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NEWSLETTER 63September 2020
Saltmarsh Plume Moth 1Sugaring for moths 4Gall wasp Andricus infectorius 5Brilliant Beetles, Fantastic Flies and MarvellousMoths
6
Book review - Caterpillars 8A hot night at Charnwood Lodge 9Two similar caddis flies easily separated 9Ethyl Acetate 10Wigston and Broughton Astley moths compared 11Ferrari’s Photo Gallery 12Some highlights of 2020 132020 sucks 14Longhorn beetle Paracorymbia fulva 15
In this editionDonacia versicolorae beetles live on the surface of Colony Res-ervoir, feeding on pondweed Potamogeton leaves - the damage is
evident. Full story: p. 13. Photo: Ann Smith.
Peter Gamble with AnonaFinch in 2016 - see p. 2.
LEICESTERSHIREENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY
VC55
LES Newsletter 63
2
September 2020
LEICESTERSHIREENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY
Affiliated to:Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust
Chairman &LES Occasional Publications Editor:
Ray Morris16 Hinckley Road, Dadlington
Leics. CV13 6HUTelephone: 01455 213569Email: [email protected]
Secretary:Anona Finch
14 Thorndale, Ibstock, Leics. LE67 6JTEmail: [email protected]
Treasurer:Dave Budworth
121 Wood Lane, Newhall, SwadlincoteDerbys. DE11 0LX
Telephone: 01283 215188Email: [email protected]
Committee Members:
Maggie Frankum3 Chapel Lane, Knighton, Leicester LE2 3WF
Telephone: 0116 270 5833Email: [email protected]
Peter PatrickThe Hollies, Holly Street, Stapenhill, Burton on Trent,
Derby DE15 9ETTelephone: 01283 548704
Email: [email protected]
Newsletter Editor:Steve Woodward
19 Highfield Road, Groby, Leicester LE6 0GUTelephone: 0116 287 1679
Email : [email protected]
Publications downloadable from:www.naturespot.org.uk/content/leicestershire-
entomological-society
© 2020 Leicestershire Entomological Society
The editor will be happy to receive articles, short notesand photos (in focus please!) about insects or otherinvertebrates in Leicestershire and Rutland, also newsof members’ activities further afield. Photos to be sentseparately please at high resolution. Unless otherwisecredited, photos are by the author of the article.
Next Copy Deadline: 5 Jan 2021
Naturalists across the county will be saddened to learnof the death, on 21 September, of long-standingmember Peter Gamble (photo on front cover).
Peter Horace Gamble was born in Quorn on 20 March1927 and remained there for the rest of his life. Heworked initially as a bricklayer and built his own housein Meeting Street. Between 1961 and 1987 he wasemployed as a technician at Loughborough TechnicalCollege.
Peter was very well known among local naturalists andwas widely acknowledged as the best “all-rounder” ofhis generation. He was a skilled ornithologist and wasdeeply involved with the LROS from the 1940s. Hepublished articles in the Annual Report on BuddonWood in 1957 and on the impact of severe winter of1962-3. Peter and myself collaborated with MikeWebster and others on the Birds of Charnwood projectin the 1990s and his knowledge of songs, calls,behaviour and local sites was invaluable.
Peter was a first class botanist and one of the principalcontributors to the Flora of Leicestershire, publishedin 1988. Peter taught me a lot about plant ID and Irecall an expedition down Flesh Hovel Lane where heshowed me an abundance of an elusive little plantcalled Mousetail. Peter and his wife Margaret kindlyinvited me to join them on a natural history holiday toPoland in 1994, where I realised that Peter’sencyclopedic knowledge extended to Eastern Europeanflora and fauna too!
From the 1960s Peter travelled around Leics with amoth trap and generator, in the company of Don Tozerthen later, Jack Ward. Their records are, no doubt,some of the earliest in the county for many species.Peter was able to identify insects from other groups aswell - his interests were wide indeed. He was patientwith beginners and generous with his time.
One of Peter’s greatest achievements was the settingup of Loughborough Naturalists’ Club in 1960. Peterbecame President and up to about a year ago was stillmaking valuable observations on butterflies and birds,sending in the records for the club’s journal Heritage.
