Review of 2019 and 2020 - Moths: Geometers (Geometridae) - part 9: Magpies and Peacocks etc. (Abraxas to Pseudopanthera)

GEOMETERS (GEOMETRIDAE) (continued)


Magpie Moth Abraxas grossulariata - 4 singles in the garden between 3rd and 9th August 2019.  This was my poorest year since moving here - I'd averaged about 15 a year between 2015 and 2018.  But if 4 was bad then it was crash and burn in 2020 with none at all.

Magpie Moth, North Elmham, 5th August 2019

Clouded Magpie Abraxas sylvata - None.  I've had 3 here previously (2016 and 2018).


Clouded Border Lomaspilis marginata - 62 in the garden trap between 19th May and 19th August 2019 and 48 between 21st May and 12th August 2020.  I average over 70 a year and these were my worst years here so far.  Elsewhere 16 at the meadows, one at Bintree Wood, 8 in Hellesdon, one at Hills and Holes, 4 at Weybourne and 6 at various sites on Mull.

Clouded Border, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th July 2019

Clouded Border, North Elmham, 1st June 2020

Scorched Carpet Ligdia adustata - 6 at home between 7th June and 4th September 2019 (the last being my latest ever) and 9 between 8th May and 9th August 2020.  Numbers here have varied from zero to 13 a year but average just over 6.  Elsewhere one next door, one at the meadows and one at Sculthorpe Moor (the latter on the earlier date of 26th April 2019).

Scorched Carpet, North Elmham, 7th June 2019

Scorched Carpet, North Elmham, 8th May 2020

Peacock Moth Macaria notata - None in 2019 but the first for my garden appeared in my trap on 23rd May 2020.  Prior to 2020 there were very few records of this species in mid Norfolk but there were several from a range of locations in 2020.

female Peacock Moth, North Elmham, 23rd May 2020 - the exquisite piece of engineering in the bottom photo is the signa in the corpus bursa (I don't think this spiky scleretised plate is helpful for the ID but it's so fantastic I thought it was worth sharing!)

Sharp-angled Peacock Macaria alternata - None.  I've never seen this species locally and there are only a handful of records in mid Norfolk.  Enough though, perhaps, to think it might turn up here one day.


Tawny-barred Angle Macaria liturata - Singles caught in the garden on 1st June 2019 and 26th June and 20th August 2020.  I had 2 here in June 2018 but they were my first garden records since one on the very first night I trapped here after moving in in August 2014.  Elsewhere 3 at Swanton Great Wood on 27th August 2019 and 2 at Hills and Holes on 21st May 2020.

Tawny-barred Angle, North Elmham, 26th June 2020

Latticed Heath Chiasmia clathrata - I believe 2019 was a good year for this species (either migrants or locally-bred moths, or both, I'm not sure) but none made it to my garden trap, however 2020 was another good year and I caught 3 here between 14th July and 8th September.  Blank years aren't unusual here - I've only caught them before in 2015 (once) and in 2018 (4 times), both good years across the county, although not as good as 2019).  Elsewhere singles at the meadows in both 2019 and 2020 and at Hills and Holes and Whitwell Street in 2020. 

Latticed Heath, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th August 2019

Latticed Heath, Hills and Holes, 21st May 2020

Latticed Heath, North Elmham, 8th September 2020

Brown Silver-line Petrophora chlorosata - Singles in the garden moth trap on 24th and 30th June 2019 and 7th and 26th June 2020.  Four a year is more typical here.  Elsewhere 22 at Bintree Wood, 6 at Hills and Holes, 2 in Keswick and 3 on Mull.

Brown Silver-line, North Elmham, 7th June 2020

Brown Silver-line, Bintree Wood, 13th June 2020

Barred Umber Plagodis pulveraria - None.  I've never seen this species and don't really expect it to turn up here, it being a rare woodland species.  But it does occur in woodlands not all that far from here so there must be a fair chance of finding it somewhere near here, perhaps in Bintree Wood?


Scorched Wing Plagodis dolabraria - My worst years so far here with just 6 singles between 2nd June and 7th July 2019 and then only one in 2020, on 27th May.  I've had up to up to 33 in a year (2016) and was averaging 19 a year from 2015 to 2018.  Elsewhere singles at the meadows on 25th and 31st May 2019 and 23rd June 2020, 3 at Bintree Wood and one at Hills and Holes.

Scorched Wing, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 25th May 2019

Scorched Wing, Hills and Holes, 21st May 2020

Scorched Wing, North Elmham, 27th May 2020

Horse Chestnut Pachycnemia hippocastanaria - 2 in NW Spain between Sant Vicenc and Torrelles de Llobregat on 23rd February 2020, the first time I've seen this species which doesn't occur in Norfolk.

Horse Chestnuts, between Saint Vincenc and Torrelles de Llobregat (Spain), 23rd February 2020

Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata - Totals of 119 trapped at home between 5th May and 3rd October 2019 and 141 between 8th May and 19th September 2020.  On average I catch around 190 a year and these were my lowest annual totals so far.  Elsewhere caught next door on 3 nights, at the meadows on 14 nights (total 27), at Swanton Great Wood, Hellesdon, Whitwell Street, Hills and Holes, Brancaster, Weybourne, Row Heath (West Runton) and in Cornwall and on Mull.

