BUTTERFLY REPORT 2010
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COMMENTS AND NOTES ON SOME SUFFOLK MOTHS IN 2010 A. W. PRICHARD Following a cold winter the early part of the year was characterised by generally cooler weather interspersed with short periods of warm weather and this appeared to delay the emergence of some of our spring-time moths. The month of June and most of July saw an extended period of hot dry weather encouraging some of the high summer species to emerge early. This early emergence combined with the delayed spring moth emergence meant that for a few weeks in early summer we had an abundance of moths on the wing and appearing in moth traps. This was strongly contrasted by a cool and rather wet August and most recorders reported low moth numbers during the month. Autumn conditions were generally fair and moth numbers reflected this with the addition of some late migrants. Each year still uncovers new moths to the county and in 2010 Metalampra italica Baldizzone was added to the county list when it was recorded at light by RH at Bramfield (22 August). This moth was first recorded in Britain in 2003 in Devon and since then several individuals have turned up at light in the southern counties. M. italica was previously considered endemic to Italy, where the larva is known to feed on the decaying an dead wood of oak trees, and it is a mystery as to why the moth should be appearing in Britain. A similar species, M. cinnamomea (Zeller), can be found more widely across Europe and one might have thought that this would have been more likely species to have made its way across the Channel. A further species of micro-lepidoptera new to Suffolk in 2010 was Mompha bradleyi Riedl when PK recorded this species at Eye (26 October), with the determination being confirmed with dissection by JC. It was only in the 1990s that it was realised that this species occurred in the country due to confusion in identification with the similar M. divisella Herrich-Schäffer. Since then examination of specimens in collections has shown other overlooked individuals of this moth that occurred in Britain prior to the 1990s. The larva like others of this group feeds on Epilobium and more specifically on Great Willowherb Epilobium hirsutum, with the larva feeding inside the stems and causing galls to form as a result. Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata (Geyer) was recorded at Landguard (NO, 22 July) and was a new species of macro-lepidoptera for the county. The moth was first found in Britain in West Sussex in 1984. Since then it has established itself at various sites along the south coast. The larva feeds on Monterey Cypress Cupressus macrocarpa and Leyland Cypress Cupressocyparis leylandii so it should find no shortage of foodplant in Suffolk or most parts of the country. It is assumed that this individual was of continental origin and at around the same time there was an influx of the rare migrant ermine moth Yponomeuta irrorella (Hübner) in parts of southern Britain, with an individual of Y. irrorella recorded by PK at Eye (19 July) being another addition to the county moth list. The over-wintering plume moth Amblyptilia acanthadactyla (Hübner) continues to flourish across the county and in 2010 was recorded during spring
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 47 (2012)