42
Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 45
COMMENTS AND NOTES ON SOME SUFFOLK MOTHS IN 2008 A. W. PRICHARD Before considering the moth recording season of 2008 there are a couple of records from 2007 not yet listed in the Society’s Transactions that it would be rather amiss to omit. Both of these records are for species new to Britain recorded first in Suffolk. The first species was the tortrix Cymolomia hartigiana (Saxesen) caught at MV light at Bawdsey on 17 July 2007 (MD), with the identification confirmed by Jon Clifton using genitalia determination. On the Continent this species feeds on Silver Fir Abies alba and Norway Spruce Picea abies and the adult moth is on the wing from June to early August. This particular individual is likely to be of migrant origin although there is always the possibility it is a recent colonist. The second species, Nemapogon falstriella (Haas), was recorded as an adult at Ipswich Golf Course on 8 August 2007 (Sherman & Clifton, 2009, Plate 14). After an initial tentative identification of Psychoides filicivora (Meyrick) Jon Clifton examined the genitalia and consulted the Natural History Museum, where it was determined by Martin Honey and Gaden Robinson to be N. falstriella. This is a rarely recorded species in Europe and its life history is little known although related species feed as larvae on fungi and stored foodstuffs. The exact origin of this individual remains a mystery as there is no evidence to suggest that it arrived with any imported material. Overall, the recording season for 2008 seems to have been rather mixed based on the reports I have received from recorders within the county – some reported good results while others reported a very poor year. Most of the early season through to early summer was a mixture of cold or wet nights and general results were well below average. Conditions for recording improved for most of July and August, but the summer recording season ended rather abruptly when September started with a run of cold wet nights. A rather unexpected addition to the county list was Trifurcula squamatella Stainton, a rare and quite elusive species over its known distribution in Britain and Europe. The moth was found as part of a series of moths from Martlesham Heath caught by SG and dissected by JC. This individual was caught on the night of 28 August. The biology of this species is not well understood (Nieukerken, van, 1987), it has been found as an adult around Broom Cytisus scoparius but the larvae have yet to be found on the plant. The closely related and similar looking Trifurcula immundella (Zeller) is a relatively common leaf-miner of Broom that as a larva forms mines in the ends of the stems. It appears that T. squamatella must feed in some other part of the plant as mines in the ends of stems collected do not yield T. squamatella. I understand that since the determination of this record other Suffolk specimens of Trifurcula from the east Ipswich area have been re-determined as T. squamatella but details of these records have not been made available to me. Two other new microlepidoptera species to the county were recorded from the nearby Ipswich Golf Course during 2008. These were initially recorded and identified by NS, with later confirmation of the determination carried out by genitalia examination by JC. The first of the species is Ectoedemia atrifrontella (Stainton) on 28 August, recorded as an adult at light. This small
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 45 (2009)