Newsletter 25
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NEWSLETTER25 September2001 The Beastof SeatonUnmasked The summer of 2001 saw a number of Accordingly,the specimenwas set and a few interestingmoth recordsfrom the County,but weeks later it was possible to email a nonequite as excitingor intriguingas thetale of photographof the set specimen(below) to the "TheBeast of Seaton",as it becameknown. Natural History Museum. There, Martin Honey forwardedthe enquiryto Kevin Tuck, an expert In the courseof moth trappingat Plantlife's in the Tortricidae.Whilst he had an idea what SeatonMeadows Reserve (SP915978) on 22nd species it might be, he asked to see the July2001 Jean Harvey and RonFollows took a specimenbefore committing himself further. large micromoth which they retained for identification. The moststriking thing about this moth was it's size- althoughit lookedlike a tortricidmoth it's size (wingspan approx. 32 mm) led to speculationthat it mightbe a pyralidor evena macromoth!Despite methodicallysearching throughtextbooks, it stillcouldn't be identified. As a nextstep, Mark Skevington took a digital photograph(below) and uploadedit to the UK MothsNewsgroup. The specimenhas recentlybeen taken down to the NaturalHistory Museum in London,where KevinTuck was able to identifythe specimenas Epiblemagrandaevana, apparently a raremoth inthe UK. Andy Mackayhad initiallysuggested this as a possibleidentity, but the figure in Bradley, Tremewan& Smith(1979) does not do justiceto the markingsof this moth,and the giventhe statedwingspan (21-30 mm) plusthe apparent rarityof this species,meant that this had been Whilstthis elucidateda coupleof suggestions, discountedas a possibleidentity. the moth itselfwas too largeto be any of the speciessuggested. Emailing photographs to a Bradley& Tremewan(1979) describes this as a numberof nationalexperts still failed to identify species "formerlyfound in old brickyards, the"Beast of Seaton" sandpits,spoil heaps and ballast tips". Continuedon Paoe2 Fromthe (Acting)Newsletter Editor: A quick count revealsthat this issue of the Newsletterincludes detailsof 12 firstcounty records covering a rangeof invertebrate groups:B mothspecies, a ladybird,a bush-cricket,a hoverflyand a spider.Allthe recordersinvolved are to be congratulatedfor the LEICESTERSHIRE recordingefforts. ENTOMOLOGICAL good news for the County!Or is it? lt seems that many of SOCIETY So, these species are southern species that are expandingtheir Affiliatedto: rangenorthwards. At the sametime, there is mentionin this issue Leicestershire& RutlandWildlife Trust of the possibilityof at leastone of our "northern"species of moth now being extinctin the County.All of this may providefurther Chairman: evidenceof the effectsof globalwarming on our invertebratefauna. Vacant It is hard not to take pleasurefrom finding new species in our Secretary: county,but perhapsthis ought to be temperedwith a degreeof JohnKramer concernabout the impactof globalclimate change. 31 Ash Tree Road,Oadby, Leicesier LE2 sTE Adrian Russell Teleohone:01 16 271 6499 Email:[email protected] The Beastof SeatonUnmasked - continuedfrom page 1 ' Treasurer: StuartPoole 18 Croft Drive,Wigston, Accordingto Bradley& Tremewan(1979) this specieswas found LeicesterLE18 1HD in considerablenumbers in the latter half of the nineteenth Teleohone:01 1 6 288 0236 centuryon the coastsof Northumberlandand Durham,where it CommitteeMembers: was believedto have become establishedafter being imported Dave Budwortl- with ballastfrom the Baltic.However, it graduallybecame scarcer 121Wood Lane, and was not seen from 1910onwards, apart from singlerecords Newhall,Swadlincote fromthe Durhamarea in 1948and 1972.Single specimens were Derbys. DE11OLX taken from the Suffolkcoast in 1976and from the E Yorks coast Telephone:01 283 2151 88 '1993 Email:[email protected] in (Bradley,2000). Maggie& Roy Frankum Most interestinglyhowever, the only other Britishrecords come 3 ChapelLane, Knighton, - Leicester LE2 3WF from the Collywestonarea of Northamptonshire only six miles '16 Telephone:01 270 5833 from SeatonMeadows. A total of 15 moths of this specieswere recordedbetween 1991 and 1992 from a numberof sites in the Derek Lott immediate area, with the source being attributed to an HollyHayes Environmental ResourcesCentre, abandoned limestone quarry, partly under conifer plantation, 216 BirstallRoad, Birstall, where the larvalfoodplant colt's-foot (fussi/ago farfara) grows in Leicester LE4 4DG abundance(Gardiner and Hillier,1993). Telephone:01 16 267 1950 Email:[email protected]. uk The recordfrom Seaton Meadowstherefore appears to be the LES OccasionalPublications Editor: first British record for 8 years. The habitat at Seaton would Ray Morris appear quite different from the ruderal/coastalhabitats from 142Hinckley