Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Noctuids (Noctuidae) part 9: Satellite to Dark Brocade

NOCTUIDS (NOCTUIDAE) (continued)


Satellite Eupsilia transversa - In 2019 one caught in the garden on 9th February and then singles on 5th and 26th October.  In 2020 singles on 17th March and 1st April and 3 between 20th October and 25th November.  I average about 6 a year here and have never had less than 3.  At the meadows singles on 4th October 2019, 29th September 2020 (my earliest ever autumn record) and 8th November.

Satellite, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th October 2019

Satellite, North Elmham, 17th March 2020

Satellite, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 29th September 2020

Satellite, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November 2020

Olive Ipimorpha subtusa - None.  Apparently some people catch these regularly but I've only ever caught one, here in 2018.


Lesser-spotted Pinion Cosmia affinis - Singles in the garden on 4th August 2019 and 1st August 2020, my first ever records of this species anywhere.

Lesser-spotted Pinion, North Elmham, 4th August 2019

Lesser-spotted Pinion, North Elmham, 1st August 2020

Dun-bar Cosmia trapezina - At least 10 between 12th and 31st July 2019 (not counted on one night but unlikely to have been much more than one) and 20 between 10th July and 10th August 2020.  2019 was my worst year here for this species - on average I catch around 28 a year.  Elsewhere singles at the meadows on 3 dates and one at Bintree Wood.

Dun-bar, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 26th July 2019

Dun-bar, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th August 2020

Lunar-spotted Pinion Cosmia pyralina - Singles trapped in the garden on 16th and 24th July 2019.  I've caught exactly 2 here in 4 out of the 6 years I've lived here (but none in 2017 or 2020).


Centre-barred Sallow Atethmia centrago - 2019 was my worst year for this species with just 2 singles caught on consecutive nights 2nd and 3rd September; 7 in 2020 between 5th and 15th September.  The average annual tally is 9-10.  Elsewhere 10 at Whitwell Street on 3rd September 2020 and one at the meadows.

Centre-barred Sallow, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th September 2020

Minor Shoulder-knot Brachylomia viminalis - None.  I had never recorded this species anywhere until 2018 and still haven't found it locally, which is surprising given the large numbers that occur in Foxley Wood, for example (which had a direct line of sight to my light when I lived in Bawdeswell).  Surely it will turn up here sometime...


Suspected Parastichtis suspecta - None.  I caught this species twice when I lived in Bawdeswell but so far haven't found it here in North Elmham.


Dingy Shears Apterogenum ypsillon - One in the garden on 10th July 2019, the 5th I've caught here in 5 years but none here in 2020.  Elsewhere one at Weybourne on 5th July 2019 and one at the meadows on 18th July 2020.

Dingy Shears, Weybourne, 5th July 2019

Dingy Shears, North Elmham, 10th July 2019

Dingy Shears, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th July 2020

Merveille du Jour Griposia aprilina - 5 trapped in the garden between 16th October and 2nd November 2019 and 14 between 11th and 22nd October 2020 including a record count of 4 on the last date.  I average 9-10 a year

Merveille du Jour, North Elmham, 16th October 2019

Merveille du Jour, North Elmham, 23rd October 2019

Merveille du Jour, North Elmham, 11th October 2020

Merveille du Jour, North Elmham, 16th October 2020

Merveille du Jour, North Elmham, 19th October 2020

Brindled Green Dryobotodes eremita - None in 2019 but 3 here on consecutive nights from 18th to 20th October 2020 (they appeared to all be different individuals, certainly the first two were).  This species is surprisingly scarce here - before 2020 I'd only caught 4 in 6 years.  I used to get more when I lived in Bawdeswell.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 8th September 2020.

Brindled Green, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th September 2020

Brindled Green, North Elmham, 18th October 2020

Deep-brown Dart Aporophyla lutulenta - None.  I've never seen this species and records in mid Norfolk are few and far between.  Not out of the question that I could find one round here though.


Black Rustic Aporophyla nigra - Totals of 17 in the garden between 25th September and 1st November 2019, my worst year since 2014, and 28 between 15th September and 22nd October 2020 (during which period I was away for a week).  I've averaged 32-33 a year here.  Elsewhere one at the meadows on 4th October 2019 and 32 in Cornwall.

Black Rustic, North Elmham, 25th September 2019

Feathered Ranunculus Polymixis lichenea - None in 2019; 42 at Tresidder in Cornwall between 3rd and 9th October 2020.  I've never seen this species in Norfolk and as it's almost only found at the coast and in the Norwich area I don't particularly expect to find one locally.  But there have been a couple of records not all that far away (e.g. Stibbard) so maybe there are a few knocking around this part of Norfolk too...