In recent years, much of Peter’s declining energy wasdevoted to looking after Margaret. Peter was diagnosedwith a serious health problem himself a few monthsago: so both of them ended up in the same care home.Our sympathies go to Margaret, his daughter Jane andson Ian.
Peter Gamble 1927 - 2020
Editor
LES Newsletter 63
3
September 2020
From Monday 10 August, until Wednesday 12 August,the East Midlands basked in some wonderful summersunshine. Daytime temperatures soared to well over30° C. The night of 12 August was exceptionallyhumid and sultry and the night-time low temperaturein our Queniborough garden (SK6412) was 17.9° C.As I sorted through the contents of my moth traps, nextmorning, I suddenly found myself looking at a plumemoth (Pterophoridae) with a most unusual posture: itswings were held forward in a broad Y shape, as shownabove.
Incredibly, a little further down inside the box was asecond, very similar, specimen. This was slightlydarker and more worn, but it adopted the same unusualpose. A quick check of the Pterophoridae illustrationsin The Field Guide to the Micro-moths of Great Britainand Ireland by Sterling and Parsons (2012) suggestedtwo possible candidates: Saltmarsh Plume or CliffPlume. Both species are coastal and used Sea Lavenderor Rock Sea Lavender as food plants. It seemedunlikely that either would be found in a moth trapalmost fifty miles from a coast of any description.
I consulted Adrian Russell and he agreed to comeround immediately to examine the specimens forhimself. In the meantime, I concentrated on obtainingsome photographs of both moths. I used imagestacking techniques to ensure that I had enough depthof field to cover the entire structure of the wings, legsand bodies. I also tried to get a low angle shot to showthe dramatic pose that they both seemed to use whenrelaxed as shown by the second specimen, below.
When Adrian arrived I opened the patio doors and hewas able to have a close look at both specimens. Hehad had some experience of the genus some years agoand he turned and said to me "Well, what else can theybe?" He had used some of the intervening time toconsult some references, including Colin Hart'sauthoritative book British Plume Moths. The situationwas even more complicated than we had first assumed.A third species, Tamarisk Plume Agdistis tamaricishad been recorded from Jersey in 2007 by MarkHammond, the County Lepidoptera Recorder forNorthants. So there were three, not two, candidates inthe frame: Saltmarsh Plume, Cliff Plume and TamariskPlume. Saltmarsh Plume Agdistis bennetii was thefavourite because Cliff Plume has a very southwesterly distribution and Tamarisk Plume has neverbeen recorded on mainland Britain. No Agdistis specieshas ever been recorded in VC55, so we were lookingat two specimens from an entirely new genus for thecounty!
With the specimens now secure and photographicdocumentation obtained, Adrian took the moths homeand began the process of precise identification. He rangme later to say that he was pretty sure that both mothswere Agdistis bennetii, but that he wanted to makefurther checks to be absolutely certain. Probably theonly person in the British Isles familiar with all threeAgdistis species is Mark Hammond: he was the manwho had found the larvae of Tamarisk Plume on Jerseyin 2007 and had reared them through to adult moths.Adrian drove down to Mark's home next morning tolet him see the moths and obtain his opinion. Markagreed with Adrian's identification. He thought thatour specimens were Saltmarsh Plume Agdistisbennetii. Adrian later emailed the information and theimages of the moths to Colin Hart, the nationalauthority on the group. The answer received wasdefinitive: Agdistis bennetii without a doubt. His bookprovided further supporting evidence: "on warmnights, especially in August, this species is prone towander and may turn up many miles from the sea".
So there we have it. The specimens were set, so as toallow proper identification and they will go into theLeicestershire Lepidoptera reference collection.
A new species belonging to a new genus has beenadded to the moth fauna of VC55. How and why twoindividuals wandered almost 50 miles inland to arrivein the same trap on the same evening is anyone's guess.
John Tinning
Saltmarsh Plume Moth new to Leicestershire
LES Newsletter 63
14
September 2020
Inspired by the exploits of Graham Finch andothers who use vacuum samplers, I bought one atthe end of January. In my case this was a Blackand Decker GWC3600L20-GB 36V Lithium-IonBlower Vacuum (Fig. 1), which I would highlyrecommend. Obviously, 2020 has not worked outthe way any of us planned, and I would like toclaim my purchase was due to pre-pandemicprescience. In reality the timing was just goodluck as my new noisy orange friend has been aconstant companion during lockdown. A fewtentative trial runs during February revealed what I hadhoped - even in February floods a vacuum samplerproduces far more entomological nuggets than monthsof conventional sampling methods.
