Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Noctuids (Noctuidae) part 5: Frosted Orange to Rush Wainscot

NOCTUIDS (NOCTUIDAE) (continued)


Frosted Orange Gortyna flavago - Totals of 13 caught in the garden between 21st August and 20th September 2020 and 10 between 22nd August and 15th September 2020, just a little below the average for here.  I very rarely encounter this species anywhere other than at home.

Frosted Orange, North Elmham, 21st August 2019

Frosted Orange, North Elmham, 22nd August 2020

Rosy Rustic Hydraecia micacea - Totals of 14 trapped in the garden between 20th July and 4th October 2019 and 25 between 17th July and 8th November 2020 (the last being my latest ever).  The average annual total here is around 17 but 4 on 30th August 2019 was the first time I've trapped more than 2 together here.  Elsewhere recorded next door on 3 nights, 4 caught at the meadows and 2 in Cornwall.

Rosy Rustic, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019

Rosy Rustic, North Elmham, 14th August 2020

Butterbur Hydraecia petasitis - Singles caught in the garden on 26th July 2019 and 20th August 2020.  Here is the only place I've ever found this rather scarce species - I had 3 here in 2016 and 3 again in 2018, but none in other years.

Butterbur, North Elmham, 26th July 2019

Butterbur, North Elmham, 20th August 2020 (with Rosy Rustic)

Saltern Ear Amphipoea fucosa - None.  There are quite a few inland records of this species so I never assume my Ear Moths aren't this species and check all of them, but so far no luck.


Ear Moth Amphipoea oculea - Singles trapped in the garden on 23rd and 27th July 2019 and 5th and 8th August 2020 - my worst years here to date.  Numbers fluctuate widely here, with 13 in 2015 the best year.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 4th August 2019 and one there on 18th July 2020.  Another Ear sp. there on 7th August 2020 escaped before I could get it in a pot so I was unable to confirm it - I usually check them all.  They're nearly always male but I caught my first female in 2020.

male Ear Moth, North Elmham, 23rd July 2019

male Ear Moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019

male Ear Moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July 2020

female Ear Moth, North Elmham, 5th August 2020

male Ear Moth, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

Flounced Rustic Luperina testacea - At least 440 caught in the garden between 4th August and 28th September (my latest ever).  I didn't count them on 7 nights so the true total may have been a little higher, but in any case this was my best year so far.  Records are there to be broken though and in 2020 I caught 1,126 between 27th July (my earliest ever) and 17th September, peaking at 94 on 24th August.  Previous annual totals had varied from 164 to 332.  Elsewhere recorded next door (on 3 nights), 4 at the meadows and one at Whitwell Street.

Flounced Rustic, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd September 2019

Flounced Rustic, North Elmham, 27th July 2020

Flounced Rustic, North Elmham, 4th September 2020

Large Wainscot Rhizedra lutosa - I caught 5 in the garden between 25th September and 24th October 2019 and 5 again between 18th September and 9th November 2020 (the last being my latest ever).  Numbers of this species vary considerably with 27 in 2014, 11 in 2017 but only 2-4 in the other 3 other years.  Also one at the meadows on 8th November 2020.

Large Wainscot, North Elmham, 25th September 2019

Large Wainscot, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November 2020

Bulrush Wainscot Nonagria typhae - None.  I've only caught this species here once, in 2016.


Fen Wainscot Arenostoia phragmitidis - After my first blank year for this species at home in 2019 I caught 3 between 17th and 23rd July 2020.  2-3 a year is typical although I had 9 in 2018.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 18th July 2020 and a caterpillar at Titchwell on 1st June 2019.

Fen Wainscot caterpillar, Titchwell, 1st June 2019

Fen Wainscot, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July 2020

Twin-spotted Wainscot Lenisa geminipuncta - None at home in 2019 but one here on 14th August 2020.  I had 5 here in 2018 but 0-2 is normal.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 4th August 2019.

Twin-spotted Wainscot, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019

Twin-spotted Wainscot, North Elmham, 14th August 2020

Brown-veined Wainscot Archanara dissoluta - None.  I've never seen this species locally - records are few and far between in mid Norfolk but there are enough to think it should be a possibility here.


Small Rufous Coenobia rufa - 2 trapped in the garden on 17th July 2019 and then in 2020 singles on 31st July and 7th August.  2-3 a year is average here.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 7th August 2020.