Brimstone Moth, North Elmham, 19th May 2019

Brimstone Moth, North Elmham, 18th July 2018

Bordered Beauty Epione repandaria -7 in the garden between 20th July and 18th August 2019 and then singles on 29th July and 8th August 2020.  It took me a long time to catch my first of these (2 here in 2016) but after 4 more at different sites in 2017-18 I then caught 7 in the garden in 2018 and now another 7 in 2019.  For such a beautiful moth this increase was welcome - let's hope that 2020's return to lower numbers is temporary.

Bordered Beauty, North Elmham, 21st July 2019

Bordered Beauty, North Elmham, 8th August 2020

Speckled Yellow Pseudopanthera macularia - One west of Tiroran on Mull on 10th June 2019.  In Norfolk this day-flying species is restricted to the Brecks - I last saw it here way back in 1991.

Speckled Yellow, west of Tiroran (Mull), 10th June 2019

Orange Moth Angerona prunaria - None.  I've never seen an Orange Moth but although they're pretty rare in Norfolk the few records there have been are pretty widespread across the county, so surely I must have as much chance as anyone of catching one...?


Next page: more Geometridae

3 new moths for the garden, including Epinotia tedella, bringing the garden list past 800

Apparently the Common Spruce Bell Epinotia tedella is indeed common in coniferous forests across the UK, but it is rare in Norfolk (can go several years in a row without any records), and there aren't any coniferous forests in my back garden.  So finding one in my trap on 17th June was one of the best, if not the best, find of the summer.  I have to say it wasn't much to look at, being very worn, and although tedella was always a contender I had to gen det it to be sure what it was.

Common Spruce Bell Epinotia tedella (male, gen det), North Elmham, 17th June

This wasn't the only new moth for the garden that night - there was also an Agrimony Case-bearer Coleophora follicularis, a species I'd had at Bawdeswell three times (confirmed by Jon Clifton as I wasn't gen detting back then) but not here at North Elmham despite checking all possible candidates since moving here.

Agrimony Case-bearer Coleophora follicularis (male, gen det), North Elmham, 17th June

Yet another new moth for the garden was a Thistle Conch Aethes cnicana, a species I'd only seen twice before.  I must have had photos of this as my notes about it refer to them but they aren't in the folder where they should be and I can't find them anywhere else either.  It would appear that I have accidentally deleted them, or just maybe incorrectly labelled them and filed them away under something else.  Three new moths for the garden in one night is an increasingly rare occurrence!  They also take my garden moth list through a milestone - past the 800 mark to 801.

There were some more new moths for the garden year list too: Oak Carl Tischeria ekebladella, Cypress-tip Moth Argyresthia cupressella, Purple Bar, Barred Yellow, Bordered Pug, Tawny-barred Angle and Cream-bordered Green Pea.

Oak Carl Tischeria ekebladella, North Elmham, 17th June

Purple Bar, North Elmham, 17th June

Barred Yellow, North Elmham, 17th June

Bordered Pug, North Elmham, 17th June

Tawny-barred Angle, North Elmham, 17th June

Cream-bordered Green Pea, North Elmham, 17th June

Other moths were 2 Blackthorn Slenders Parornix torquillella, Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Fen Crest Brachmia inornatella, London Dowd Blastobasis lacticolella, Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana, Large Ivy Tortrix Lozotaenia forsterana, Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana, 2 Barred Marbles Celypha striana, Plum Tortrix Hedya pruniana, Hoary Bell Eucosma cana, 3 Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, Hook-streak Grass-veneer Crambus lathoniellus, 2 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis, Marsh Grey Eudonia pallida, 3 Little Greys Eudonia lacustrata, 2 Ringed China-marks Parapoynx stratiotata, 3 Small Magpies Anania hortulata, Elder Pearl Anania coronata, Fenland Pearl Anania perlucidalis, Bee Moth Aphomia sociella, 2 False Cacao Moths Ephestia woodiella, Small Dusty Wave, 4 Treble Brown Spots, 5 Riband Waves, 2 Silver-ground Carpets, Grey Pine Carpet, 2 Green Carpets, 2 Sandy Carpets, Freyer's Pug, Common Pug, Grey Pug, V-Pug, Double-striped Pug, Treble-bar, Clouded Border, Peppered Moth, 4 Willow Beauties, Pale Oak Beauty, 4 Clouded Silvers, 3 Light Emeralds, Common Footman, Buff Ermine, 3 Heart and Darts, Flame, 2 Flame Shoulders, 2 Large Yellow Underwings, 2 Ingrailed Clays, 3 Common Wainscots, 4 Brown Rustics, Small Angle Shades, 3 Dark Arches, Tawny Marbled Minor, 3 Middle-barred Minors, Treble Lines, 4 Uncertains, 3 Burnished Brasses, 25 Straw Dots and 9 Snouts.

The green lacewing Chrysopidia ciliata was new for the year, as was a Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius.  Other things included the bugs Orthotylus tenellus and Psallus varians, the leafhopper Oncopsis flavicollis and the soldier beetle Cantharis cryptica.

Chrysopidia ciliata, North Elmham, 17th June

Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius, North Elmham, 17th June

Next day a Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum was attracted to a Grapholita lobarzewskii pheronome lure, a new bug for the garden.

Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum, North Elmham, 18th June