Road, Barwell, which it has been previouslyrecorded. However, currently and Leics. LE9 8DN Telephone:01 455 842145 over the last coupleof years,a large amount of work has been Email:[email protected] undertakenon the railwayand viaduct over the meadow.This has includeddigging out areas of the rail embankmentand Acting Newsletter Editor: replacingit with ballast!Clearly, further fieldwork will be needed AdrianRussell 15 St. Swithin'sRoad, to establishits statusin the area. Leicester LE5 2GE Telephone:0116 241 5101 References: [email protected] Bradley, J.D. & Tremewan, W. D. (1979). Bnttsh Tortricoid Moths ll: Toftricidae: Olehtreutinae.Ray Society,London. Bradley, J.D. (2000). Checklistof LepidopteraRecorded from the Britisfi /s/es. 2nd Edition(Revised). Bradley & Bradley. Next Copy Deadline: Gardiner, C. & Hillier, M. (1993). Epiblema grandaevana established in 15th January 2002 Northamptonshire.Entomologist's Rec. J. Var. 105: 239-240. AdrianRussell OrangeLadybird - Newto Leicestershire On the 6th May 2001, Jon was beating evergreensincluding yew, in Abbey Park, On the 14thApril 2001,when beatingyew for Leicester and found yet another Orange spidersin CastleGardens, Leicester, Jon Daws ladybirdlI wonder where else they will turn up? found an Orange ladybird(Halyzia 11-guftata) and a Larchladybrd (Aphidectaobliterata). Jan MaggieFrankum Dawson(New Walk Museum)confirmed the Orangeladybird as a newrecord for VC 55. I thinkthe answer to MaggieFrankum's question might be: just about anywhere!Shortly after \ receivingthis note from Maggie,I was very 'iti pleasedto recordone myselfat MV lightwhilst Tt mothtrapping in MartinshawWood on 5th June 2001.But this was just the firstof quitea few sightingswhilst moth trapping in 2001: 5thJune MartinshawWood sK5107 24thJune LoughboroughMeadows sK5321 3rdJuly EnderbyQuarry sP5399 21stJuly WardleyWood (x3) sK8400 11thAugust CloudWood sK4121 13thAugust BloodyOaks Quarry sK9710 Thinkingthat this must meanthat the Orange ladybirdis commonlybeing seen everywhere, I She mentionedthe find to Gareth Burton contactedMaggie in Septemberto checkwhere (University of Leicester - Attenborough elseshe had seen it in 2001.lwas surprisedto Arboretum,Knighton, Leicester) who on the23rd findthat she had no furthersightings to report. April2001, found another Orange ladybird on Whilsta widerange of insectscommonly turn-up hornbeam,along with two Cream-spotladybirds at moth recorders'MV lights, ladybirdsare (Calvia1 -guttata),an Eyed ladybird- without relativelyinfrequent. So, perhapsthis means ringsaround the spots(Anatis ocellata), and two that MV light is a good way of recordingthe melanic10-spot ladybirds (Adalia 1}-punctata f. Orangeladybird? bimaculata)On the 25thApril 2001, he reported AdrianRussell two Orangeladybirds again on the hornbeam and by the 27th April 2001, the count had reacheda totalof ten Orangeladybirds! These 2001 Highlights from a Wigston Garden werenow on an ivy-cladash tree adjacent to the hornbeam.There is deep leaf lifterbelow the AlthoughJanuary to April provedto be poor trees (maybethey over-winteredthere - the monthsfor moth recording,we caught Pale Orangeladybird is vegetarian,a mildewfeeder). BrindledBeauty (Phigalia pilosaria'1on 22nd February, This was interesting- I've only seen Orange which was a new record for the garden. ladybirdsonce beforeat JuniperHall F.S.C Othernew recordswere: Yellow-barred (Dorking,Surrey) and certainly the South Brindle(Acasis viretata) on 13thMay and Small LeicesterWATCH group never found any during CloudedBrindle (Apamea unaminis) on 28th our"Really Useful lnsects" ladybird survey in the June. late1980s - not in Leicestershire,let alonethis locallI went to the Arboretumon the 1st May On 14th June we caughta MarbledCoronet 2001,where Gareth and I foundfive Orange (Hadenaconfusa), which we had not seenfor 9 ladybirdson the same ivy-cladash tree and years. The Pheonix (Eulithisprunata) was noneon thehornbeam. Other ladybirds included recordedon 27thJuly in our out-house(we had five Cream-spotsand two Chequered1O-spots previouslyrecorded this speciesin 1996 and (Adalia1O-punctata F. decempustulata)on the 2000).Finally we caughta Triple-spottedPug surroundingcow parsley and the hornbeam,with (Eupitheciatrisignaria) on 31stJuly. anotherCream-spot on sycamore.Elsewhere at the Arboretumon larch.there were five Pine We alsorecorded a LesserStag Beetle (Dorcus ladybirds(Exochomus 4-pustulafus); a Cream- parallelipipedus)on 22nd July. spot;two typical1O-spots (Adalia 1O-punctata f. AdamPoole decempunctafa);two typical2-spots (Adalia 2- punctataf. typica)and a Barred2-spot (Adalia 2- punctataf. bar annulata). My Summerof Moths onlythe third occasion since the Victoria County History(VCH) was published(the other two : Having had a couple of relativelydisappointing