Review of 2019 and 2020 - Bugs: Plant bugs - part 3: Mirini II (Pantilius to Stenotus)

PLANT BUGS (MIRIDAE) (continued)


Tribe MIRINI (continued)


Pantilius tunicatus - One of these most marvellous of mirids in my moth trap on 4th October 2019, the fourth consecutive year I have caught one or two here.  So distinctive I didn't feel I needed to retain and photograph it, something I slightly regret now I'm writing about it, especially as I didn't catch one in 2020.


Phytocoris dimidiatus - One in my garden moth trap on 30th September 2020, my second here following one in 2018.

Phytocoris dimidiatus, North Elmham, 30th September 2020 - showing left clasper

Phytocoris longipennis - Singles in my garden moth trap on 27th July 2019 and 8th and 12th August 2020.  I've recorded 1-2 here in each of the last 4 years now.

Phytocoris longipennis, North Elmham, 27th July 2019

Phytocoris longipennis, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

Phytocoris longipennis, North Elmham, 12th August 2020

Phytocoris tiliae - After a blank year in 2019 I caught 2 in the garden in 2020, on 19th August and 22nd September.  Also one landed on my hand at Brancaster on 18th September 2020.

Phytocoris tiliae, North Elmham, 19th August 2020

Phytocoris ulmi - 2 in my garden moth trap on 19th July 2019 and one on 15th July 2020.

Phytocoris ulmi, North Elmham, 19th July 2019

Phytocoris ulmi, North Elmham, 15th July 2020

Phytocoris varipes - Singles in my garden moth trap on 4 nights between 31st July and 21st August 2019.  Having only ever had singles before it was a surprise to kick the 2020 season off with 6 on 4th August, though after this night there were only singles on 3 more dates up to 19th August.  Also 6 swept from Ragwort at the meadows on 19th August.

Phytocoris varipes, North Elmham, 21st August 2019

Phytocoris varipes, North Elmham, 4th August 2020

Phytocoris varipes, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

Phytocoris varipes, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 19th August 2020

Pinalitus cervinus - Totals of 16 caught in my garden moth trap on 10 nights between 7th October and 26th November 2019 and 19 over 17 nights between 7th January and 1st November 2020.  They peaked at 5 on 14th October 2019 but I never caught more than 2 in a night in 2020.  Elsewhere one swept from Hornbeam at the meadows on 22nd September 2020 and 2 in Cornwall on 7th October 2020.  Some examples of this species can resemble Lygus species quite closely and in the past I've struggled to tell them apart.  I think I've figured it out now (size is pretty helpful - it took me a while to appreciate that) so hopefully there aren't any errors in this set of data.

Pinalitus cervinus, North Elmham, 22nd November 2019

Pinalitus cervinus, North Elmham, 23rd September 2020

Pinalitus cervinus, North Elmham, 27th September 2020

Polymerus unifasciatus - One swept at Brancaster on 2nd July 2020.

Polymerus unifasciatus, Brancaster, 2nd July 2020

Striped Oak Bug Rhabdomiris striatellus - One came to light at the Cathedral Meadows on 25th May 2019 - a lovely bug!

Striped Oak Bug Rhabdomiris striatellus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 25th May 2019

Stenotus binotatus - Singles in my garden moth trap on 9th and 17th July 2019 and 2 here on 4th July 2020.  I've recorded this species here in each of the last 5 years.

Stenotus binotatus, North Elmham, 17th July 2019

Stenotus binotatus, North Elmham, 4th July 2020

Next page: more Miridae

A 'Notable' leafhopper: Eurhadina ribauti

There was a good selection of moths on the night of 15th September, though nothing as good as the Corn Moth Nemapogon granella that I'd found on the front door earlier on.  They were Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, Vetch Sober Aproaerema anthyllidella, Large Fruit-tree Tortrix Archips podana, Light Brown Apple-moth Epiphyas postvittana, 2 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, 4 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer Agriphila geniculea, 4 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, 3 Blood-veins, 3 Small Dusty Waves, Common Marbled Carpet, Green Carpet, 2 Brimstone Moths, 2 Dusky Thorns, 2 Light Emeralds, 4 Large Yellow Underwings, 3 Lesser Yellow Underwings, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Square-spot Rustic, White-point, Common Wainscot, Centre-barred Sallow, 12 Lunar Underwings, Pink-barred Sallow, 3 Sallows, Mouse Moth, Flounced Rustic, Frosted Orange, Straw Dot and 3 Snouts.

