Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Slenders and Midgets (Gracillariidae) (part 5: Phyllonorycter II)

SLENDERS and MIDGETS (GRACILLARIIDAE) (continued)


Sloe Midget Phyllonorycter spinicolella - None in 2019 but I caught 3 in my garden moth trap between 30th July and 20th August 2020, doubling the number I've recorded here (the others all being in 2017-18).  Also one potted from a hedge at the meadows on 3rd August 2020.

female Sloe Midget Phyllonorycter spinicolella, North Elmham, 30th July 2020

female Sloe Midget Phyllonorycter spinicolella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd August 2020

male Sloe Midget Phyllonorycter spinicolella, North Elmham, 20th August 2020

Cherry Midget Phyllonorycter cerasicolella - A male at Laura's in Hellesdon on 14th July 2019 and a leaf-mine at the meadows on 20th June 2020.  None at home but I've had 2 here before, both in 2017.

male Cherry Midget Phyllonorycter cerasicolella, Hellesdon, 14th July 2019

leaf-mine of Cherry Midget Phyllonorycter cerasicolella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th June 2020

Hawthorn Midget Phyllonorycter corylifoliella - One in my garden trap on 25th July 2019.  They're not regular here - singles in 2016 and 2017 are my only other records.  Also 2 netted at the meadows on 13th July 2020 and one to light there on 7th August.  Leaf-mines found at the meadows in October 2019 and September 2020.

Hawthorn Midget Phyllonorycter corylifoliella, North Elmham, 25th July 2019

leaf-mine of Hawthorn Midget Phyllonorycter corylifoliella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 14th October 2019

Hawthorn Midget Phyllonorycter corylifoliella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 13th July 2020

Hawthorn Midget Phyllonorycter corylifoliella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

leaf-mine of Hawthorn Midget Phyllonorycter corylifoliella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th September 2020

Firethorn Leaf-miner Phyllonorycter leucographella - Singles at home on 12th and 28th September 2019 and on 4 dates between 12th June and 22nd September 2020.  This species is annual here but never numerous - the 4 in 2020 was my highest total so far.

Firethorn Leaf-miner Phyllonorycter leucographella, North Elmham, 12th September 2019

male Firethorn Leaf-miner Phyllonorycter leucographella, North Elmham, 12th June 2020

female Firethorn Leaf-miner Phyllonorycter leucographella, North Elmham, 22nd August 2020

Willow Midget Phyllonorycter viminiella - I did 3 nights' trapping in my next-door neighbour's garden in 2019 primarily in order to show their visiting grandchildren some moths, which they seem to enjoy.  It's amazing how different the moths are here, just a few yards away from my own garden trapping site.  The previous time I even managed a moth that I've never seen here (or anywhere else), Large Clover Case-bearer Coleophora trifolii and this time I did it again with my first adult Phyllonorycter viminiella, on 7th August.  In 2020 I finally added it to my own garden list with one caught on 31st July.

male Willow Midget Phyllonorycter viminiella, North Elmham, 7th August 2019

male Willow Midget Phyllonorycter viminiella, North Elmham, 31st July 2020

Long-streak Midget Phyllonorycter salicicolella - One in the garden trap on 31st July 2019.  The genitalia were checked but females are tricky even so.  I'm not completely sure the genitalia eliminated hilarella, but supported by external features (e.g. shape of the basal streak, the absence of white at the rear of the vertex) I think the ID is safe.  I've had 3 here before but they're not annual and none found in 2020.

female Long-streak Midget Phyllonorycter salicicolella, North Elmham, 31st July 2019

Sallow Midget Phyllonorycter hilarella - None.  I've never seen this species and there aren't all that many records in the county but there's no reason why it shouldn't occur locally.  The same could be perhaps be said for the even scarcer Southern Midget Phyllonorycter dubitella.


Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella - I think this is the commonest Phyllonorycter in my garden, not very surprisingly since there's a Beech hedge just next to where I trap.  8 in my garden trap between 30th June and 17th August 2019 and 27 between 18th May and 23rd August 2020.  That's my highest annual total, although not far ahead of 24 in 2018.  Also singles at the meadows on 21st April 2019 and 27th April 2020, and mines here in October 2019 and May and September 2020.

female Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 21st April 2019

leaf-mine of Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th October 2019

male Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th April 2020

male Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 24th June 2020

male Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 10th July 2020

male Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th July 2020

male Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd July 2020

Nut-leaf Blister Moth Phyllonorycter coryli - Caught in the garden moth trap on 30th July and 4th August 2020.  Given that next-door's Hazel tree overhangs my garden I would expect to catch more of these than I do but these were my first since 2017.  2 netted in the Millennium Wood in North Elmham on 6th May 2019.  Also occupied mines at the meadows and at Swanton Novers in 2019.

male Nut-leaf Blister Moth Phyllonorycter coryli, Millennium Wood, North Elmham, 6th May 2019

male Nut-leaf Blister Moth Phyllonorycter coryli, North Elmham, 30th July 2020

female Nut-leaf Blister Moth Phyllonorycter coryli, North Elmham, 4th August 2020

Next page: more Gracillariidae

Dark Sword-grass and a new leafhopper

It's always nice to find migrant moths in the garden trap - and this year it's been a particularly unusual to do so even when including the "common" migrant species like Diamond-back Moth, Rusty-dot Pearl and Silver Y.  But even knowing how poor my garden is for migrants I was a little surprised when I realised that this Dark Sword-grass on Sunday 3rd September was a new species for the garden.

Dark Sword-grass, North Elmham, 3rd September

Other moths that night were Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, Hazel Slender Parornix devoniella, Garden Midget Phyllonorycter messaniella, Purple Argent Argyresthia albistria, Brindled Flat-body Agonopterix arenella, Large Fruit-tree Tortrix Archips podana, 3 Light Brown Apple Moths Epiphyas postvittana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, Notch-wing Button Acleris emargana, 5 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Red Piercer Lathronympha strigana, Common Grass-veneer Agriphila tristella, 3 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneers Agriphila geniculea, Beautiful Plume Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, Small Dusty Wave, Single-dotted Wave, 4 Common Marbled Carpets, 3 Green Carpets, Currant Pug, Double-striped Pug, 3 Brimstone Moths, Early Thorn, Willow Beauty, Light Emerald, 6 Large Yellow Underwings, 6 Lesser Yellow Underwings, 3 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, Setaceous Hebrew Character, 3 Square-spot Rustics, 5 Common Wainscots, 8 Flounced Rustics, 2 Burnished Brasses, Straw Dot and 6 Snouts.

Notch-wing Button Acleris emargana, North Elmham, 3rd September

The caddisflies were Oxyethira flavicornis, Tinodes waeneri, Hydropsyche siltalai, 4 Hydropsyche pellucidula, 2 Small Silver Sedges Lepidostoma hirtum, Limnephilus flavicornis and 3 Limnephilus sparsus.  Beetles included another Amara bifrons and 4 Aphodius rufipes.  Unless I'm mistaken, this leafhopper is Alebra coryli, a hazel-feeding species I've never identified before.  The NBN Atlas doesn't show any records for Norfolk, but although the atlas is an excellent tool some of the datasets are quite incomplete so this probably doesn't mean much.  I await to hear from the county recorder as to its real status in Norfolk.

apparent Alebra coryli, North Elmham, 3rd September

Next day I was birding at Burnham Overy and came across a few moths too: 3 Spindle Ermines Yponomeuta cagnagella, Black-headed Conch Cochylis atricapitana, 22 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneers Agriphila geniculea, Straw-barred Pearl Pyrausta despicata, Rush Veneer Nomophila noctuella, Dowdy Plume Stenoptilia zophodactylus and Yellow Shell.

Dowdy Plume Stenoptilia zophodactylus (male, gen det), Burnham Overy, 4th September

This snail proved to be a Wrinkled Snail Candidula intersecta, a species I've identified from here before.

Wrinkled Snail Candidula intersecta, Burnham Overy, 4th September

That night there weren't all that many moths at home but there were some interesting ones.  This Mugwort Plume Hellinsia lienigianus was my third this year (second here) but a species I'd only seen once previously.