I had spiders in mind when I acquired the Black andDecker, and lots of lovely Linyphiidae are now filedaway awaiting my attention - they are my futurelockdown insurance policy. It was not long before Igot sucked in to a project organized by BritishArachnological Society, members which becameknown as the Lockdown Sucks Challenge. Sevenarachnologists from Cornwall to Scotland vacuumsampled their garden lawns for a timed 120 secondsonce a week. A total of 69 species of spider in 14families were recorded in the nine week period of thestudy (Lockdown Sucks. An enforced survey of gardenlawns - in press).
Like all sampling methods with the exception ofpheromone lures, vacuum samplers are not taxonspecific. I was delighted to find that the seeminglyviolent process of being sucked into a nylon strainerbag not only produced a wide range of specimens fromspringtails to crickets, but also that in almost all casesthese were miraculously undamaged. Late wintersamples produced plenty of Lygaeid ground bugs,which I habitually record when sifting leaf litter forspiders and springtails. As the weather warmed up thediversity of Hemiptera expanded dramatically, and forthe past few months I have been seriously distractedby Mirid bugs and leafhoppers.
2020 sucks -one man and his leaf blower
A brief lockdown interregnum allowed a trip toOwston, which produced several specimens of theMirid Bug Stenodema holsata, new to VC55 (Fig. 2).Even more surprising were specimens of Apple BrownBug Atractotomus mali, from a Leicester allotment inJune when Leicester was locked down again. There isonly one previous record of this species from VC55,taken at Ketton in 1999. Why a bug which feeds onApple and Hawthorn but which also has carnivoroustendencies and a cosmopolitan distribution has notbeen recorded more frequently is a mystery to me.After lockdown, I was off to Lyddington Meadow likea cork out of a bottle on my annual pilgrimage to lookfor Wasp Spiders Argiope bruennichi. Sadly the sitehad been mown flat in July before I was able to getthere, but the banks of the Welland produced aspecimen of Anoscopus serratulae - new to VC55 (Fig.3). A productive trip to Bardon Hill in August to
vacuum the heather produced a specimen of Orthotylusericetorum, which is apparently new to VC55 (Fig. 4),and Anaceratagallia venosa - one possible record fromMountsorrel in 2011.
Fig. 1: Black and Decker GWC3600L20-GB 36V Lithium-Ion Blower.
Fig. 2: Mirid bug Stenodema holsata.
Fig. 3: Leafhopper Anoscopus serratulae.
LES Newsletter 63
15
September 2020
Looking for help?
The following are willing to act as an initial point ofcontact for providing advice and information tomembers.
Arachnids (Mites & Ticks):- Ivan Pedley, 48Woodlands Drive, Groby, Leicester LE6 0BQ. 0116287 6886. [email protected]
The vacuum sampler has been worth its weight in gold.Although it is far less noisy, heavy and smelly than theoriginal two-stroke D-Vacs, it is a shame it is not assilent in operation as a sweep net, but you cannot haveeverything. Two or three one minute samples fromlikely looking patches produces more material than Ican identify and record in a week. My freezer runnethover.
Fig. 4: Mirid bug Orthotylus
Alan [email protected]
An area of land in Sapcote (SP493935) which was set aside afterthe development of a new housing estate has produced a bumper
Graham Calow
Editorial
The sad news of Peter Gamble’s death arrived as theNewsletter was nearly finished, so the Editorial hasbeen displaced to the back of this edition. Peter willbe greatly missed, particularly by those of us inLoughborough Naturalists’ Club - the words “end ofan era” come to mind.
The Covid-19 pandemic has suppressed or restrictedmany activities, fortunately insect-hunting was notoutlawed and many members seem to have been busierthan usual. We are treated to several wide-ranging andwell-illustrated accounts of what they have found. Thecontinuing enthusiasm for moth recording has againturned up a new vice-county record, a species thatought to be in a saltmarsh (p. 3). The fact that twoindividuals turned up in John Tinning’s trap makes mewonder if they have emerged from a garden plant orfloral display involving Limonium. Yet anotherLepidoptera book has been published, this time oncaterpillars (reviewed on p. 8).
