Small Ranunculus larvae found in south-east Suffolk

Small Ranunculus moths have been turning up at traps since the late 1990′s in Suffolk. Once a common species Small Ranunculus died out locally in the late 19th century. Since the late 1990′s adult moths have been recorded at light primarily in the south-east area of the county – Bawdsey, Felixstowe, Trimley and the south-west-side of Ipswich.

A group of us (Neil Sherman, Matthew Deans, Paul Bryant and myself) were looking for larvae down at Landguard Common last Friday, 12th August, and Neil spotted larvae of Small Ranunculus on some rather diminutive Prickly Lettuce flower-heads. After a period of further searching along the vegetated shingle beach we managed a total of eleven larvae. This is the first record of larvae in Suffolk in over a century and useful evidence that the species is breeding in the county.

There is plenty of the foodplant growing along the A14 and A12, although accessing it to search is a bit hazardous. It may be that this has formed a corridor for the species, enabling it to spread from Felixstowe ,where it first appeared, all the way up to Ipswich and possibly beyond.

The following day I had a search of the area next to the A14 near Trimley and found eleven larvae within a short period of time. Moving onto Ipswich a further eight larvae were found near Orwell Country Park.

Most of the larvae found were final instar, with the odd one being a bit smaller. Although the few I took home to rear have all gone down to pupate there may still be a slight chance of finding larvae in the next week or so but further searches to see if we can add a few more locations for the moth will probably have to wait till next year.

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