Vetch Sober Aproaerema anthyllidella, North Elmham, 15th September

The caddisflies were Polycentropus flavomaculatus, Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, Grammotaulius nigropunctatus, 2 Limnephilus affinis, 3 Limnephilus auricula, 3 Limnephilus flavicornis, 6 Limnephilus lunatus and 2 Limnephilus sparsus.

Bugs were represented by Black-kneed Capsid Blepharidopterus angulatus, barkflies by Ectopsocus briggsi and beetles by Aphodius rufipes.

The following day I found another Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella, inside the house this time.  It was my fifth here this year and my 10th here since I moved in in 2014.  It was clearly a good year for this species as not only did I have as many as had been recorded in the county before, but two other recorders also found the species, the first county records from anywhere other than my garden (East Harling and Stoke Holy Cross, the latter involving two individuals and new for VC27).

Thatch Neb Bryotropha basaltinella (female, gen det), North Elmham, 16th September

That night was good.  The best moth was a Dark Smudge Ypsolopha horridella, my second and only about the 14th for the county.

Dark Smudge Ypsolopha horridella, North Elmham, 16th September

Other moths were a Bucculatrix sp. (think this must have escaped as I didn't photograph it and have no specimen), Garden Midget Phyllonorycter messaniella, Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Brindled Flat-body Agonopterix arenella, Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana, 6 Light Brown Apple-moths Epiphyas postvittana, 4 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, 2 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Nut-bud Moth Epinotia tenerana, 2 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Gold Triangle Hypsopygia costalis, White Plume Pterophorus pentadactyla, Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla, Small Dusty Wave, Green Carpet, 3 Brimstone Moths, Dusky Thorn, 4 Light Emeralds, Ruby Tiger, 4 Large Yellow Underwings, 2 Lesser Yellow Underwings, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Square-spot Rustic, Common Wainscot, 9 Lunar Underwings, Sallow, Mouse Moth, 2 Vine's Rustics and 6 Snouts.

A Pond Olive Cloeon dipterum represented the mayflies and neither green nor brown lacewing were fully identified.  The green was a female Chrysoperla carnea agg., almost certainly carnea but females can't be separated from the non-Norfolk pallida.  The brown was a Hemerobius lutescens or humulinus.  Normally these can be separated easily enough but this one, a female, wasn't clear.

Caddisflies were 3 Mottled Sedges Glyphotaelius pellucidus, 7 Limnephilus auricula, 2 Limnephilus flavicornis, 3 Limnephilus lunatus, 2 Limnephilus sparsus and Grouse Wing Mystacides longicornis.

It was the bugs that held the most interest with a very decent selection.  The highlight was a dark Phytocoris which I had to look pretty hard at to be sure it wasn't just a dark Phytocoris tiliae (one of which was also trapped).  In the end I resorted to checking the genitalia to confirm the ID - it was a new one for me, Phytocoris dimidiatus.

Phytocoris dimidiatus (male, gen det), North Elmham, 16th September

Phytocoris tiliae, North Elmham, 16th September

A Pantilius tunicatus was new for the year.

Pantilius tunicatus, North Elmham, 16th September

Other bugs were Birch Shieldbug Elasmostethus interstinctus, 3 Forest Bugs Pentatoma rufipes, Black-kneed Capsid Blepharidopterus angulatus, Lygus pratensis, Tarnished Plant Bug Lygus rugulipennis, Psallus varians and the leafhoppers 3 Kybos betulicola and 2 Fagocyba cruenta.  Barkflies (or barklice) consisted of a Graphopsocus cruciatus (new for the year) and 5 Ectopsocus of which at least 2 were Ectopsocus petersi.

Graphopsocus cruciatus, North Elmham, 16th September

Beetles were Amara apricaria, Nicrophorus investigator and Curculio venosus.  There was also a Hornet.

There were 3 new macro moths for the year the following night: Mallow, Green-brindled Crescent and Beaded Chestnut.  There were 35 species of moths in all, a good total for this time of year.  The others were Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Vetch Sober Aproaerema anthyllidella, 2 Light Brown Apple-moths Epiphyas postvittana, 3 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, Rush Marble Bactra lancealana, 3 Blood-veins, Small Blood-vein, Small Dusty Wave, Riband Wave, Garden Carpet, Common Marbled Carpet, Green Carpet, 2 Brimstone Moths, Dusky Thorn, Light Emerald, Ruby Tiger, 6 Large Yellow Underwings, 7 Lesser Yellow Underwings, Setaceous Hebrew Character, 2 Square-spot Rustics, White-point, 3 Common Wainscots, 18 Lunar Underwings, Pink-barred Sallow, Sallow, Mouse Moth, Flounced Rustic, Vine's Rustic and 4 Snouts.