Feathered Ranunculus, Tresidder (Cornwall), 3rd October 2020

Feathered Ranunculus, Tresidder (Cornwall), 6th October 2020

Large Ranunculus Polymixis flavicincta - None.  Some people catch these regularly but I've only ever caught one here in North Elmham, in 2016, and just a small number elsewhere.


Dark Brocade Mniotype adusta - This must be one of the most widespread moths in Norfolk to have avoided me - there's even been a record in my road.  But until 2019 I'd never seen one, and I've still not found one in Norfolk.  It's perhaps a bit commoner on Mull where I caught 3 at Ceann Chnocain on 13th June 2019.

Dark Brocades, Ceann Chnocain (Mull), 13th June 2019

Next page: more Noctuidae

Not-so-Scarce Umbers

A quick wander along the railway at the bottom of the meadows after dark on 8th November turned up a few interesting things.  There wasn't much flying but the eye-shine drew my attendtion to this Satellite.

Satellite, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November

The only other moth I found was a London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella resting in some Gorse.  The Broom wasn't as productive as it can be, but there was a Broom Psyllid Arytaina genistae. As is often the case, the Oak trunks produced a better variety including the springtail Orchesella cincta, Great Four-spot Treerunner Dromius quadrimaculatus (a beetle), Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis and White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger.

Orchesella cincta, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November

Great Four-spot Treerunner Dromius quadrimaculatus, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November

I also found a bug which at the time I identified as my first Anthocoris confusus.  However I subsequently recorded more Anthocoris along here and when I was figuring out the next one that I realised I was mis-reading the description of one of the features, and it turned out to be nemoralis.  Now there's no reason to assume I made the same mistake when examining the confusus, but as none of the subsequent examples so far have been confusus I'm left feeling less than 100% sure that I didn't make a mistake.  So I am deleting this record until such time as I find another.

There was one lifer for which I'm still ok with the ID though, not that it's a group that I have much experience with - a Variegated Oak Aphild Lachnus roboris.

Variegated Oak Aphid Lachnus roboris, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November

The moths in the garden trap that night were 3 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, White-point, 2 Sprawlers, 2 Green-brindled Crescents, 2 Chestnuts and Yellow-line Quaker.

The following night there was Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 2 Pale November Moths, a female November Moth agg., 2 Feathered Thorns, 2 Mottled Umbers, Sprawler, Chestnut, 3 Yellow-line Quakers and the caddisflies 4 Limnephilus lunatus and Limnephilus flavicornis.

Mottled Umber, North Elmham, 9th November

Just 4 Feathered Thorns and a Setaceous Hebrew Character the following night.  Next day there was a Common Mompha Mompha epilobiella in my hall, and in the trap Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, Sprawler, Chestnut and 2 Yellow-line Quakers.

Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana (male, gen det), North Elmham, 11th November

The Mottled Umber shown above was, I would say, at the Scarce Umber end of the scale - the sort that could reasonably be confused with Scarce Umber.  In fact I checked the genitalia just to make sure.  Three nights later there were some real Scarce Umbers - 3 no less.  I've never caught 3 in one night before and with a blank year in 2017 these were my first since 2016.

Scarce Umbers, North Elmham, 12th November

Other things that night were 2 Light Brown Apple-moths Epiphyas postvittana, December Moth, November Moth, Pale November Moth and Satellite.

The following night there was November Moth, Yellow-line Quaker, the caddisfly Limnephilus lunatus and a Common Wasp.

The 14th was another quiet night for moths with just 2 December Moths, 3 Feathered Thorns and Setaceous Hebrew Character. There were also 2 caddisflies Limnephilus lunatus and, for the first time in a while, a fresh emergence of leafhoppers.  All were similar yellow leafhoppers which normally prove to be either one of the two Fagocyba species (usually cruenta) or one of the several Edwardsiana species.  A couple of these had cloudier apexes of their wings compared to the others so I wondered if two species might be involved, but in fact although two species were involved, the variation in the cloudiness of the wing tips was all within a single species.  They consisted of 1 Fagacyba carri and 6 Fagocyba cruenta.

Fagocyba carri (male, gen det), North Elmham, 12th November

Fagocyba cruenta (3 males, gen det), North Elmham, 12th November

Next day there were 2 Light Brown Apple-moths Epiphyas postvittana, Ashy Button Acleris sparsana, 3 December Moths, probable November Moth, Mottled Umber, White-point, Sprawler, the caddisfly Limnephilus lunatus, Black Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus humator and 2 more Fagocyba cruenta.