Garden blowers have proliferated in the last few years,a triumph of marketing over common sense (wemanaged with a simple brush previously) - but set thedevice into reverse and it becomes genuinely useful(p. 14). Cookery is only occasionally covered in theNewsletter (woodlouse sauce was once mentioned),but in this edition celebrity chef Paul Palmerrecommends a recipe (p. 4), along with hints on howbest to present it to the diners without getting into asticky mess.
Thank you to all contributors.
Steve Woodward
crop of Wild Carrot, which in turn is providing a refuge for theuncommon longhorn beetle Paracorymbia fulva (sometimesknown as the Tawny Longhorn Beetle). It was noted on severaloccasions between the 14 and 28 July 2020. On one visit I notednine individuals so it seems to be thriving in this area.
Longhorn beetleat Sapcote
LES Newsletter 63
16
September 2020
Indoor Meetings Programme
Ray Morris, LES Chair
The current Covid-19 situation is making life difficultfor many. The latest Government instructions onnumbers that can meet together has resulted inmeetings of groups, such as the LES, being impossibleto be held. In addition, the room we use at KirbyMuxloe Free Church would not allow social distancingeven if there was no limit on the number that can meet(currently six). Accordingly, it is with regret that theWinter programme of the LES cannot go ahead for the2020-2021 season.
However
This does not mean that recording cannot continue -even small group recording would seem to bepermissible at this time. So you are encouraged to keep
Arachnids (Opiliones, Harvestmen): - Ray Morris,see page 2.
Arachnids (Spiders):- Paul [email protected].
Arachnids (Pseudoscorpions):- Ed Darby 01509569670 [email protected]
Biological Recording:- Sue Timms, Leics &Rutland Environmental Records Centre; Room 400,County Hall, Glenfield LE3 8RA. 0116 [email protected]
Chilopoda:- Helen Ikin, 237 Forest Road,Woodhouse, Woodhouse Eaves, Leics LE12 8TZ.01509 890102. [email protected]
Coleoptera:- Graham Finch, 14 Thorndale, Ibstock,Leics. LE67 6JT: [email protected]
Collembola: Alan Cann, 17 Overdale Road,Leicester LE2 3YJ. [email protected] Onlineidentification guides:https://collembolla.blogspot.com/p/identification-guides.html
Diplopoda:- Helen Ikin (see Chilopoda).
Diptera (Some families):- Ray Morris (see page 2).
Diptera (Nematocera - Mosquitoes, Blackflies &Craneflies):- John Kramer, 31 Ash Tree Road,Oadby, Leicester LE2 5TE. 0116 271 [email protected]
Hymenoptera (Symphyta - Sawflies):- DaveNicholls, 69-71 Church Lane, Ratby, LE6 [email protected]
Hymenoptera (Bumblebees):- Maggie Frankum,see page 2.
Hymenoptera (Other aculeates - Bees, Wasps &Ants):- Helen Ikin (see Chilopoda).
Hemiptera:- Dave Budworth, see page 2.
Isopoda (Woodlice):- Helen Ikin (see Chilopoda).
Lepidoptera:- County Moth Recorder Team:[email protected]
Mecoptera, Neuroptera, Plecoptera :- SteveWoodward, see page 2.
Mollusca: - Dave Nicholls (see Hymenoptera(Symphyta)).
Odonata:- Ian Merrill [email protected]
Orthoptera:- Helen Ikin, see Chilopoda.
Plant Galls:- Maggie Frankum, see page 2.
Psocoptera:- Helen Ikin, see Chilopoda.
Thysanoptera: - Ivan Pedley, see Arachnids - Mites.
Trichoptera (adults):- Ray Morris, see page 2.
an eye open for insects! Anything of interest can bepassed on to members through the LES Newsletter and"Lockdown Snippets" - both are effective ways formembers to be kept in contact. Don't forget thatdetailed reports of any survey work can also appear aspart of the LES Occasional Publications Series.
It is also unlikely that the LES AGM will happen thisyear although it is intended that Committee reports willbe circulated by email.
Keep in contact!
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