Suffolk Moths Blog

Still feels very mild for the time of year, although now conditions have turned more stormy with strong winds and rain. I’ve continued trapping here at IGC when the weather has been OK on the 6th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Much too windy this weekend, would need a few bricks in the bottom of the traps to stop them blowing away! There has been a very noticeable drop in the number of species and total number of moths caught over the week, with 18/17sp the first 2 nights followed by 7 then 11sp on the second. Still hangers on from last month with Brick, Large wainscot, Merveille du Jour and Streak caught. Had singles of Large yellow underwing and Setaceous hebrew character on the 10th, long after the main flight time of the species here so my thoughts are they were migrants brought in on the warm winds that night. Other migrants very scarce over the period at this inland site, best a Vestal on the 12th but that could have been locally bred from the good numbers seen on the site earlier in the autumn. Otherwise only odd Silver Y and Plutella xylostella.
November moths and Yellow line quakers dropped off later in the week, down to single figures. December moth and Mottled umber picked up in numbers on the 12th. First Scarce umber (2) noted then too.
Following on from Raymond’s sighting of an Acleris schalleriana, I took one on the 11th, my first site record. A moth that can be found in Essex in good numbers so maybe in the warm weather it is moving north. I know of no other records of the species other than the ones on the Suffolk moth guide.
Have had a couple of non-lepidoptera insects of note too. First, found Oedemera femoralis (a beetle) on the 3rd. This species I was told to watch out for by the Coleoptera recorder around Ivy blossom in the autumn. Myself and a few others from the moth group noted it at Little Blakenham on the Ivy there a few years ago, this being the first county record. So my sighting could well be the second. It was in my garage which is not far from a patch of Ivy. It hibernates as an adult hence why it must have been inside. The other species was the quite large and colourful Western Conifer Seed Bug that I found attracted to my kitchen window on the 12th, my third site record. One to watch out for at moth traps as it is drawn to light.
Just the Northern winter moth to record for the year here, so won’t be long now before the traps are packed away till next year.

Neil

Male Vestal

Acleris schalleriana – First site record

Oedemera femoralis

Western Conifer Seed Bug

Trapped in the garden one night last week – 17 macros including sprawler, streak and oak nycteoline (all quite scarce here) plus some species running late like pink-barred sallow and set. hebrew character. Trapped again last night; 6 species including December moth and herald (lovely moth!). So maybe the autumn species are now finished despite the mild weather.
No migrants. But maybe there’s still time. I was in Majorca a couple of weeks ago and the scrubby meadows there were alive with rush veneer, crimson speckled and bordered straw, plus a few vestal, Palpita vitrealis and silver y. Not sure if they were all fresh in from Africa or had bred locally, but maybe they were still on their way north.

Today I saw a swallow and a couple of red admirals heading south in a hurry along the shore at Walberswick. Don’t fancy their chances!

Tony H.

I caught this moth at my regular trapping site on the eastern side of Dunwich Forest, overlooking Dingle Marshes, on 14th August 2015. Obviously a Bactra species at first glance, the sight of two well-defined, dark brown and parallel sub-apical streaks rang a few rusty old alarm bells with me. I recalled that this feature may indicate B. lacteana so I photographed and retained the moth.
Jon Clifton has now completed a genitalia determination and confirmed the identification as Bactra lacteana and John Langmaid has informed us that it is the first record for Suffolk and the east of England.
So, is it extending it’s range, is there a small resident population or may it have been a migrant? Well worth looking out for but dissection will probably always be necessary to confirm the identification.

Bactra lacteana, Dunwich, 14 August 2015

Paul

Thank you for the post Neil. Has anyone else anything interesting to report?

I’ve had a few moths. More Merveille du Jour this year than the total in the last 3, quite a lot of Mottled Umber and Feathered Thorn too, but very few Beaded Chestnuts with the Yellow-line Quaker taking over their place in abundance. A few migrants recently, Vestal, Palpita vitrealis, Plutella xylostella, Udea ferrugalis, Nomophila noctuella, Dark Swordgrass, Scarce Bordered Straws, Silver Ys, Gems and a Crocidosema plebejana. The day the rains came up from the south (3rd November) also brought some micros out, two species of Caloptilia, my first dark form of Lyonetia clerkella and an Acleris schalleriana, a first for me. I would be interested to hear of any other A. schalleriana captured in Suffolk since those listed on Moths of Suffolk.