On 16th I had another after-dark look round the meadows with the head-torch.  This leafmine appears to belong to Common Oak Pigmy Stigmella roborella.  The larva was in there but motionless and I'm not convinced it was alive.

leafmine of Common Oak Pigmy Stigmella roborella, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 16th November

The only adult moth I could find was a Winter Moth, my fisrt of the winter.

Winter Moth, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 16th November

There were also 3 of the barkflies Ectopsocus briggsi, the beetle Great Four-spot Treerunner Dromius quadrimaculatus, 3 7-spot Ladybirds Coccinella septempunctata, and a Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber.

Ectopsocus briggsi, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 16th November

Two different Oak trunks had these odd ant-like insects on.  It was clear enough that they weren't actually ants but apart from assuming they were some kind of hymenoptera I couldn't figure out what they were.  I tweeted some photos and received a response from Simon Knott who confirmed they were gall wasps of the family Cynipidae, likely to be Biorhiza pallida agamic female.  Looking into that and comparing with the specimens it looks bang-on, so my first Oak Apple Gall Wasps Biorhiza pallida.

Oak Apple Gall Wasps Biorhiza pallida, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 16th November

A particularly fine set of fungi was this Sulphur Knight.  I had a pretty good idea about what these were already but James Emerson has been brilliant helping me with fungus IDs lately - always very much appreciated.  These looked a little more lemony-yellow in life (albeit only in torchlight) than they do in the photos.

Sulphur Knight, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 16th November

One October night, one trap, 14 species of bug

November Moth and Sprawler were new for the year on 12th November.

November Moth (male, 8th sternite det), North Elmham, 12th October

Sprawler, North Elmham, 12th October

A pretty good selection of other moths for this time of year too: 2 Garden Midgets Phyllonorycter messaniella, Diamond-back Plutella xylostella, 2 Long-horned Flat-bodies Carcina quercana, Large Fruit-tree Tortrix Archips podana, Privet Tortrix Clepsis consimilana, Light Brown Apple-moth Epiphyas postvittana, Ashy Button Acleris sparsana, Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana, Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana, 9 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, Single-dotted Wave, Common Marbled Carpet, 7 Shuttle-shaped Darts, Large Yellow Underwing, Setaceous Hebrew Character, 3 White-points, 2 Black Rustics, 5 Green-brindled Crescents, Satellite, 2 Yellow-line Quakers, Brown-spot Pinion, 3 Beaded Chestnuts, Lunar Underwing, 8 Barred Sallows, Sallow, 2 Straw Dots and Snout.

Satellite, North Elmham, 12th October

There were lots of green lacewings too, though probably all the same species.  At least 12 (the males) were Chrysoperla carnea and most likely the 10 females were too (either that or pallida which hasn't been recorded in Norfolk yet).  The caddisflies were 2 Brown Sedges Anabolia nervosa, Mottled Sedge Glyphotaelius pellucidus, Limnephilus affinis, 4 Limnephilus auricula, 5 Limnephilus lunatus and Halesus radiatus.

There was a particularly impressive haul of bugs, and some good ones among them.  The Heteroptera were 3 Birch Catkin Bugs Kleidocerys resedae, Black-kneed Capsid Blepharidopterus angulatus, Lygus pratensis, 2 Tarnished Plant Bugs Lygus rugulipennis, Orthotylus flavosparsus, Pantilius tunicatus and 3 Pinalitus cervinus. The Orthotylus was only my second of this species.

Orthotylus flavosparsus, North Elmham, 12th October

The Hemiptera were even better with two completely new species of leafhopper: Idiocerus herrichi and Edwardsiana crataegi. The other leafhoppers were Alebra albostriella, 2 Empoasca vitis, 8 Kybos sp. (all females), Fagocyba cruenta and a Zygina sp.which escaped before I could identify it.

Idiocerus herrichi, North Elmham, 12th October

Edwardsiana crataegi, North Elmham, 12th October

Alebra albostriella, North Elmham, 12th October

There were relatively few beetles (Black Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus humator, Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis and Lagria hirta) but I recognised a distinctive fly as being one of the fungus gnats Macorcera.  I think they're pretty cool-looking things and I've now discovered there's a key online that enables a full ID, so I shall be checking these when I get a chance now.  Up until now I'd only confirmed one species, Macrocera phalerata, but this was a new one, Macrocera stigmoides.

Macrocera stigmoides, North Elmham, 12th October