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Spring 2007 - Click to download the pdf. Note that this file is 1MB.

2006 Newsletter:

Editorial :

Well it has undoubtedly been one of the most memorable years ever in Sussex for lepidoptera. Starting with the capture of an Orange Upperwing, which may mean that this species is not extinct in England after all, and continuing through the summer and autumn with the incredible numbers of immigrant moths, with even us deprived inlanders sharing in the bounty! Was it a freak one-off year, caused by particularly suitable weather conditions for immigration, or is it a sign of things to come?

With the advent of the Macro-moth Recording Scheme comes the tricky issue of how to get decent coverage of those species such as the Common Rustics, Daggers, Minors and Autumnal Moths that cannot be safely identified on external features. I know that most recorders in Sussex are unable or unwilling to dissect but it would be a shame if there were a big white gap on the maps in Sussex! Consequently I am willing to offer to examine material of these species until each has been recorded in a particular 10km square. I can do male Daggers and Autumnal Moths alive so these can be brought along to any meeting that I’m at and done there and then. The others can only be identified by full dissection. I appreciate that there are some people who are unwilling to kill any moth but everyone gets natural casualties so do please hang on to any individuals that are already dead. Please also be reasonable, both to the moths and to me, by only taking a small selection of specimens from any one site at any one time!

All specimens should be accompanied by full data of where (including grid reference), when and by whom they were caught. This information should be on or in the container with the moths, not in accompanying paperwork that will inevitably become separated from the moths!

There are various comments in this newsletter about poor attendance at field meetings. Obviously it is entirely up to each member whether they come to our meetings, and with such a long distance across the two counties it is inevitable that each meeting will be too far away for some people to contemplate attending. However we are concerned that we may not be providing the sort of meetings that the membership wants so please give us some feedback! Alternatively, why not run a meeting yourself? It is not an arduous task and you don’t need to be an expert. It is really just a case of arranging permission with the landowner and guaranteeing to be there on the night to show people around (although a replacement leader can usually be found in emergencies). We will be arranging the 2007 programme at the 12th February indoor meeting but if you aren’t coming to that you can send details to me beforehand. It would be great to see some new sites and new faces leading meetings next year!

Thanks to all who have contributed to this newsletter. I would welcome contributions for the spring newsletter at any time and from anyone (you don’t need to be asked!). Anything to do with moths would, I am sure, be of interest to other members. This newsletter contains a piece from David Burrows about the excitement of the late summer and I’m sure that other people will have similar experiences to share. However, please add a bit of flavour as David has done; bland lists of what you caught tend to be a bit dull if you weren’t there to see the moths!

Tony Davis

RARE MOTHS IN SUSSEX DURING 2006

By Colin R. Pratt, F.R.E.S., County Recorder of Butterflies and Moths for East and West Sussex

THE MIGRANT SPECIES

Modern-day hunters of rare moths are living during uniquely extraordinary times. Migrant species which 30 years ago were deemed scarce here – for example, the White-point Mythimna albipuncta, L-album Wainscot M. l-album, Scarce Bordered Straw Heliothis armigera, Flame Wainscot Senta flammea, and Red-necked Footman Atolmis rubricollis - are now commonplace in some parts of the county. Moreover, the trend is accelerating. In Sussex, 2004 was the most action-packed season for the arrival of rare migrating moths from the continent ever - but events during 2006 exceeded even that. The quality and quantity of this year’s migrants can be judged by the number of new vice-county and all-Sussex records. After more than 150 years of intensive entomological recording, there were six moths completely new to Sussex, five of which were primary immigrants. These were, a Passenger Dysgonia algira at St Leonards, the Splendid Brocade Lacanobia splendens at Icklesham, Beautiful Marbled Eublemma purpurina at Findon, Porter’s Rustics Athetis hospes at Bexhill and Icklesham, and an Eastern Bordered Straw Heliothis nubigera at Crowborough. In addition, the first eastern vice-county records of the Pyralid Antigastra catalaunalis were made at Peacehaven, Hurst Green, Beckley, and Icklesham, of Catoptria verellus at Bexhill, and of the macro Oak Processionary Thaumetopoea processionea at Icklesham again. Meanwhile, there were more new moths in West Sussex, such as the Pyralids Spoladea recurvalis at Warnham and Agrotera nemoralis at Walberton, and the Scarce Silver Y Syngrapha interrogationis at Edburton and Walberton.

Other once-in-a-lifetime encounters were also made with the Sussex Emerald Thalera fimbrialis at Hastings, the Gypsy Lymantria dispar at Heathfield and Paynes Green, an Orache Trachea atriplicis at Icklesham, a Flame Brocade Trigonophora flammea at Ferring, at Dusky Hook-tip Drepana curvatula at Hastings, a Lunar Double-stripe Minucia lunaris and an Alchymist Catephia alchymista at Bexhill, a Pretty Marbled Lithacodia deceptoria at Arundel, Silver-striped Hawk Hippotion celerio and Small Marbled Eublemma parva at Walberton, the Pyralid Euchromius ocellea at Peacehaven, Red Swordgrass Xylena vetusta at Warnham, Dewick’s Plusia Macdunnoughia confusa at Chichester and Icklesham, Crimson Speckled Utetheisa pulchella at Findon, Wadhurst, Eastbourne, and Hastings, Angle-striped Sallow Enargia paleacea at Hurst Green and Ditchling, and Bloxworth Snout Hypena obsitalis at Peacehaven and Worthing. Even the fabled Death’s Head Hawk Acherontia atropos came to light at Brede.

