Hello again. I have not been particularly active in mothing outside of my village during the month. Partly owing to poor weather and also a slow recovery of fitness following illness earlier in the year I placed three traps on one of the National Moth Nights on a friend’s land at Clopton. He had bought a field adjacent to the property some years ago and planted areas with trees, British and non-British species as well as fruit trees and grape vines. There is also a large are of unimproved dry grassland and hedgerows. It was a good night for moths on 15th. The 149 species in total did not show a woodland selection of moths as a whole. The trap placed inside the wooded area was the poorest served. The Large Nutmeg was common but species were mostly those of open country, hedge-row and garden. A rampant growth of the common Bird’s Foot Trefoil in the orchard area produced a Syncopacma larseniella that seemed to trigger a spate of them which I also caught at Abbey Farm, Snape and at home. A good record for home where I introduced the trefoil a couple of years ago. The Clopton site produced two moths that were new to me; a Pretty Chalk Carpet and Triaxomera parasitella. Cochylis molliculana was also quite abundant.
My escapades to Abbey Farm, Snape this June have been aimed at the hope of proving the identity of a Monochroa species. I managed to disprove my belief that they were M. arundinetella, but were M. suffusella. This was achieved by the dissection of a captured female. It is not known what the species feeds on as larvae in southern and eastern Britain. On my two visits in June I placed 4 traps in differing habitats. I expected high numbers , but typical of the month, they were not as good as they might have been, 176 on 1st June and 188 on 19th. The reed-bed trap on 1st June was inundated by midges and Coleophora caespititiella, there were also a lot of Brachmia inornatella. Bactra species were common, mainly B. lancealana but also furfurana and lacteana. There was a Glyphipterix thrasonella and a single Nascia cilialis on 1st but several N. cilialis on the 19th when I also found Sitochoa verticalis and as a first for me, two Blacknecks and an Archips crataegana. Also common on 19th were Dotted Fan-foot. The Lackey was captured again. I have yet to see that at home where I get the Ground Lackey. Also a couple of Nematopogon metaxella. I have this occassionally at home where I usually catch N. schwarziellus. I have yet to find N. swammerdamella in Suffolk. 