Abundant rarely-recorded waxflies

I headed up to the Cathedral Meadows early on Saturday 12th May.  One striking feature was the abundance of Waxflies flying alongside the hedgerows.  There are several species of Waxfly and most are poorly recorded (which is presumably how I added two species to the Norfolk list from my garden last year).  Several can only be identified if they are male, so I retained enough to be reasonably confident that I would have males from each of the two tetrads I was covering.  In the end they were all males and they all proved to be Coniopteryx tineiformis, a very poorly-recorded species.  I had one at home in 2016 but prior to that there was just one record in Norfolk.  I have noticed early morning waxflies flying around hawthorns elsewhere at this time of year before - I bet this is actually a very common and widespread species that simply isn't recorded.  I don't suppose there are all that many people out at five in the morning with nets who are prepared to catch waxflies and examine their genitalia.  Quite odd really - I wonder why not?
 

Coniopteryx tineiformis (males, gen det), Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

There were also a few moths flying around including Common Thorn Midget Phyllonorycter oxyacanthae, Beech Midget Phyllonorycter maestingella, 5 Horse Chestnut Leaf-miners Cameraria ohridella, 2 Pearled Dwarfs Elachista apicipunctella and Little Mompha Mompha raschkiella.

Pearled Dwarf Elachista apicipunctella, Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Little Mompha Mompha raschkiella, Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

This Scorpion Fly is another Panorpa germanica.

Parnorpa germanica, Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

I think this springtail is Pogonognathellus longicornis, though it's quite a bit smaller than they can get, the antennae were only fractionally longer than the body and the filaments on the empodia (is that the pluaral of empodium?) weren't quite as long as they're supposed to be.  On the scarcer flavescens the antennae should be shorter than the body and the empodium shorter than the claw, neither of which were the case, quite.  I think the similar Tomocerus species have less tapered antennae and spines on the inside of the dens which I couldn't see, but I'm basing this primarily on the descriptions of the 4 Tomocerid species at Naturespot, and I'm not 100% sure there aren't any other contenders I should rule out (or in).

Pogonognathellus longicornis, Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

I have struggled a bit using the key to land snails but decided to put a bit more effort in this year as I'm trying to record as many different taxa as possible at the meadows.  Today I identified White-lipped Snail, Strawberry Snail (both of which I had identified before) and Copse Snail (which was entirely new to me).

 Copse Snail, Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

White-lipped Snail, Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Strawberry Snail, Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

As I understand it these slugs can't be identified to either Great Red Slug or Great Black Slug without dissection and examination of their genitalia.  For some reason looking at a slug's naughty bits is somehow less appealing than looking at a moth or waxfly's naughty bits...

Great Red Slug or perhaps Great Black Slug, Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Thompson Water mothing

Dave and I headed out to Thompson Water for some mothing again on Tuesday 8th August.  Conditions weren't perfect but we thought it worth a go.  There were a few nice moths but nothing espectially remarkable: Long-horned Flat-body Carcina quercana, 20 Birch Marbles Apotomis betuletana, 3 Holly Tortrixes Rhopobota naevana, 4 Wainscot Veneers Chilo phragmitella, 3 Pearl Veneers Agriphila straminella, Ground-moss Grey Eudonia truncicolella, Small Grey Eudonia mercurella, Ringed China-mark Parapoynx stratiotata, 4 Small China-marks Cataclysta lemnata, 6 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, Double-striped Knot-horn Cryptoblabes bistriga, Pebble Hook-tip, 2 Clay Triple-lines, Small Fan-footed Wave, Single-dotted Wave, Small Scallop, 3 Common Carpets, 3 Small Phoenixes, 5 Small Rivulets, Triple-spotted Pug, Currant Pug, Double-striped Pug, Common Wave, Iron Prominent, 15 Black Arches, 6 Dingy Footmen, Flame Shoulder, Antler Moth, 2 Dun-bars, Spectacle, 3 Straw Dots and Snout.

Birch Marble Apotomis betuletana, Thompson Water, 8th August

Ground-moss Grey Eudonia truncicolella, Thompson Water, 8th August

Double-striped Knot-horn Cryptoblabes bistriga, Thompson Water, 8th August

Clay Triple-lines, Thompson Water, 8th August

Triple-spotted Pug, Thompson Water, 8th August

Black Arches, Thompson Water, 8th August - a large female and a small male

We've had Scarce Emerald Damselfly come to light not far away from here before but this time it was the turn of its commoner congener, Emerald Damselfly.

Emerald Damselfly, Thompson Water, 8th August

There were a few beetles and I didn't attempt to identify all of them, though I did retain a few representatives to check which turned out to be 2 Ilybius fuliginosus, Pterostichus niger and Silpha atrata.  Similarly the caddisflies included 2 Agrypnia pagetana and Molanna angustata, the latter only my second and a species I don't get at home.

Molanna angustata, Thompson Water, 8th August

I had less luck identifying leafhoppers - another Kybos sp. was again a female which don't allow full identification but the shape of the projection on the back of the seventh abdominal sternum proved it was a different species to the one I had at home the previous week - this one was either betulicola or smaragdulus.  An Edwardsiana leafhopper was also a species that requires male genitalia to identify it - and this was a female too.

Kybos betulicola or Kybos smaragdulus, Thompson Water, 8th August

Edwardsiana sp., Thompson Water, 8th August

I'm not confident about the ID of this springtail but suspect it's Pogonognathellus longicornis.

probable Pogonognathellus longicornis, Thompson Water, 8th August

At home the hoverfly Eristalis tenax was the first I've noted this year but the moths were quite poor: 2 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, 2 Pale-streak Grass-veneers Agriphila selasella, 12 Pearl Veneers Agriphila straminella, 9 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, 3 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, 3 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla, Blood-vein, Brimstone Moth, Pale Prominent, 3 Dingy Footmen, 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, Setaceous Hebrew Character and 5 Straw Dots.

Eristalis tenax, North Elmham, 8th August

There are often Frogs around the outside of my moth trap, presumably eating the moths that land round the outside (though I've not seen one successfully catch a moth yet).  Now they're getting smarter and hopping up to the top of the moth trap... next they'll be hopping in.

Common Frog, North Elmham, 8th August