Other species this week

As a consequence of actually spending a bit of time out during the day in my local birch woods, it is inevitable that other species were noted and here is a selection of what was seen.

Adela reaumurella, female, Sessay Wood

Adela reaumurella, males, Sessay Wood

14-spot Ladybird, Pilmoor Hall

Yellow-tail Moth, larvae, Pilmoor Hall

Common Leaf Weevil, Sessay Wood

Large Emerald, larva, Pilmoor Hall

Green Shield-bug,  mating pair, Sessay Wood

Orange-tip, Sessay Wood

Red and Black Froghopper, Sessay Wood

Tipula paludosa, Brafferton Spring

Abia candens, a saw-fly, Brafferton Spring

Dark-edged Bee-fly, Brafferton Spring

Four-spotted Chaser, Pilmoor

Birch leaf-miners

Following on from the frustrating fact that none of the purple-coloured Eriocranias I have caught at Pilmoor could be identified with any certainty without dissection, and my two old records of probable salopiella mines in very early June 2012 and 2015 were very likely but not accepted, I have put some effort into looking at birch leaf-mines this year.  Five visits to different but closely related sites at Pilmoor, Sessay and Brafferton have certainly produced the goods!

From my previous records of adults all entered into MapMate as semipurpurella (mainly due to the fact that there is no option to record eriocrania sp., and was considered to be the most common), the results of this week cannot be more different.  Of course from just 7 days data this may be slightly distorted in that semipurpurella may have a slightly earlier/later larval stage and its actual presence masked. It is also noticeable the number of wilted empty mines that have increased over the week making them unidentifiable.  Nevertheless, the most common species found this week is Eriocrania sangii, with smaller numbers of unimaculella and cicatricella and my main prize of an early instar of salopiella (identified and confirmed by Ben Smart), and two further salopiella today.  A small number of possible semipurpurella larvae could not be confirmed with any certainty.  All of these listed below are new for me and all are under-recorded in Yorkshire, making all of these significant records, especially the salopiella.

2.003 BF8 Eriocrania unimaculella

Dark brown head capsule with two dark dots immediately behind.

2.005 BF10 Eriocrania salopiella

The leaf-mine begins as a narrow gallery in the centre of the leaf, turning into an elongate blotch and then a larger blotch encompassing the leaf margin.  Spurred on by this success, two more were found at Pilmoor Hall and Sessay Wood this morning.

2.006 BF11 Eriocrania cicatricella

Often between 2 and 4 larvae in a mine, the larvae having swollen couple of segments immediately behind the head.

2.008 BF12 Eriocrania sangii

The easiest to identify in that the larvae are dark grey.

I just need sparrmanella next month and it will be almost a complete set!

Spring has sprung

The fabulous weather of the last week puts a completely different complexion on everything.  Singing Willow Warblers, Blackcaps have joined the Chiffchaffs that have been here a couple of weeks, Sand Martins on the River Ure and Swallows in small numbers.

Three weeks into April and two more new moths: the first was a tiny micro attracted to my living-room TV screen on 10th March.  I potted it and had great difficulty in getting it calm enough to photograph but eventually got a couple of record shots; obviously a Mompha and looked a ringer for bradleyi and has been accepted as such by Harry the micro CMR.  Only first recorded (or at least identified) in the UK in the early 1990's and rare in Yorkshire.

Mompha bradleyi

The second new moth was a very rare resident only found in a small number of coastal sites in North Wales, Lancashire and the extreme west of Scotland.  Following a visit to my daughter I visited a known site near Heysham on 14th April and spent a brief search of the salt-marsh.  I was lucky enough to find a fine male, the females are wingless.

Belted Beauty

A couple of dry and not too cold weekend nights in April tempted me out trapping at Pilmoor, VC62,  with reasonable success for spring moths: 284 of 20 species on 6th and 246 of 19 species on 14th, the highlights being two each of Semioscopis avellanella and Red Sword-grass.

Red Chestnut

Red Sword-grass

Brindled Pugs

Brindled Pugs

Clouded Drab

Twin-spotted Quaker

Water Carpet f.piceata

The last is a micro likely to be either Eriocrania sangii or semipurpurella, and would need genitalia examined to be sure.

Eriocrania sp.