Mugwort Plume Hellinsia lienigianus (female, gen det), North Elmham, 4th September

Nearly as good was this Large Clothes Moth Morophaga choragella.

Large Clothes Moth Morophaga choragella, North Elmham, 4th September

This Cherry Midget Phyllonorycter cerasicolella was only my second fully-identified example following my first in July.

Cherry Midget Phyllonorycter cerasicolella (female, gen det), North Elmham, 4th September

The caddisfly Polycentropus irroratus was new for the year (only one last year).  Other caddisflies were Hydropsyche pellucidula, Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum and Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus.  There was also the brown lacewing Hemerobius lutescens.

Polycentropus irroratus (male), North Elmham, 4th September

The mirid bug Phytocoris longipennis was a lifer, my fourth species in the genus.  Other bugs were 4 Birch Shieldbugs and 3 Forest Bugs.  There were also 4 dung beetles Aphodius rufipes.

Phytocoris longipennis, North Elmham, 4th September

The following night's moths were Red Birch Midget Phyllonorycter ulmifoliella, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 3 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Holly Tortrix Rhopobota naevana, 2 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneers Agriphila geniculea, 7 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, 2 Blood-veins, 3 Green Carpets, Brimstone Moth, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Large Yellow Underwing, 2 Lesser Yellow Underwings, Small Square-spot, 2 Square-spot Rustics, Common Wainscot, 2 Flounced Rustics, Vine's Rustic, Burnished Brass, Straw Dot and 9 Snouts.

The best caddisfly was Hydropsyche angustipennis, only my second here.  Others were Small Silver Sedge Lepidostoma hirtum, 2 Mottled Sedges Glyphotaelius pellucidus, Limnephilus auricula, 2 Limnephilus lunatus and Limnephilus marmoratus.   Beetles included a copulating pair of Pterostichus niger on the lawn and 2 Aphodius rufipes.  There were also 2 Forest Bugs.

Pterostichus niger, North Elmham, 5th September

Next day's moths were Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, Dark-triangle Button Acleris laterana, 3 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer Agriphila geniculea, 11 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla, Blood-vein, Single-dotted Wave, 3 Brimstone Moths, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, 11 Lesser Yellow Underwings, 5 Square-spot Rustics, Common Wainscot, 4 Flounced Rustics, Straw Dot and 6 Snouts.  Also an Aphodius rufipes (beetle).

Cherry Midget

Tuesday 4th July was a reasonably good night for moths here with over 400 moths of 98 species.  Last year's peak of 153 and 154 species on consecutive nights seems like a dream compared to this year's paltry performance.  The best of the 98 was a lifer, Cherry Midget Phyllonorycter cerasicolella, although I had seen at least one of the aggregate species pair spinicolella/cerasicolella before.  Interestingly this one didn't seem to have dark tips to the antennae as both spinicolella and cerasicolella are supposed to but unless I've missed something the female genitalia of the two are quite distinctive (compared to other Phyllonorycters - not so distinctive from one another but do-able).

Cherry Midget Phyllonorycter cerasicolella (female, gen det), North Elmham, 4th July

One other moth was new for the garden - Ochreous Pearl Anania crocealis.

Ochreous Pearl Anania crocealis, North Elmham, 4th July

A Small Rush Case-bearer Coleophora taeniipennella was only my second (my first was here last July).

Small Rush Case-bearer Coleophora taeniipennella (female, gen det), North Elmham, 4th July

Also new for the year here were White-headed Ermel Paraswammerdamia albicapitella, Base-lined Grey Scoparia basistrigalis, Beautiful China-mark Nymphula nitidulata, 2 Grey Knot-horns Acrobasis advenella, Brown-tail, 2 Yellow-tails, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Dun-bar, Clouded Brindle, Common Rustic and Cream-bordered Green Pea.

