23 A rare Lacewing and a record night for Moths Steve Goddard On the night of 1 August 2013 my moth trap here at my home in Martlesham Heath was running to take advantage of the warm weather created by a southerly airflow extending from the Mediterranean. The minimum temperature this night was 17°C with little wind giving ideal conditions. Having set up, I next visited the trap, a 125W MV Robinson Moth Trap, at 6.30 am on Friday morning. I found it loaded with moths and many more were on the house and adjacent shed walls. It turned out to be a night that produced the largest number of species identified since my arrival at this location in September 2001. About an hour later I had completed my preliminary inspection of the site, removed the lamp, trap collar and placed a flat square of clear plastic over the resulting gap to prevent moth escapes. Very soon a few moths were attracted to this plastic surface and amongst them, a strikingly large lacewing. As luck would have it, a couple of the more regular green lacewings Chrysoperla carnea, were sitting adjacent for comparison. Fortunately, I always have my digital compact camera handy and was able to obtain the image in Plate 11. I was unable to identify the insect immediately and it was put to one side and lay overlooked in my picture gallery until December when I made contact with Adrian Knowles, whereupon we realised that it was a species of Nothochrysa. The bright orange head suggested that this was in fact Nothochrysa fulviceps but this is an extremely rare insect in Britain and so the image was e-mailed to the National Recorder, Colin Plant, for his opinion. Armed with only the photograph, Colin noted that it would have been better if he had been able to see the character of the tarsal claw on the insect itself, but given the overall appearance and an individual wing length of over 20 mm, this could only be confirmed as N. fulviceps. Nothochrysa fulviceps appears to be a rare insect in Britain, although it is common in Europe. Its association with mature oak canopies may restrict observations. Plant (1994) noted that there had been no reports in the British Isles after 1958. Since then, it has been recorded in Cumberland (VC 70, 1995) and in South Northumberland (VC 67, 2000). The national database records a total of 15 British Isles records, all from England (Colin Plant, personal communication, March 2014). The origin of the 2013 insect is unclear. Martlesham Heath, as many readers will know, is a village on the east side of Ipswich. The area is located approximately three miles from the River Deben to the east, four miles from the River Orwell to the south and eight miles from the North Sea (Garden OS Grid Reference TM237446; Vice-County 25 – East Suffolk). Much of the surrounding land is occupied by a nationally important area of lowland heath most of which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Interestingly however, although there had been no recognised immigrant moths in the trap, there were a likely thirteen species (see below) that had wandered from local wetlands or maybe from the coast, indicating a night of
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internal movement and maybe, therefore, immigration in the south-east. The unusual weather pattern of the year 2013 is also worth bearing in mind when interpreting unexpected records such as this Lacewing. Although the major part of this article is focused on the rare Nothochrysa fulviceps, further information on the night’s moths and particularly the wetland wanderers is perhaps worthy of note. I have said that the highest number of species was recorded since my records began here in 2001. The final count totalled 161, which was a remarkable 25 increase on the last highest count here on the night of 2 July 2009. Wetland (and likely wetland) species recorded: Eulamprotes wilkella (Painted Neb, B&F 733) – Nationally Scarce B. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Local. Habitats: Shingle beaches, sandy areas, usually on the coast. Larval foodplants: Common Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum). Aproaerema anthyllidella (Vetch Sober, B&F 843) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Local. Habitats: Rough grassland, dry pastures, and coastal areas. Larval foodplants: Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), restharrow (Ononis), Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), Lucerne (Medicago sativa) or clover (Trifolium) (new for site which may indicate a likely wetland wanderer). Stathmopoda pedella (Alder Signal, B&F 877) - Nationally Scarce B. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Scarce, possibly under-recorded. Habitats: Alder carr. Larval foodplants: Seeds of Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and Grey Alder (Alnus incana) (new for site). Limnaecia phragmitella (Shy Cosmet, B&F 898) – National Status: Common. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Widespread and abundant. Habitats: Lakes, rivers, streams and ponds, wherever the foodplant grows. Larval foodplants: Reedmaces (Typha spp). Bactra lancealana (Rush Marble, B&F 1111) – National Status: Common. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Widespread and abundant. Habitats: Lakes, rivers, streams and ponds, wherever the foodplant grows. Larval foodplants: In the stems of Compact Rush (Juncus conglomeratus), Common Club-rush (Schoenoplectus lacustris), Deergrass (Trichophorum cespitosum) or Galingale (Cyperus longus). Calamotropha paludella (Bulrush Veneer, B&F 1292) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Widespread and not infrequent. Habitats: Fens. Larval foodplants: Reedmace (Typha latifolia) or rarely Lesser Reedmace (T. angustifolia). Agriphila selasella (Pale-streak Grass-veneer, B&F 1303) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Local, primarily in the east of the county. Habitats: Grassland, marshes and fens. Larval foodplants: various grasses, including Common Saltmarsh-grass (Puccinellia maritima), Small Cord-grass (Spartina maritima) and Sheep’s Fescue (Festuca ovina).
