BIG News Number 24 Editor: Peter Hall, Rams Corner, Little Cowarne, BROMYARD, Hereford HR7 4RG e-mail [email protected] BUCKS INVERTEBRATE GROUP BULLETIN Number 24 Contents Editorial Peter Hall Page 1 - 2 Ballinger Common 20 years of Moth Trapping Peter Hall Pages 2 - 3 News from Prestwood Nature 2013 Tony and Val Marshall Pages 3 - 5 Leaf-mines and Galls on Bracken Neil Fletcher Pages 5 - 6 2013 Moth Review Martin Albertini Pages 6 -10 Highlights of the 2013 Season: Westcott David Wilton Pages 10-17 The New Lepidoptera Checklist Martin Albertini Pages 17 Burnished Brass moth: One species or two? Martin Albertini Page 17-18 Field Meeting Reports for 2013 Pages 18-37 Bucks Invertebrate Recording Group Newsletter Number 1 (1989) Pages 37-40 some originals amongst us. Here’s to the next Editorial 25 years. To begin the celebrations, at the back of this edition are extracts from the very Peter Hall first “bulletin” and I plan to put in more in the following edition next year. My thanks go to You may well notice that this is number 24. my wife Claire, for re-typing the faded scanned This actually means that this coming Summer pages of the original and it means Nigel th marks our 25 year of existence - as the Partridge can now have a complete set of bulletins appear after the season. I plan to searchable editions for the website. insert an original picture of the group taken at the first ever meeting in the next issue. So As many of you know, I have moved home many faces have changed, but there are still over the Winter and emigrated westwards. I ~ 1 ~ BIG News Number 24 Editor: Peter Hall, Rams Corner, Little Cowarne, BROMYARD, Hereford HR7 4RG e-mail [email protected] still plan to appear at most of the BIG meetings into 2013, there was no reason why the tally and will continue as Editor of this bulletin. My could not have passed the 800 mark in a few new details are to be found in the header. years’ time. Not bad I think. The years Visitors always welcome. Bring some chewing produced some very interesting records. The straw and a smock. table which follows shows no surprises, all common moths back in 1993 and also common Finally, my thanks, as always, go to Dave today. Wilton for proof reading the bulletin and spotting the errors I have missed. There’s My first micromoth comes in at number 28 and nothing worse than pages full of tpyos . was Celypha lacunana. Of more interest was the sheer number of single records. 139 species were recorded just once, which is Ballinger Common around 18% of the listing. And it turns up all 20 years of Moth Trapping sorts of interesting moths too. Species like The Peter Hall Lappet, Grass Emerald, Sharp-angled Carpet, Blotched Emerald, Streak, Lunar Thorn, Hoary I moved into Ballinger Common in the Spring of Footman, Jersey Tiger, Antler and many more. 1993. I chose the house mainly because it had Rank Scientific Name English Name a larger than typical garden for a small semi- 1 Opisthograptis luteolata Brimstone Moth 2 Noctua pronuba Large Yellow Underwing detached bungalow, and it backed onto woods. 3 Ochropleura plecta Flame Shoulder Ballinger Common is nestled up in the Chilterns 4 Xestia c-nigrum Setaceous Hebrew Character and remarkably sheltered from passing storms. 5 Mythimna impura Smoky Wainscot 6 Agrotis exclamationis Heart & Dart It’s about a 4 minute drive to Great Missenden. 7 Apamea monoglypha Dark Arches HS2 will pass within about a mile of the 8 Peribatodes rhomboidaria Willow Beauty 9 Biston betularia Peppered property, and even closer to the next village 10 Idaea aversata Riband Wave down – South Heath. The area is an AONB 11 Hypena proboscidalis Snout 12 Autographa gamma Silver Y (tell that to the pro-HS2 Government) and 13 Chloroclysta truncata Common Marbled Carpet home to many Midsomer Murder television 14 Eilema lurideola Common Footman programmes. Nearby habitat is mixed 15 Colocasia coryli Nut-tree Tussock 16 Mesapamea secalis Common Rustic woodland, gardens and semi-improved fields 17 Ecliptopera silaceata Small Phoenix and pastures with small relics of chalk indicator 18 Xanthorhoe designata Flame Carpet 19 Rivula sericealis Straw Dot species here and there, mainly along the many 20 Axylia putris Flame footpaths. 