2 Valenzuela flavidus (barkflies) on sycamore keys, Lygus pratensis (a mirid bug) and Harlequin Ladybird in ash keys, and a female Edwardsiana leafhopper (most likely Edwardsiana rosae) at some cherry.  Also a Muntjac across the river.