Looking back again

Looking back through many photos including the 'reject' file adds another moth species and also an intriguing leaf-mine.  While checking out photos from Pilmoor from a day visit on 3 June 2015, the adult moth was one I had completely overlooked before and was a distinctive species among a group of others.

1.003 Micropterix aureatella (the one at the top), among Micropterix calthella, Pilmoor, 3 Jun 2015

The next is a leaf-mine of birch which looks like another Eriocrania salopiella, untenanted and like the other very early June.  This suffers the same fate of my earlier claim and although highly likely (and acceptable to John Langmaid no less) I must find one in mid-May to get it accepted for VC62....

probable Eriocrania salopiella, Pilmoor, 3 Jun 2015

A couple more new ones....

Only eight days into 2018 and two more species identified from photographs of mines in retrospect.  The top one was in a rejected file of Shieldbugs but on closer scrutiny there is a mine of Heliozela sericiella which starts off in the twig, burrows out along the mid-rib before cutting an oval hole close to the mid-rib and dropping to the floor to pupate.  The photo taken at Pilmoor 17 Oct 2010 is out of focus (even the target shieldbug!) but I have added it to the site due to its rarity, probably the first VC62 record since 1984 and only the 3rd VC record.  Record accepted by the CMR.

Heliozela sericiella

The next is a mine/blotch in Rowan, made by a Stigmella sorbi, taken (from memory) near Miley Pike east of Osmotherley (VC62) on the confirmed date of 14 Jun 2011. 

Stigmella sorbi

Again, this reinforces the usefulness of keeping all photos on file with dates and locations and having a look through them at a later date just checking them thoroughly for anything that may have been missed.

A look back at 2017

After four annual totals of new 'lifer' moths ranging between none (2014) and a heady nine (2015) including two identified retrospectively, this year has been quite remarkable.  I managed 35 lifers in 2017 and a further two aggs. any of which would be new; and a further eight species which were new for me in Yorkshire having seen them elsewhere. Much of this big increase in species can be put down to a 'purple-patch' week in late May/early June when a great selection of moths were trapped and then to a concentrated effort in looking for and identifying leaf-mines at the tail end of this year.  

My 'lifers' were as follows:

Code	Taxon	Vernacular	Records
	Stigmella alnetella/glutinosae	Stigmella alnetella/glutinosae ag.	1
	Stigmella anomalella/centifoliella/spinosissimae	Stigmella species agg. (on Rose)	1
4.007	Stigmella luteella	a moth	1
4.015	Stigmella anomalella	Rose Leaf Miner	1
4.030	Stigmella hybnerella	a moth	1
4.035	Stigmella salicis	a moth	2
4.038	Stigmella obliquella	a moth	1
4.078	Ectoedemia septembrella	a moth	1
4.089	Ectoedemia albifasciella	a moth	1
4.090	Ectoedemia subbimaculella	a moth	3
4.097	Ectoedemia rubivora	a moth	3
4.099	Ectoedemia occultella	a moth	1
4.100	Ectoedemia minimella	a moth	1
8.005	Phylloporia bistrigella	a moth	1
10.003	Coptotriche marginea	a moth	4
15.014	Gracillaria syringella	a moth	1
15.022	Callisto denticulella	a moth	1
15.039	Phyllonorycter quercifoliella	a moth	1
15.040	Phyllonorycter messaniella	a moth	1
15.043	Phyllonorycter oxyacanthae	a moth	1
15.049	Phyllonorycter spinicolella	a moth	1
15.053	Phyllonorycter leucographella	Firethorn Leaf Miner	4
15.083	Phyllonorycter trifasciella	a moth	1
35.109	Scrobipalpa acuminatella	a moth	1
35.123	Scrobipalpa costella	a moth	1
35.148	Carpatolechia fugitivella	a moth	1
39.002	Blastodacna atra	Apple Pith Moth	1
40.009	Mompha sturnipennella	a moth	1
49.206	Ancylis upupana	a moth	2
49.238	Epinotia cruciana	Willow Tortrix	1
49.252	Epinotia tedella	a moth	1
49.307	Rhyacionia pinivorana	Spotted Shoot Moth	1
49.372	Pammene populana	a moth	1
49.375	Pammene regiana	a moth	1
70.068	Mesoleuca albicillata	Beautiful Carpet	1
70.181	Eupithecia valerianata	Valerian Pug	1
73.179	Tiliacea citrago	Orange Sallow	1

 

Of these the Apple Pith Moth looked a good candidate but probably not be acceptable from just a photo, and the Mompha sturnipennella was a dreadful phone photo, identified by Phil Sterling no less but may not pass muster, and the Pammene populana was gen.detted but not found to be conclusive as this or any other species...., so may have to rub these out!

possible Apple Pith Moth

Pammene populana? still to be determined...

