NEWSLETTER30 January2004 larvalfoodplant, Bird's-foot Trefoil. Unlike the ClearwingsRecorded in Leics. Yellow-leggedClearwing, this species was very in 2003 stronglyattracted to thelure, swarming around it andreluctant to flyaway. Later that same Membersmay recall Chris Gardiner's article in day,I luredanother 8 at a roadsideverge near Newsletter23 ("Experienceswith Clearwings") BloodyOaks that was carpeted with Bird's{oot in whichhe describedthe success he hadwith Trefoil.Mark Skevington also had success with recordingClearwings in Northamptonshire. thisspecies, luring 3 on theGreat CentralWay, Despitethe searching that this subsequently Leicester(to the south of thecity), 20 at Ketton prompted,together with attempts to reproduce Quarryon 29thJune and a further30 atthe thesuccess with pheromone lures that had samesite on 9thJuly 2003. beenreported from other areas of theUK, by theend of 2002,I wasbeginning to thinkthat manyof thesespecies were absent from Leicestershire.However, 2003 proved to be somethingof an eye-opener! AndyMackay was the f irst to havesuccess, at lastwith, pheromone lures: on 20thJune 2003, (Synanthedon 5+ Yellow-leggedClearwings Yellow-legged Clearwin g (Synathedon were attractedto a lureat vespiformis) vespiformis) UlverscroftN.R (SK 494127).Keen to seethis myself,I re-visitedthe site with Andy species Encouragedby these successes, I decided to on21st andwe successfully lured June tryagain at someof overgrownallotments in another3 andobserved a femaleovipositing theCity, where in previousyears, I hadfailed in stump.lt wasapparent that whilst on an oak myattempts with pheromone lures. Entering an thesemoths are attracted to thelure, they are areafull of oldcurrant bushes and apple trees relativelyinconspicuous in flight and often withinSt Mary'sAllotments in Leicester makeonly fleeting visits to thelure. Mark (betweenSaffron Lane and Aylestone Road) Skevingtonhad furlher success with this on 26thJune I lured2 CurrentClearwings Park,with 9 comingto a speciesat Bradgate (Synanthedontipuliformis) and at least4 Red- lureclose to the NeMownLinford entrance (SK beltedClearwings (Synanthedon Havinggone nearly 50 yearswith 524097). myopaeformis).Again these species paid only onlytwo county records of thisspecies, within fleetingvisits to the lures,never actually thespace of 4 daysin 2003,18 had been settlingon the lureitself. The following day recorded. MaggieFrankum found a Red-beltedClearwing onthe pavement outside of herhouse in Thenext species to makean appearancein ChapelLane, Knighton. Prior to 2003,both of 2003was the Six-beltedClearwing (Bembecia thesespecies had only been recorded on a ichneumoniformrs),the speciesmost handfulof occasionsin the last50 years. commonlyencountered in recentyears, albeit at a limitednumber of sites.I choseone of Anotherspecies recorded in 2003was the theseknown localities, Ketton Quarry, on 25th LunarHornet Moth (Sesra bembeciformrs): on Juneand was easily able to lurea total10 25thJune Tony Diebel photographed a pair in mothsin two areas of thesite with plenty of its copuliin hisBelgrave garden. This is the other clearwingmost commonly recorded in the County,albeit most recordsare of larval boringsin Sallow. Onespecies that eluded me in 2003was the Orange-tailedClearwing (Synanthedon andrenaeformis),which Chris Gardiner describedrecording via emergenceholes and LEICESTERSHIRE pupalcases in WayfaringTree at Castor ENTOMOLOGICAL HanglandsN.N.R. I attemptedto "getmy eye SOCIETY in"for this speciesby visitingone of the late DonTozer's favoured localities (the margins of Affiliatedto: CollywestonGreat Wood, Northants) in the Leicestershire& RutlandWildlife Trust Springof 2003,but failed to findany emergenceholes in the Viburnurnthere. Later Chairman& attemptsto lurethe moththere, and at a couple LES OccasionalPublications Editor: of Rutlandsites with ViburnumDresent. were Ray Monis 142Hinckley Road, Barwell, alsounsuccessful. Leics. LE9 8DN Telephone:01455 842145 To end on an intriguingnote, Monica Gillham of Email:ray.morris @ ntlworld.com the LoughboroughNaturalists Club has Secretary: reportedfinding an interestrnginsect in long John Kramer grassat WanlipMeadows on 7thJune 2003: 31 Ash Tree Road,Oadby, "...bodyc.1cm long, with transparent wings Leicester LE2 sTE suffusedwith brilliant red at thetips....". Telephone:01 16 271 6499 Email:jk @ chezejog.demon.co.uk Unfortunately,it disappearedbefore she could take a closerlook at it, but it seemslikely this Treasurer: may have beena Red-tippedClearwing Stuart Poole (Synanthedonformicaeformis). This is a 18 CroftDrive, Wigston, LeicesterLElS 1HD specieswhose larvae feeds in the stemsand Telephone:01 16 288 0236 trunksof Willows,and has not been recorded [email protected] from the Countysince 1931 ! Clearly,it would be