Small Rufouses, North Elmham, 17th July 2019

Small Rufous, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

Small Rufous, North Elmham, 7th August 2020

Small Wainscot Denticucullus pygmina - None.  I've never recorded this species locally but there are quite a few records in mid Norfolk so it should turn up round here sometime.


Mere Wainscot Photedes fluxa - 4 caught in the garden between 4th and 20th July 2019 making it my best year to date for this species.  I caught 5 here between 2015-2018.  None in 2020 but even so it seems quite surprising that I should get so many of these relatively scarce moths here, especially as there isn't much of its foodplant round here so far as I know (and the Flora atlas seems to support that).  Finding it rather tricky to tell these from Small Wainscot I have gen detted a few of them to make quite sure, but these have confirmed we are dealing with this species.

Mere Wainscot, North Elmham, 4th July 2019

Mere Wainscot, North Elmham, 16th July 2019

Mere Wainscot, North Elmham, 20th July 2019

Small Dotted Buff Photedes minima - Singles trapped in the garden on 30th June 2019 and 31st July 2020.  I'd only caught 2 of these here before, in 2015 and 2018.

male Small Dotted Buff, North Elmham, 30th June 2019

female Small Dotted Buff, North Elmham, 31st July 2020

Webb's Wainscot Globia sparganii - One caught at home on 22nd August 2019.  This was my 4th record here following 2 in 2015 and one in 2017.  None here in 2020 but one at the meadows on 7th August.

Webb's Wainscot, North Elmham, 22nd August 2019

Webb's Wainscot, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

Rush Wainscot Globia algae - One of the mothing highlights of 2019 was finding one of these in my trap on 25th July.  Not only a new moth for me but this Red Data Book species is so rare that it isn't recorded every year in the county and had never been seen round here before.  It was a fresh individual early in the flight period suggesting that it had bred locally, and this was further supported in 2020 when another fresh one turned up in the trap on 26th July, followed by another on 8th August.

Rush Wainscot, North Elmham, 25th July 2019

Rush Wainscot, North Elmham, 26th July 2020

Rush Wainscot, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

Next page: more Noctuidae

A new bug and several new moths and bugs for the year

I think of Ashy Button Acleris sparsana as being a late autumn species so it was a surprise to find one in my moth trap on 16th August.  But although they peak in October it's actually quite normal for the first ones to fly in August.  It was my earliest though, albeit only by a week or so.

Ashy Button Acleris sparsana, North Elmham, 16th August

Otherwise it wasn't a very eventful night with 63 moths of 24 species.  The others were Common Oak Pigmy Stigmella roborella, Red Hazel Midget Phyllonorycter nicellii, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, Barred Marble Celypha striana, Common Marble Celypha lacunana, 18 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, 2 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneers Agriphila geniculea, 4 Garden Pebbles Evergestis forficalis, Mother of Pearl Pleuroptya ruralis, Beautiful Plume Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, Single-dotted Wave, Double-striped Pug, 3 Brimstone Moths, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Poplar Hawk-moth, 2 Swallow Prominents, 3 Flame Shoulders, 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, Six-striped Rustic, Common Rustic, 13 Flounced Rustics, Rosy Rustic and Straw Dot.

The following night was a bit better, with Figure of Eighty new for the year - my only one last year as it turned out (I average one a year here).

Figure of Eighty, North Elmham, 17th August

My third and final Butterbur of the year was good.  I had 3 in 2016 too but those 6 are the only ones I've ever seen anywhere.  Indeed they're a pretty scarce species in Norfolk - there was only one other record in 2016, three in total in 2017 and two others in 2018.  They are usually pretty obvious, not only because they're ginormous compared to the average Rosy Rustic, but the structure is different and the colour too.  I think there's also a slight difference in the curvature of the crossline too, but I haven't quite worked out how diagnostic that is.  But although size is usually pretty obvious, this is by no means a reliable means of identifying them.  I also caught a Rosy Rustic on this occasion, and it happened to be the largest Rosy Rustic I've ever seen.  In the photo below it appears to be even bigger than the Butterbur.  To be honest I don't think it was, quite (it's standing higher off the ground in the photo so is nearer the camera), but it was very very close.

Butterbur (top right) and Rosy Rustic (bottom left), North Elmham, 17th August

One of two Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana was the all-dark form f. caeruleaoatrana.  Quite a nice moth when fresh...

Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana (f. caeruleoatrana), North Elmham, 17th August

Other moths were Hawthorn Slender Parornix anglicella, Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, Barred Marble Celypha striana, 4 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, 35 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, 2 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneers Agriphila geniculea, Ringed China-mark Parapoynx stratiotata, 2 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, Ermine Knot-horn Phycitodes binaevella, 3 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla, Maiden's Blush, Blood-vein, 2 Single-dotted Waves, Lime-speck Pug, Tawny Speckled Pug, Double-striped Pug, 4 Brimstone Moths, Canary-shouldered Thorn, 2 Dusky Thorns, Flame Shoulder, 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, 2 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 3 Six-striped Rustics, 14 Flounced Rustics, 3 Straw Dots and Snout.

Mayflies and lacewings consisted of 2 Pond Olives Cloeon dipterum and Chrysopa commata respectively, and caddisflies were 2 Hydropsyche siltalai and Medium Sedge Goera pilosa.  2 Nicrophorus investigator and an Aphodius rufipes represented the beetles and there were 3 Hornets and a Common Frog.

The following night saw an improvement with 5 new moths for the year.  One of these was a Pale Thistle Case-bearer Coleophora peribenanderi, my first for a couple of years.

Pale Thistle Case-bearer Coleophora peribenanderi (male, gen det), North Elmham, 18th August

I've seen rather more Birch Marbles Apotomis betuletana, but not at home - this was my first trapped at home since 2015.

Birch Marble Apotomis betuletana, North Elmham, 18th August

2 Square-spot Rustics, Centre-barred Sallow and Frosted Orange were also new species for the year.

Square-spot Rustic, North Elmham, 18th August

Centre-barred Sallow, North Elmham, 18th August

Frosted Orange, North Elmham, 18th August

Other moths were Carrion Moth Monopis weaverella, Bird’s-nest Moth Tinea trinotella, Dark Neb Bryotropha affinis, Dingy Dowd Blastobasis adustella, Light Brown Apple-moth Epiphyas postvittana, Dark-triangle Button Acleris laterana, 2 Garden Rose Tortrixes Acleris variegana, Barred Marble Celypha striana, 5 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana, Marbled Piercer Cydia splendana, 46 Common Grass-veneers Agriphila tristella, 4 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneers Agriphila geniculea, Ringed China-mark Parapoynx stratiotata, 2 Garden Pebbles Evergestis forficalis, Pale Straw Pearl Udea lutealis, 2 Mother of Pearls Pleuroptya ruralis, Grey Knot-horn Acrobasis advenella, 2 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla, Orange Swift, Maiden's Blush, Single-dotted Wave, Garden Carpet, Common Carpet, Lime-speck Pug, Double-striped Pug, 4 Brimstone Moths, Canary-shouldered Thorn, 2 Dusky Thorns, Rosy Footman, Flame Shoulder, 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, Small Square-spot, Setaceous Hebrew Character, 12 Flounced Rustics and 3 Straw Dots.

A Green Drake Ephemera danica was the only mayfly. Among the green lacewings, Chrysopa perla was new for the garden.  It's a very common species that I've recorded up the road at the meadows before, but apparently it's a species that doesn't turn up in gardens all that often.  Other lacewings were Chrysopa commata, Chrysoperla carnea, 2 Hemerobius lutescens and Micromus variegatus.

Chrysopa perla, North Elmham, 18th August

There was a selection of caddisflies: Cyrnus flavidus, Polycentropus flavomaculatus, 2 Hydropsyche pellucidula, Hydropsyche siltalai and Limnephilus marmoratus.  Beetles were 4 Bradycellus verbasci, a Nicrophorus investigator and another Curculio venosus.

It was a good night for bugs too, with one completely new species and two new for the year.  I've seen several of the Psallus species in the garden but they can be pretty tricky to identify.  This one keyed out to either Psallus flavellus or Psallus lepidus, either of which would be new to me, but I wasn't entirely confident I had adequately eliminated all of the other species, especially falleni (which, as it flies later than others was really quite a likely contender from the start).  The only way to resolve it was to check its genitalia, and this placed it as Psallus flavellus.

Psallus flavellus (male, gen det), North Elmham, 18th August

The two other bugs that were new for the year were the striking Campyloneura virgula and Neolygus contaminatus.  Other bugs were Birch Shieldbug, 5 Forest Bugs, 2 Tarnished Plant Bugs Lygus rugulipennis and the leafhopper Empoasca vitis. 

Campyloneura virgula, North Elmham, 18th August

Neolygus contaminatus, North Elmham, 18th August