One surprise was a moth found under the security lights at work in Roecliffe: over 60 species have been identified at the site on my walks around the building.  I noticed a very orange moth high up on the wall near one of the lights; after finding a ladder and potting it I was pleased to identify it as an Orange Sallow.  The photo taken with my phone hence the less than ideal image but at least not a record likely to be controversial.

Orange Sallow

Most of the leaf-mine moths are covered in earlier posts this autumn but did include a retrospective couple of firsts for VC62 proving the value of keeping photos on file. This form of recording has proved very fruitful and poses a challenge to continue this in 2018.  Two for the price of one in the following photo from my 2010 files....

14.010 Bucculatrix ulmella (left), 10.001 Tischeria ekebladella (right), Pilmoor,  17 Oct 2010

As for moths recorded elsewhere, mainly Dorset, but recorded as new in Yorkshire were:

Code

Taxon

Vernacular

Records

45.044	Emmelina monodactyla	Common Plume	5
49.069	Acleris sparsana	a moth	1
49.248	Epinotia tenerana	Nut Bud Moth	2
63.006	Pyrausta aurata	a moth	1
66.007	Lasiocampa quercus f. callunae	Northern Eggar	1
70.024	Scopula imitaria	Small Blood-vein	2
72.069	Laspeyria flexula	Beautiful Hook-tip	2
72.084	Euclidia mi	Mother Shipton	1

Of these, inexplicably, Common Plume was recorded for the first time although to be fair I do not recall catching many plumes at all.  The callunae form of Oak Eggar, the Northern Eggar, was from the North York Moors where it is the more common form.  Two southern species recently arrived to Yorkshire were the Small Blood-vein and Beautiful Hook-tip.  Mother Shipton is a fairly uncommon grassland species and Pyrausta aurata was obviously looking for mint in Morrisons car-park and good to catch up with both in Yorkshire.

Small Blood-vein, another phone-photoed moth attracted to the works security lights

I am already looking forward to recording moths next year and hope for a few more 'purple patch' trapping events and targeted leaf-mine seeking, so here is to a fruitful New Year.

More leaf-mines...

My new-found interest in peering at leaves for larval feeding/pupating evidence has raised some good-hearted and playful derision from some....

I can take it..... especially when I keep adding new species to my list, some from photos as far back as 2010 which have sat in the 'to be identified' file until now.  The two below are from this file.

The first is obviously an Eriocrania species and I identified it from the following points:

1/  The mine is on Birch.

2/  The mine starts towards the middle of the leaf and broadens out to the leaf margin.

3/   Long strands of frass.

4/  The mine is untenanted.

5/  The data of the vacated mine is early June.

This first three points combined would make it either Eriocrania salopiella or E. sparrmannella, and the last two points suggest it is the earlier of the two species, salopiella which mines May to early June, rather than sparrmannella which mines June to July.  Both are scarce moths, indeed salopiella has a handful of VC63 records and no recent ones in VC62 and 64.  Charlie Fletcher the CMR has commented "The earliest sparrmannella mine we have on the database is 18th June so I agree this is likely to be salopiella, however I think spring was early in 2012 so it's difficult to be certain.".  I think I am going to have to find one with a larva in it....

2.005 Eriocrania salopiella on Birch, Pilmoor, 4 Jun 2012

The next was almost overlooked as I was concentrating on the large blotch to the right which is Tischeria ekebladella while the small mine to the left of the mid-rib is Bucculatrix ulmella, taken at Pilmoor,  17 Oct 2010.

14.010 Bucculatrix ulmella (left), 10.001 Tischeria ekebladella (right), Pilmoor,  17 Oct 2010

Moving away from lepidoptera another photo from the 4th June 2012 showed a birch leaf tightly rolled longitudinally which after a bit of investigation is likely to be the weevil known as the Birch Leaf Roller Deporaus betulae.

Birch Leaf Roller Deporaus betulae

Still two weeks of potential searching time left in 2017 whether it be on the few remaining leaves outside or scouring old photos for new moths!