good to con{irm this record in 2004. Other Committee Members: speciesthat may be presentin the Countyare: Dave Budworth 121Wood Lane, Hornet Moth (Sesraapiformis) (larvae feed on Newhall,Swadlincote BlackPoplar, not attractedto pheromonesand Derbys. DE11 OLX last recordedfrom the Countyin 1982),White- Telephone:01283 215188 barredClearwing (Synanthedon spheciformis) Email:dbud01 @aol.com (Alderand birches,no Countyrecord) and Maggie& Roy Frankum Large Red-beltedClearwing (Synanthedon 3 ChapelLane, Knighton, culiciformis)(Birches and occasionallyAlder, '1940/50s Leicester LE2 3WF lastrecorded from BardonHill in and Telephone:01 16 270 5833 royfrankum @ tiscal i.co. uk SpringWood in 1981/84). Derek Lott HollyHayes Environmental ResourcesCentre, 216 BirstallRoad, Birstall, Leicester LE4 4DG Teleohone:01 16 267 1950 Email:dlott@ leics.gov. uk Newsletter Editor: FrankClark 4 Main Skeet, Houghtonon the Hill, Hornetmoth (Sesiaapiformes) LeicesterLE7 9GD Telephone:01 16 243 2725 [email protected] [email protected] I hopethis note will encourage local entomologiststo recordclearwing moths in the County.Pheromone lures, sold in setsof 6 Next Copy Deadline: (differentlures for differentspecies) can be obtainedfrom AnglianLepidopterist Supplies (checkout theirwebsite in earlySpring: ber 2004 www.anqleps.btinternet.co.uk).But the traditionalsearching methods, as describedby ChrisGardiner, can be employedin winterat Gravel extractionhas uncovereda varietyof no cost- at leastwe nowknow that there are palaeochannelscontaining organic sediments; plentyof clearwingspresent in theeounty! theseyielding insect fragments in abundance. Colourfulbeetle elytra, wings, head and thorax, are oftenstriking (e.9. Chrysomelidae, Ieaf beetles).Head capsules of chironomids, scleritesfrom caddisflylarvae and mandibles from the alderfly,Sra/is sp., are alsocommon. ldentificationis basedupon the size,shape, colour,pattern (if any)and microsculptureof eachfragment. Red-beltedClearwing (Syn anthedon myopaeformis) Adrian Russell Towardsan Environmental Historyof the RiverTrent (Asummary of a presentationto theLES November2003) Mixedfragments of insectremains, mainly Insect1ossils',preserved in water-loggedpeats Coleoptera. of oldriver channels offer an intriguinginsight intothe past ecology of theriver system. Along Thecase study reported in thistalk centred withseeds, plant fragments, pollen grains, uponthe useof caddisfliesas environmental diatoms,shells of molluscsand mites, the most indicators,an insectgroup hitherto abundantinsects are Coleoptera, understudied. Chrionomidaeand Trichoptera, with occasional Twosites from the middle Trent, with fragmentsof Hemiptera,Homoptera and radiocarbondates of +/- 11.SKyrswere Hymenoptera.All materialis fragmentedwhich described,the first at Aston-upon-Trentand the addsan interestingdimension to theprocess of secondat Hemington. identificationand limiting the usefulnessof At Aston-upon-Trentthe caddisfly species conventionalkeys. The most reliable process assemblagegave indications of a fast-flowing for namingmaterial in thisform is thematching gravelbed river with macrophytes, such as of theunknown fragments against a validated mossesand aquatic Ranunculus spp. At referencecollection. Hemington,the species assemblage was indicativeof a weedystill/slow flowing oxbow Historically,the catchment of the RiverTrent lake,a habitatdominated by the case- hasprovided an interestinginsight into our constructingspecies of theFamily understandingof climate change. Using Limnephilidae.The two sites therefore ofler an radiocarbondating techniques a series of sites exampleof twostages in the developmental or togetherwith their associated beetle successionalhistory o{ the mid-Trent at the assemblages,has demonstrated a rapid timeof thelate glacial period. switchingof airtemperature from warm to cold, in as shorta time-spanas +/- 100yrs. Taxa, particularinterest was the finding of the whosepresent distribution is in Siberiaare Of Brachycentridcaddisf ly, Micrasemasetiferum, seento alternatewith assemblages whose a speciesno longerfound in UK.Tracking its moderndistribution is Meditteranean. moderndistribution, it is currenlly found at high in Europe,the Ural Mountains Anychange in climate will impact on the altitudes Central andCarpathians; also in Fennoscandia.Such a developmentof theriver system. Floodplains suggesta preferencefor colder illustratethe dynamics of thisevolution in the distribution andit is thereforetempting to formof oldpalaeochannels. Some retain the conditions suggestthat river water temperatures were characterof a fast{lowing,gravel bed river, lowerthan those of thepresent day, whereasothers e.g. meanders, accumulate somewhat duringthe Late glacial period. organicdebris and form an oxbowlake. In the rangeof