I’m guessing from the lack of activity on this blog that people suffered the same as I did, hence having little to report for October. With cool conditions dominating the month it was hard to get enthusiastic about putting any traps out! There were some OK nights however mainly at the start and the end of October.
Best moth recorded here during the period was the second site record of Palpita vitrealis, taken on the 10th. This follows on from the first site record here in September this year. The best species count was early on in the month, on the 6th, when my twin actinic plus an mv trap running at home caught 37sp. Two good moths were noted that night, a Four-spotted footman (male) and Nephopterix angustella (only the second site record and possibly a migrant, as Spindle, the food plant is not present locally). Other records of interest included the following. Streak (regular throughout), Maiden’s blush (late one on the 5th), Sallow, Barred sallow (a few), Orange sallow, Pink-barred sallow (small number), Merveille du Jour (regular with good counts of 3 on the 23rd and the 26th), Lunar yellow underwing (7th), Flounced chestnut (2 on the 7th), Mottled umber (first noted 23rd and now regular), Diurnea lipsiella (regular at light and in the daytime). Lunar underwing has been in poor numbers at this site this year, but November moth agg has been around in good numbers with a high count of 45 trapped on the 27th. Autumnal moth has been regular also in lower numbers, with one Pale november moth picked out on the 27th.
Feathered thorn has also been around in good numbers. Chestnut, Satellite and Grey shoulder knot have all been recorded, a sign the season is coming to a close.
So far early November has been very mild for the time of year, albeit a bit wet too! Traps on the 2nd at home recorded 17sp with nothing of note apart from the first December moth for the year. A trap at home as well as a trap running up in the woodland here on the 3rd was better, with a combined total of 23sp. Two more December moths noted, also Ypsolopha ustella, 2 Nomophila noctuella but no other migrants despite the promising warm winds. Just 2 more of my regular resident species to note for the year now – Scarce umber and Northern winter moth.

Neil

Autumnal moth

Feathered thorn

Diurnea lipsiella

Now that the weather looks rather wintery for a week or so I thought it time to relate my recent catches. Nothing particularly special to report though. The migrant interest has declined, though I have added a further Pearly Underwing to my tally for the year. Most autumn moths have now been recorded and my first November Moth appeared on 9th October. Chestnut, Dark Chestnut and Dotted Chestnut captured but no Flounced Chestnut yet this year. Sallow, Pink-barred Sallow, Barred Sallow but no Dusky-lemon. Yellow and Red -line Quakers, Brick, Brown-spot Pinion and Pale Pinion. Lots of the beautiful Black Rustic, Beaded Chestnut and Large Wainscot. Most of the late summer species fading out now so probably won’t be around after this cool windy spell. Not yet seen the Mottled Umber that some of you have, nor taken a Blair’s Shoulder-knot yet. Keeping my fingers crossed for a better late October and November.

Having caught just three moths last night the last thing I was expecting today was to add a new species to the garden list. All that changed when I saw this little critter on the lounge window. A quick dash outside with pot in hand, followed by a patient wait for the moth to settle down, finally allowed me to identify it as Phyllonorycter trifasciella - a trivoltine species whose larval foodplant is honeysuckle. Interestingtly, I also added the aptly named Honeysuckle Moth (Ypsolopha dentella) to the garden list earlier this year. Fingers crossed for a Bee-hawk in 2016 then!

Phyllonorycter trifasciella

Not run any traps recently at IGC with the cool clear nights. Been waiting for some cloud cover, got that this evening (5th Oct) so hopefully some moths will appear in the traps I’ve put out.
Since my last report on the third National Moth night, I’ve trapped another 5 times, and this has brought in the following highlights. Bordered beauty (15th), Depressaria badiella (also 15th, only a few records here), Lunar yellow underwing (appearing every night in multiples with high counts of 8 on both the 17th and 20th), Feathered gothic (regular), Autumnal rustic (another regular moth), Dusky thorn (seen on 3 nights, now appearing as a common moth here after only my first site record last year), Heath rustic (17th), Feathered thorn (17th, second earliest record here), Ypsolopha sylvella and alpella (both appearing on the 20th) and Brown-spot pinion (26th). Only migrant of note recorded during the period was a single Vestal flushed in the daytime whilst hay-cutting on the 18th. None have been seen here since.
Colourful autumnal species started appearing from the 15th too, with both first Orange sallow and Brindled green noted that night and regular after that. Lunar underwing first noted on the 17th, along with Black rustic. Sallow first noted on the 23rd (2) along with a Dusky-lemon sallow, only the 4th site record here. This was the last night I trapped as the cool conditions then set in.

Neil.

Dusky-lemon sallow

I see that it has been a while since anyone posted a note so I thought I’d break the silence … not that I have much to report.

For some mad reason, I decided to run a trap most nights this week, despite the full moon, clear skies (except for super-moon night) and cool temps. The rewards have been scant but do include Mallow, Red-green Carpet, Burnished Brass, Barred Sallow, Beaded Chestnut and Brown-spot Pinion. Last night delivered my first Merveille du Jour of the year, looking as fresh as a helping of ‘mint-choc’ ice-cream. Even my work colleagues were suitably impressed