Mallow, North Elmham, 17th September

Green-brindled Crescent, North Elmham, 17th September

A selection of lacewings consisted of 1-2 Chrysoperla carnea, Cunctochrysa albolineata (both green lacewings), the waxfly Conwentzia psociformis and the brown lacewing Hemerobius lutescens.  Also a Common Earwig.

There were 7 species of caddisfly: 2 Lype phaeopa, 3 Mottled Sedges Glyphotaelius pellucidus, 4 Limnephilus auricula, Limnephilus flavicornis, 9 Limnephilus lunatus and Limnephilus sparsus.

Bugs consisted of Lygus pratensis, 2 Kybos betulicola and the highlight of the nght, a decent new leafhopper.  It was easy to establish that it belonged to the genus Eurhadina, and a more careful look narrowed it down to one of two species, Eurhadina concinna or Eurhadina ribauti.  It was bound to be concinna as that's a widespread and common species on Oak rather than ribauti which is apparently much rarer, but to be sure you have to dissect them.  Well I like to be sure, and good job I do as it was in fact the rarer one, Eurhadina ribauti.  It's hard to get up to date information about the status of the various leafhopper species in Norfolk, but nationally it is listed as Notable B and there are only 12 records across the whole of the UK showing on NBN.  Apart from one in London these are all in the West Midlands or Wales, but this doesn't necessarily mean it is rare or unrecorded in Norfolk.

Eurhadina ribauti (male, aedeagus shown), North Elmham, 17th September

There were also 8 Ectopsocus barkflies.  I suspect they were all the same but I only checked one, an Ectopsocus petersi.  A Nicrophorus investigator was the only beetle and there was a Hornet.

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.

Bat survey results, an aberrant Rivulet and a new leafhopper

The highlight at home on 12th August was a new leafhopper, Arboridia ribauti.  It's another one where the NBN Atlas doesn't show any records from Norfolk, but this isn't a reliable indicator of status unfortunately.

Arboridia ribauti, North Elmham, 12th August

Other bugs were Hawthorn Shieldbug (new for the year at home), Birch Shieldbug and another Compsidolon salicellum.  Bradycellus verbasci and Nicrophorus investigator were the only beetles and the hoverfly Eupeodes latifasciatus was new for the year here.

The only lacewings were Dichochrysa prasina and 2 Micromus variegatus but there was a selection of caddisflies: Polycentropus flavomaculatus, 3 Hydropsyche siltalai, Limnephilus auricula, Limnephilus lunatus, Limnephilus marmoratus and Limnephilus sparsus.

None of the moths were new for the year but Beech Pigmy Stigmella hemargyrella was good.  The others were Apple Leaf-miner Lyonetia clerkella, Blackthorn Slender Parornix torquillella, Dingy Dowd Blastobasis adustella, 2 Dark Fruit-tree Tortrixes Pandemis heparana, Light Brown Apple-moth Epiphyas postvittana, Maple Button Acleris forsskaleana, 3 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, Barred Marble Celypha striana, Blotched Marble Endothenia quadrimaculana, Marbled Piercer Cydia splendana, 4 Straw Grass-veneers Agriphila straminella, 41 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, Ringed China-mark Parapoynx stratiotata, 9 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, Wax Moth Galleria mellonella, 2 Grey Knot-horns Acrobasis advenella, 2 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla, Orange Swift, Single-dotted Wave, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Common Carpet, Double-striped Pug, Scorched Carpet, Brimstone Moth, 2 Willow Beauties, Dingy Footman, Shuttle-shaped Dart, 3 Flame Shoulders, 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, 2 Square-spotted Clays, Six-striped Rustic, Cabbage Moth, Antler Moth, Common Wainscot, Straw Underwing, 4 Flounced Rustics, Spectacle and 4 Straw Dots.

Beech Pigmy Stigmella hemargyrella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 12th August

Perhaps the most unusual moth the following night was a Rivulet.  Not because they're rare here (though they are quite uncommon - not quite annual) but because it had an unusual extent of white on its forewings.  With a 15mm forewing there wasn't much doubt about its identity but given its unusual appearance I did check its genitalia just to make sure.

oddly-patterned female Rivulet, North Elmham, 13th August

The following night Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer Agriphila geniculea was new for the year.  It must have been a record night for Agriphila species with 5 different species (the others being Pale-streak Grass-veneer Agriphila selasella, 3 Straw Grass-veneers Agriphila straminella, 58 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella and Barred Grass-veneer Agriphila inquinatella, the latter less than annual here).

Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer Agriphila geniculea, North Elmham, 13th August

Barred Grass-veneer Agriphila inquinatella, North Elmham, 13th August

The other moths that night were 2 Ermine sp. Yponomeuta padella/malinellus/cagnagella, Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, 2 Dingy Dowds Blastobasis adustella, Light Brown Apple-moth Epiphyas postvittana, 4 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, Barred Marble Celypha striana, 2 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, 2 Blotched Marbles Endothenia quadrimaculana, 3 Garden Pebbles Evergestis forficalis, Pale Straw Pearl Udea lutealis, 3 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla, Orange Swift, Blood-vein, Riband Wave, Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, 2 Common Carpets, Tawny Speckled Pug, 2 Double-striped Pugs, Yellow-barred Brindle, Latticed Heath, 4 Brimstone Moths, 3 Dusky Thorns, Willow Beauty, 3 Poplar Hawk-moths, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, 2 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 3 Square-spotted Clays, 3 Six-striped Rustics, Cabbage Moth, 3 Straw Underwings, 12 Flounced Rustics, Vine's Rustic and 5 Straw Dots.

Blotched Marble Endothenia quadrimaculana, North Elmham, 13th August

Latticed Heath, North Elmham, 13th August

3 Pond Olives Cloeon dipterum were the only mayflies and the caddisflies were 3 Hydropsyche siltalai, Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus and Limnephilus lunatus.

There were 4 Forest Bugs and the only bug was new for the year, Phytocoris tiliae.

Phytocoris tiliae, North Elmham, 13th August

Beetles were 6 Bradycellus verbasci and an Aphodius rufipes.  The only other insects I recorded were 2 Hornets.

Early the following morning I went to the meadows to collect the bat detector equipment I left at the meadows overnight for the final one of six nights recording.  This was part of the Norfolk Bat Survey programme and after analysing my recordings they told me what species I had recorded.  They gave me a host of information and a very intrestesting breakdown of the number of passes of each species each night, but in summary the following speceis were recorded, with the numbers being the number of passes the bats made past the recording equipment:

1. Whiskered/Brandt's Bat Myotis mystacinus/brandti 1
2. Daubenton's Bat Myotis daubentonii 20
3. Natterer's Bat Myotis nattererii 25 (also another 15 unidentified Myotis sp.)
4. Leisler's Bat Nyctalus leisleri 3
5. Noctule Nyctalus noctula 13 (also another 4 unidentified Nyctalus sp.)
6. Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus 306
7. Soprano Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus 625 (also another 155 unidentified Pipistrelles)
8. Serotine Eptesicus serotinus 64
9. Barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus 6
10. Brown Long-eared Bat Plecotus aruitus 35

So a total of 1272 recordings about half of which were Soprana Pipistrelles and a further quarter of which were Common Pipistrelles.  But particularly interesting to me was the variety of other species recorded.  The single Whiskered/Brandt's Bat was a good one.  These two species can't be separated acoustically so most records are lumped as either-or.  There are only a scattering of records across the county, with just 13 records in 2017 (when there was very good coverage thanks to the bat survey).  Leisler's Bat was also good to find, with the three passes all from different fields on different nights.  This is mainly a Breckland species, particularly scarce elsewhere in Norfolk.

Excluding one that hasn't been recorded in Norfolk since the 1950s and one migrant species that only occurs here as a rare vagrant, there is only one other species of bat that occurs in Norfolk, the Nathusius's Pipistrelle which is mainly found in the Broads and would be quite unexpected here in mid Norfolk I think (at least there were no records anywhere near here in 2017).  So a much better result than expected and really as good as could possibly have been hoped for.

Anyway, although that was as good a time as any to give you the results of the bat survey, the point of me starting to write about collecting the equipment was to introduce this leafhopper nymph that was on top of the bat detector box when I collected it on 14th August.  Given its yellow colouration I imagined it would be one of the Fagocyba or Edwardsiana species, but it subsequently moulted and proved to be a female Kybos sp., either Kybos virgator, strigilifer or perhaps calyculus (females cannot be fully identified).

Kybos sp. nymph, North Elmham, 13th August