2013 highlights from my Hollesley garden

2013 was a mixed year with a cold slow start, a reasonable mid and late summer playing catch-up with some good immigration and with a poor finish. My top 5 moths in descending order were, Large Yellow Underwing, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Beaded Chestnut and Cnephasia pumicana. The underwing was a pest at times, destroying smaller moths and constituted 11% of my total moths throughout the year. The C. pumicana was a surprise arrival in hundreds along with other immigrants. It peaked on 24th July along with C. longana, Plutella xylostella(100+), Yponomeuta rorrella(10),  Coleophora (Goniodoma)  limoniella(9) and Platytes alpinella(3). It is purely my opinion, but strongly held belief, that all of these were primarily immigrants. As also on this date were singles of Oncocera semirubella, Elegia similella and 3 Ostrinia nubilalis.  Pygmy Footman also arrived at the end of July, but having only picked up 2, a peak was not discernible.

I was pleased to confirm the Lesser Common Rustic for my site and took a small number of Sandhill Rustic, two Shaded Fan-foot, a Tawny Wave and a Butterbur. The Butterbur turned up at other locations this year. Some Pugs of interest included the pretty Netted Pug, a Sloe Pug and also a number of Golden-rod Pugs. The latter have turned up locally at other sites during the late summer and are suspected as being immigrants.

A number of micro-moths have proven to be rare or interesting. I grow the native broom as well as a number of related species in my garden and turned up a Trifurcula squamatella on 14th August. This extends the species’ currently known UK distribution into a second and adjacent 10 km square. Glyphipterix equitella was captured on 21st August. This species has also turned up at Bawdsey. The larval foodplant, Biting Stonecrop (Sedum acre), is abundant along our stretch of coast. My feeling is that we should, therefore, find this scarce and attractive little moth at other coastal locations. Along the same lines is Coleophora asteris, the larval foodplant is Sea Aster. Three specimens of this moth were taken at the turn of August/September. A further scarce Coleophora, not salt-marsh tied, C. adjectella, was caught on 7th July. A specimen of Prochoreutis myllerana was taken on 21st August and whilst not especially scarce nationally it does not appear to be a Suffolk regular.

It has been a good year for Gelechiidae on the Bawdsey peninsula. At my site a number of additions to my site list included some pretty species such as Isophrictis striatella (I grow Tansy in my garden), Chrysoesthia drurella and Ptocheuusa paupella. Salt-marsh species Aristotelia brizella, Scrobipalpa instabilella and S. ocellatella also arrived. The most exiting species for my site however was two Caryocolum proxima. They were taken, one each on the two National Moth Nights that I ran my traps.

Amongst the Tortricidae I had a specimen of the presumed  immigrant Vine Moth, Eupoecilia ambiguella on 19th June and was pleased to confirm the Cnephasia species C. communana for the Sandlings area of Suffolk on 9th June.

Two plume moths were of note. The Mugwort Plume, Hellinsia lienigianus on 13th July and two specimens of the smart Dusky Plume, Oidaematophorus lithodactyla during early August.

I identified a total of 743 species taken at my site during 2013 of which 147 were new to my site list leaving the total to date at 833 species.

Happy and satisfying mothing wishes to you all for 2014.

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