White-headed Ermel Paraswammerdamia albicapitella, North Elmham, 4th July

Base-lined Grey Scoparia basistrigalis (male, gen det), North Elmham, 4th July

Beautiful China-mark Nymphula nitidulata, North Elmham, 4th July

Grey Knot-horn Acrobasis advenella, North Elmham, 4th July

Brown-tail, North Elmham, 4th July

Broad-bordered Yellow Umderwing, North Elmham, 4th July

Clouded Brindle, North Elmham, 4th July

Common Rustic (male, gen det), North Elmham, 4th July

Cream-bordered Green Pea, North Elmham, 4th July

The others were Fulvous Clothes Moth Tinea semifulvella, Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, 20 Bird-cherry Ermines Yponomeuta evonymella, Eastern Case-bearer Coleophora vestianella, 2 Triple-spot Dwarfs Elachista maculicerusella, 2 Brown House Moths Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 2 Burdock Nebs Metzneria lappella, Gorse Crest Brachmia blandella, London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella, 12 Hook-marked Straw Moths Agapeta hamana, 2 Dark Fruit-tree Tortrixes Pandemis heparana, 5 Large Fruit-tree Tortrixes Archips podana, 3 Privet Tortrixes Clepsis consimilana, 7 Grey Tortrixes Cnephasia stephensiana, Barred Marble Celypha striana, 3 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, 4 Marbled Orchard Tortrixes Hedya nubiferana, 3 Triangle-marked Rollers Ancylis achatana, Holly Tortrix Rhopobota naevana, Common Cloaked Shoot Gypsonoma dealbana, White-foot Bell Epiblema foenella, 5 Hoary Bells Eucosma cana, Bud Moth Spilonota ocellana, Many-plumed Moth Alucita hexadactyla, 31 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella, 3 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, 3 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, Ringed China-mark Parapoynx stratiotata, 3 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Long-winged Pearl Anania lancealis, 17 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, 2 Rosy Tabbies Endotricha flammealis, 2 White Plumes Pterophorus pentadactyla, 2 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla, 2 Chinese Characters, Common Emerald, Blood-vein, Small Blood-vein, 10 Small Fan-footed Waves, Dwarf Cream Wave, Small Dusty Wave, 10 Single-dotted Waves, 2 Riband Waves, Yellow Shell, Phoenix, Barred Straw, Blue-bordered Carpet, Small Rivulet, 3 V-Pugs, 2 Double-striped Pugs, 2 Clouded Borders, 4 Brimstone Moths, 8 Early Thorns, Purple Thorn, Scalloped Oak, 3 Willow Beauties, Mottled Beauty, 3 Clouded Silvers, Light Emerald, Elephant Hawk-moth, Buff-tip, Round-winged Muslin, 8 Rosy Footmen, 8 Dingy Footmen, Scarce Footman, 51 Common Footmen, 4 Buff Ermines, Short-cloaked Moth, Heart and Club, 3 Flames, 5 Double Square-spots, 2 Brown-line Bright Eyes, 9 Clays, 13 Smoky Wainscots, 3 Dark Arches, 52 Uncertains, 2 Rustics, Mottled Rustic, 3 Nut-tree Tussocks, 3 Beautiful Hook-tips, Straw Dot and 3 Fan-foots.

Long-winged Pearl Anania lancealis, North Elmham, 4th July

Blue-bordered Carpet, North Elmham, 4th July

As usual when there are a lot of moths, there was a good variety of other insects (and a Common Frog).  Mayflies were represented by Serratella ignita while Lacewings consisted of a female Conwentzia sp. (a waxfly - only male Conwentzia can be identified to species level) and the brown lacewing Hemerobius humulinus.  Caddisflies included Hydropsyche pellucidula and my second Silo pallipes.  Bugs consisted of 2 Stenotus binotatus and 5 Iassus lanio (leafhopper), the latter new for the year.

Iassus lanio, North Elmham, 4th July

Among the beetles I identified Enochrus quadripunctatus for the first time ever, 2 Aphodius rufipes, 2 Brown Chafers, Rhagonycha fulva, Orange Ladybird (new for the year) and 2 Lagria hirta.

Enochrus quadripunctatus, North Elmham, 4th July