21 Lomographa temerata Clouded Silver 22 Lacanobia oleracea Bright-line Brown-eye 23 Noctua janthe Lesser Broad-bordered YU Moth trapping started almost immediately and 24 Spilosoma luteum Buff Ermine good height hedges meant I could run a full 25 Deilephila elpenor Elephant Hawk 26 Phlogophora meticulosa Angle Shades version at the bottom of the garden without 27 Noctua comes Lesser Yellow Underwing intruding too much on the neighbours. They 28 Celypha lacunana 29 Xestia triangulum Double Square-spot never complained anyway, in fact my first (of 30 Orthosia gothica Hebrew Character 3) neighbours on one side liked the lighting 31 Alcis repandata Mottled Beauty 32 Idaea biselata Small Fan-footed Wave effect so much, she wanted one too. 33 Diarsia rubi Small Square-spot 34 Diarsia mendica Ingrailed Clay In early February 2014 it was time to move on 35 Autographa pulchrina Beautiful Golden Y 36 Charanyca trigrammica Treble Lines to pastures new, and so a chapter in recording 37 Cosmia trapezina Dun-bar came to an end. The species total finished up 38 Pasiphila rectangulata Green Pug 39 Hoplodrina blanda Rustic at 767 species of moth for the garden. With 40 Zanclognatha tarsipennalis Fan-foot the annual increase in totals still carrying on 41 Agrotis clavis Heart & Club ~ 2 ~ BIG News Number 24 Editor: Peter Hall, Rams Corner, Little Cowarne, BROMYARD, Hereford HR7 4RG e-mail [email protected] 42 Notodonta dromedarius Iron Prominent area from BMERC and added our own 43 Alucita hexadactyla Twenty-plume 44 Diachrysia chrysitis Burnished Brass observations, those of other members, and 45 Phalera bucephala Buff-tip local surveys of many key sites, so that this 46 Camptogramma bilineata Yellow Shell 47 Campaea margaritata Light Emerald must be one of the best recorded of all 10km 48 Noctua fimbriata Broad-bordered Yellow U squares (although it overlaps with four such 49 Xestia xanthographa Square-spot Rustic squares according to OS gridlines). This 50 Spilosoma lubricipeda White Ermine enables us to track trends over time for many Micros were often lacking and this was because species and to identify new records for the I decided early on not to get up at dawn to area. examine the catch. Very often too, I would simply leave the trap on at dusk and either go Our local ladybird surveys had their worst year out trapping elsewhere or sit inside. By yet, with fortnightly 20-minute searches in inverting a plant pot and cutting out the base, most gardens producing no ladybirds at all. it protected the trap’s insides from birds getting There were a few casual observations of 7- in, so by morning, when I eventually got spot, 14-spot and Harlequin, especially of the outside to look, the first thing I’d do was switch latter trying to enter houses to hibernate. All the bulb off, transport the box to the the attention tends to be given to the decline greenhouse and open up and list. I mainly of bees, but ladybirds could be suffering even used a home design trap, running off a 125w worse. Flies could also be suffering. Hardly MV bulb, using my Skinner and large Robinson any records this year, although we got our first type trap for field trips. This home-made Volucella zonaria in Prestwood in August. version wasn’t ideal for collecting micros either and I have no idea why. Had I gotten up at On the other hand, it was quite a good year for dawn like more enthused folk, the list may butterflies, with Silver-washed and Dark Green have been much higher, but I’d also probably Fritillaries being seen in gardens. Dingy be in a sanatorium from lack of sleep. Skipper was colonising new areas. There was one Clouded Yellow seen. It was not so good There was nothing particularly special about for Spring species however - no sign of Duke of where I trapped. Dave Wilton’s even more Burgundy - despite being seen over each of the impressive list for his garden is the same, so last few years. the message is clear. Trap in your gardens and be amazed at the list constantly growing year It was a good Autumn for fungi and we picked upon year. up some of their invertebrate inhabitants. On 8 October in Peterley Wood we found our first Moving house brings new challenges and the Cerylon histeroides, one of the small beetle excitement of catching different species and family Cerylonidae, along with Oribata also to see how it compares to what was home geniculata (mite), rove beetles Atheta nigra for much of my life. and Proteinus brachypterus, springtail Tomocerus vulgaris, and the centipede Lamyctes emarginatus. On 31 October in the News from Prestwood Nature 2013 same wood we found the Notable B beetle Helophorus dorsalis in the same way. This is a Tony & Val Marshall water-beetle, known to inhabit small temporary pools in woods, although this one was happy Prestwood Nature covers an area roughly 10km enough with a damp toadstool. On 28 October by 10km centred on Prestwood. We have in Atkins Wood we found 3 uncommon beetles compiled historical and current records for this in the same way - the rove beetles Acrolocha ~ 3 ~ BIG News Number 24 Editor: Peter Hall, Rams Corner, Little Cowarne, BROMYARD, Hereford HR7 4RG e-mail [email protected] sulcula, Bolitochara bella, & Meotica exilis.