Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Tortrix Moths (Tortricidae) (Part 11: Bells and Shoots III (Notocelia to Rhayacionia))

TORTRIX MOTHS (TORTRICIDAE) (continued)


Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatella - 14 in the garden between 22nd May and 6th June 2019 and 12 between 8th May and 2nd June 2020, both a bit below average.  Elsewhere one at the meadows in 2019 and one at Frost's Common in 2020.

Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatelle, North Elmham, 22nd May 2019

Yellow-faced Bell Notocelia cynosbatelle, North Elmham, 8th May 2020

Bramble Shoot Notocelia uddmanniana - 7 in the garden between 24th June and 6th July 2019 and 6 between 13th June and 2nd July 2020, which are about average.  Elsewhere 2 at the meadows and singles at Bintree Wood, Whitwell Street (on the later date of 3rd September 2020) and Weybourne.

Bramble Shoot Notocelia uddmanniana, North Elmham Cathedtral Meadows, 7th July 2019

Bramble Shoot Notocelia uddmanniana, Bintree Wood, 13th June 2020

Summer Rose Bell Notocelia roborana - One trapped in the garden on 23rd July 2019 and 3 between 18th June and 30th July 2020.  I average 3 a year and 2019 was the first year I only caught one.  I used to get them at my previous house in Bawdeswell too but so far I've never found one anywhere else.

Summer Rose Bell Notocelia roborana, North Elmham, 23rd July 2019

Summer Rose Bell Notocelia roborana, North Elmham, 18th June 2020

Common Rose Bell Notocelia rosaecolona - None.  I've not found this species anywhere yet but it's fairly widespread, if a little scarce, so wouldn't be very surprising round here.  Some WhatsApp discussion about this species' identification in 2020 made me realise I had misremembered or somehow got confused about one of the characters and it's therefore possible that I've overlooked one or two in the past.  There are one or two "trimaculana" that I've photographed which in hindsight I wish I'd retained to check, although I think they probably are just trimaculana.


Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana - Totals of 16 here between 24th May and 29th June 2019 and 13 between 19th May and 5th July 2020, my worst years for them (they average 26 a year).  Also recorded at the meadows and in Keswick.

Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana, North Elmham, 24th June 2019

male Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana, North Elmham, 20th May 2020

male Triple-blotched Bell Notocelia trimaculana, North Elmham, 26th May 2020

Dark Pine Shoot Pseudococcyx posticana - None.  I've never seen this species but it seems to be quite widespread in Norfolk, if thin on the ground.


Pine Bud Moth Pseudococcyx turionella - None.  I've not found this species locally but there's no reason why it shouldn't occur round here.


Pine Leaf-mining Moth Clavigesta purdeyi - One in the garden trap on 26th July 2020, the 4th year in 6 that I've seen it here.  None here in 2019 but one in next door's garden on 8th August.  Also one at Swanton Great Wood on 27th August 2019 and one at Bintree Wood on 24th July 2020.  Stunning little moths.

Pine Leaf-mining Moth Clavigesta purdeyi, North Elmham, 8th August 2019

Pine Leaf-mining Moth Clavigesta purdeyi, Swanton Great Wood, 27th August 2019

Pine Leaf-mining Moth Clavigesta purdeyi, Swanton Great Wood, 26th July 2020

Pine Shoot Rhyacionia buoliana - None.  I am yet to find this species anywhere but it's pretty widespread so probably occurs round here somewhere.


Orange-spotted Shoot Rhyacionia pinicolana - One caught in the garden on 25th July 2019, my third record here (2 together in 2016, one in 2018).  Also one at Swanton Great Wood on 27th August.  None in 2020.

Orange-spotted Shoot Rhyacionia pinicolana, North Elmham, 25th July 2019

Spotted Shoot Rhyacionia pinivorana - One in the garden moth trap on 18th May 2020 was only my second here and first since 2015.  The only one I found in 2019 was at Carsaig on Mull on 11th June and it turned out to be a new moth for the island!  Apparently there was an old record for the vice county that didn't specify the location - odds are that was on Mull too but that can't be assumed.  Actually I was a bit disappointed because I had been hoping mine would turn out to be an Elgin Shoot Rhyacionia logaea, a species that I've never seen but does occur on Mull, but perhaps I should be satisfied enough that it was a useful 'first' record anyway.  Also one at Hills and Holes on 21st May 2020.

male Spotted Shoot Rhyacionia pinivorana, Carsaig, 11th June 2019 - the first for Mull

Spotted Shoot Rhyacionia pinivorana, North Elmham, 18th May 2020

Next page: more Tortricidae

Row Heath

On Saturday 27th May the Norfolk Moth Survey headed up to Row Heath, on the Sheringham-Cromer ridge south of West Runton.  It's a great area of woodland bordering heathland which hasn't been properly surveyed before so it was a good opportunity to see what was there.  The weather was kind too, so we were in for a good night.