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25 Acentria ephemerella (Water Veneer, B&F 1331) – National Status: Common. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Widespread and common. Habitats: Fens, marshes, grassland and woodland. Larval foodplants: various water plants including Canadian Pondweed (Elodea canadensis), pondweeds (Potamogeton), stoneworts (Chara) and filamentous algae. Synaphe punctalis (Long-legged Tabby, B&F 1414) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Localised to the Sandlings with occasional records elsewhere. Habitats: Heathland, coastal vegetated shingle, fens, gardens and grassland. Larval foodplants: various mosses (frequent here, but never as many as ten so usual numbers may have been augmented by wanderers). Phycitodes maritima (Chalk Knot-horn, B&F 1485) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Local. Habitats: Coastal. Larval foodplants: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), in the stems and flower heads. Kent Black Arches Meganola albula (B&F 2076) - National Status: Notable Nb. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Localised to coastal areas. Habitats: Coastal heathland, grassland, shingle beaches Larval foodplants: Dewberry, Bramble, Raspberry, Wild Strawberry (five recorded). White Satin Leucoma salicis (B&F 2031) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Local. Habitats: Poplar plantations, fens, carr. Larval foodplants: Aspen, poplars, sallows and willows (new for site). Fen Wainscot Arenostola phragmitidis (B&F 2377) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Local. Habitats: Poplar plantations, fens and carr. Larval foodplants: Common Reed (Phragmites communis) Other noteworthy species recorded: Anarsia spartiella (Small Crest, B&F 856) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Local. Habitats: Heathland, grassland, downland and waste ground. Larval foodplants: Gorse (Ulex), Broom (Cytisus scoparius) or Dyer’s Greenweed (Genista tinctoria). Agriphila latistria (White-streak Grass-veneer, B&F 1307) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Local. Habitats: Heathland, fens and woodland. Larval foodplants: various grasses, especially Bromus. Pediasia contaminella (Waste Grass-veneer, B&F 1323) – National Status: Nationally Scarce B. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Localised to Brecks and Sandlings where it may be common. Habitats: Heathland. Larval foodplants: Sheep’s Fescue (Festuca ovina) and other grasses. Platytes cerussella (Little Grass-veneer, B&F 1326) – National Status: Local. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Localised to Brecks and Sandlings where it may appear in profusion. Habitats: Grassland, heathland and fens. Larval foodplants: various small, stiff grasses and possibly Sand Sedge (Carex arenaria), where they grow on sand and shingle.
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Pempelia genistella (Gorse Knot-horn, B&F 1443) – National Status: Nationally Scarce B. Suffolk distribution and abundance: Scarce, in coastal areas. Habitats: Grassland and heathland. Larval foodplants: Gorse (Ulex). References Plant, C. W. (1994). Provisional Atlas of the Neuroptera, Megaloptera, Raphidioptera and Mecoptera of the British Isles. Huntingdon, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. www.Suffolkmoths.org.uk: The web-site of the Suffolk Moth Group Adapted and published with permission from my original article in the Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 126 (2014): 80–81 Nothochrysa fulviceps (Stephens) (Neur.: Chrysopidae) at Martlesham Heath, East Suffolk. My thanks go to Adrian Knowles and Colin Plant for identification of the Lacewing specimen, background information on the species and for helpful comments on this part of the note. Thanks also to Neil Sherman for identification help with some of the more difficult moths.
S. Goddard
Steve Goddard 64 Heathfield, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk IP5 3UB
Plate 11: Lacewing, Nothochrysa fulviceps at Martlesham Heath 1 August, 2013 (p. 23).
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