For many people, myself included, the highlight was a Barred Hook-tip, a scarce macro in the county which I'd never seen before.

Barred Hook-tip, Row Heath, 27th May

A tiny dark moth with obvious eye-caps defied identification in the field but eventually it became clear to me that it was one of the Stigmella atricapitella/ruficapitella pair, the males of which can be distinguished by the length of their andriconial hair scales on their hindwings.  Once I'd realised which scales were andriconial I was able to identify this one as Black-headed Pigmy Stigmella atricapitella, another new species for me.

Black-headed Pigmy Stigmella atricapitella, Row Heath, 27th May

There are loads of species in this family and the majority are usually only recorded as leafmines - the adults are fiendishly difficult to identify (even when looking at their genitalia in most cases) and not seen very often either.  We managed to see two this night, but the second I haven't been able to put a name to.  I wondered if it might be the paler-based form of salicella (though I don't recall there being much sallow there) or possibly floslactella?

Pigmy sp. Stigmella sp., Row Heath, 27th May

Another good macro was the highlight for at least one person, and was, or rather were, only my second and third ever: 2 Little Emeralds.

Little Emeralds, Row Heath, 27th May

Though not especially rare a Honeysuckle Midget Phyllonorycter trifasciella was my first in Norfolk having only seen one in Cornwall previously.  There was also a Red Hazel Midget Phyllonorycter nicellii.

Honeywuckle Midget Phyllonorycter trifasciella, Row Heath, 27th May

Other good macros included Grey Birch, Small White Wave and Brindled White-spot - the first two of those were my second records.

Grey Birch, Row Heath, 27th May

Brindled White-spot, Row Heath, 27th May

As always on occasions like this a few moths were quite educational for various reasons.  We saw several Common Tortrixes Capua vulgana (which despite their name are far from common - only about 13 records in Norfolk).  They are supposed to be easily identified by their pale shoulders but although one had clear pale shoulders and another (a male) had less distinct pale shoulders (I suspect they'd have been clearer when it was fresh), two females showed virtually no hint of pale shoulders.

Common Tortrix Capua vulgana, Row Heath, 27th May

Common Tortrix Capua vulgana (male), Row Heath, 27th May

Common Tortrix Capua vulgana (females), Row Heath, 27th May

There were several Small Rivulets and Garry found what he thought might be a Rivulet.  To me it looked too small and some of us felt that it was in fact another Small Rivulet.  There had been a suggestion that it only had a single indentation on the white cross band which would make it Rivulet but on closer inspection It did in fact show two indentations.  These were of unequal size – various references say Small Rivulet usually shows two indentations of equal size while Rivulet usually shows only a single indentation.  In my experience they are more commonly of unequal size in Small Rivulet (and this is supported by photos on reliable websites like Lepiforum) but a similar pattern is sometimes found in Rivulet too.  It seems that most cases where Rivulet has two indentations they are more unequal in size than the majority of Small Rivulets, but with some overlap.  For me the pattern of Garry’s moth was fine for Small Rivulet but did not rule out Rivulet, so to settle it I took it home to measure and if necessary gen det.  The forewing length was 11 mm – inside the upper end of the range for Small Rivulet (9-11 mm) and outside of the bottom end of the range for Rivulet (12-15 mm) – so it seemed it was a Small Rivulet as I’d thought.  As I had the specimen I checked the genitalia just to confirm… and it turns out it was a male Rivulet after all!

Rivulet (small but not Small; male, gen det), Row Heath, 27th May

This V-Pug caught some of us out as it wasn't the usual green colour.  I had a vague recollection of having seen one like this before and indeed it is the case that old examples can wear to this colour.

V-Pug, Row Heath, 27th May

It seems that I'm not the only one who sees some of the conifer tortrix moths rarely enough that I can't remember how to distinguish them without looking them up.  We saw quite a few Spotted Shoot Moths Rhyacionia pinivorana as well as some Pine Bud Moths Pseudococcyx turionella.

Pine Bud Moths Pseudococcyx turionella, Row Heath, 27th May

Spotted Shoot Moths Rhyacionia pinivorana, Row Heath, 27th May

Other micros included 2 Bordered Carls Coptotriche marginea, Feathered Bright Incurvaria masculella, 3 Large Long-horns Nematopogon swammerdamella, Meadow Long-horn Cauchas rufimitrella, Cork Moth Nemapogon cloacella, Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella, Birch Bent-wing Bucculatrix demaryella, 3 New Oak Slenders Caloptilia robustella, 2 Apple Fruit Moths Argyresthia conjugella, 2 Gorse Case-bearers Coleophora albicosta, Buff Rush Case-bearer Coleophora caespititiella, Crescent Groundling Teleiodes luculella, Large Groundling Teleiopsis diffinis, 3 Heather Groundlings Neofaculta ericetella, Winter Groundling Scrobipalpa costella, Hook-marked Straw Moth Agapeta hamana, Dark-barred Tortrix Syndemis musculana, 2 Light Brown Apple Moths Epiphyas postvittana, 4 Brassy Tortrixes Eulia ministrana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, Oak Marble Lobesia reliquana, 2 Rush Marbles Bactra lancealana, 2 Bridge Rollers Ancylis uncella, Red Roller Ancylis mitterbacheriana, Pine Bell Epinotia rubiginosana, Little Beech Piercer Strophedra weirana, 2 Grey Gorse Piercers Cydia ulicetana, Meadow Grey Scoparia pyralella and 4 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis.

Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella (male, gen det), Row Heath, 27th May

Apple Fruit Moth Argyresthia conjugella, Row Heath, 27th May

Bridge Roller Ancylis uncella, Row Heath, 27th May

Oak Marble Lobesia reliquana, Row Heath, 27th May

Little Beech Piercer Strophedra weirana (male, gen det), Row Heath, 27th May

Large Groundling Teleiopsis diffinis, Row Heath, 27th May

Feathered Bright Incurvaria masculella, Row Heath, 27th May

Gorse Case-bearer Coleophora albicosta (male, gen det), Row Heath, 27th May

The other macros were Gold Swift, Common Swift, Scalloped Hook-tip, Pebble Hook-tip, Chinese Character, Peach Blossom, Small Blood-vein, Cream Wave, Flame Carpet, Red Twin-spot Carpet, 5 Silver-ground Carpets, 8 Common Marbled Carpets, 8 Grey Pine Carpets, 2 Green Carpets, 3 Foxglove Pugs, Lime-speck Pug, Common Pug, 2 Ochreous Pugs, Small Yellow Wave, Yellow-barred Brindle, Clouded Border, Tawny-barred Angle, Brown Silver-line, 2 Scorched Wings, 3 Brimstone Moths, Scalloped Hazel, 2 Peppered Moths, 2 Pale Oak Beauties, Common White Wave, 6 White-pinion Spotteds, Clouded Silver, Light Emerald, 2 Lime Hawk-moths, 2 Poplar Hawk-moths, Alder Kitten, Coxcomb Prominent, Maple Prominent, Marbled Brown, Lobster Moth, Great Prominent, Pale Tussock, 3 Orange Footmen, 2 White Ermines, 2 Buff Ermines, 2 Least Black Arches, Flame Shoulder, Early Grey, Alder Moth, Clouded-bordered Brindle, Treble Lines, Nut-tree Tussock, Spectacle, Straw Dot and Small Fan-foot.

Lime Hawk-moth, Row Heath, 27th May

Alder Kitten, Row Heath, 27th May

Maple Prominent, Row Heath, 27th May

There were plenty of other insects too.  Lacewings included Chrysopidia ciliata and Hemerobius lutescens.

Chrysopidia ciliata, Row Heath, 27th May

Caddisflies included this Limnephilus marmoratus.

Limnephilus marmoratus, Row Heath, 27th May

Bugs included my first Oncopsis flavicollis and a Thamnotettix dilutior, both leafhoppers.

Oncopsis flavicollis, Row Heath, 27th May

Thamnotettix dilutior, Row Heath, 27th May

Beetles included Black Clock Beetle Pterostichus madidus, my first Melanotus villosus and Phyllobius argentatus.

Black Clock Beetle Pterostichus madidus, Row Heath, 27th May

Melanotus villosus, Row Heath, 27th May

The most obvious beetle, in fact the most obvious insect of any type, was Cockchafer - there were hundreds!  You can see a liberal scattering of them on my sheet here... (PS: you don't have to be middle-aged male and either bald or bearded to go mothing).

moth-ers, Row Heath, 27th May