More Scarce Bordered Straw Heliothis armigera and Delicate Mythimna vitellina were seen in Sussex during 2006 than had been totalled during the previous 150 years. The Striped Hawk Hyles livornica had its best season here since 1949, while four Clifden Nonpareil’s Catocala fraxini were also counted this year – at Brede, Ticehurst, Fontwell, and Icklesham - this equalling the all-time record made in 1868. Most observers sighted the day-flying Humming-bird Hawk Macroglossum stellatarum at some time during the season, although numbers did not reach those enjoyed in 2003.

The sixth fresh species to Sussex during 2006 is an apparently new colonist to the whole of southern England and so is therefore potentially one of our most important records of all. Dozens of the pale grey Tortrix Acleris logiana appeared at Warnham this year after being disturbed from birch Betula spp. woodland. This insect was previously almost exclusively only known from northern Scotland but in recent years a few odd specimens have begun turning up elsewhere. The rogue specimens are presumed to have been primary immigrants from northern Europe, where the species closest colonies to Sussex are established. Our Warnham record suggests local residency.

THE NATIVE SPECIES

It has just been shown by the Rothamsted Insect Survey that over the past few decades the volume of moths nationally in flight has fallen by almost a third. This serious decrease was first brought to public notice after an analysis of 31 years of nightly research into a total of more than 800,000 moths had been carried out at Peacehaven, the results being published in 1999 in “A Revised History of the Butterflies and Moths of Sussex”. The results from 2006 show that this trend of decline is also continuing, with this season being the worst for numbers here since 1985. For scarce native species in Sussex the year of 2006 again proved a run-of-the-mill affair. The most notable event concerned the fresh detection of the tree-boring Goat moth Cossus cossus at Icklesham - a species in serious danger of extinction in the county, last seen in 1998. Other important events included the discovery of the fruit-tree-boring Red-belted Clearing Synanthedon myopaeformis at Lodsworth and Donnington - along with a previous sighting at Warnham, these are our only known 21st century colonies - a football-sized nest of Small Eggar Eriogaster lanestris caterpillars at Firle, while the Drab Looper Minoa murinata was seen at West Dean and Arundel, these being the first county records since 1997. In addition to the previously mentioned sighting of the Red Swordgrass Xylena vetusta at Warnham, the moth was also seen again at Walberton – but here it seems to have been resident since at least 2002. The last time Sussex could boast of such a colony was during the 1940’s. All of these insects are nationally Notable B.

Of nationally Notable Group A species, a dozen larvae of the Striped Lychnis Shargacucullia lychnitis were counted at Singleton, and the Pale-lemon Sallow Xanthia ocellaris turned up in the Arundel and Hastings areas. The Triangle Heterogenea asella, a Red Data Book class 3 insect, continued to colonise the extreme east and west of the county. The most important capture of all, an Orange Upperwing Jodia croceago (RDB class 2), is a species which is almost, or quite, nationally extinct.

The most significant small-sized micro-moths recorded this year included the recent colonist of horse chestnut tree leaves Aesculus hippocastanum, Cameraria ohridella, which was freshly found at Brighton and Worthing, while the second ever West Sussex sightings of Ethmia bipunctella and Teleiodes flavimaculella, and the first all-Sussex record of Gypsonoma minutana, were made in the Arundel district. Specimens of the nationally rare moths Acleris umbrana were also confirmed at Brede, and Cydia amplana at East Grinstead and Icklesham. Some of these particular moths probably originated from abroad, although which ones is open to debate.

THE MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA IN SUSSEX by Colin R. Pratt

The recording of micro moths in Sussex has been distinctly episodic. While some insect families are accessible, some of these groups are rightly considered to be difficult to deal with. As with many other moth enthusiasts, after spending almost 60 years looking at the Sussex butterflies and moths, aside from the Pyralid and Plumes, I know almost nothing about them. The earliest known dated records were those made by one Henry Cooke, who ran a "shawl and mantle warehouse" at Brighton at the middle of the 19th century. Cooke was one of the most well-known and successful of the early Brighton collectors and on May 6th 1848 he walked over the downs from his home in West Street to the Holmbush (opposite Shaves Wood, Albourne) and caught Nematopogon swammerdamella and Adela reaumurella. A number of local lists were then compiled in Sussex during the last half of that century, this culminating with the publication of an annotated county-wide list in the Victoria County History of 1905. The practise of collecting moths in Sussex then petered out and, aside from a single list drawn up between the wars, at Eastbourne, almost no further coherent research was undertaken into our micros for approaching three-quarters of a century. During the mid 1970’s John Radford started his nightly work on both the macros and the micros at Walberton, this continuing until the present day. At the same time in the eastern vice-county, Mark Parsons also started looking into the smaller moths in the Eastbourne area. Little then changed until the mid 1990’s when a new generation of enthusiasts started recording, this including some members of the then newly formed Sussex Moth Group. Recorders had been helped by the publication of excellent identification books – “British Tortricoid Moths” by Bradley, Tremewan, and Smith, during the 1970’s (now available as a CD Rom), and the families from the Nepticulidae to the Lithocolletinae in the first two volumes of MBGBI a little later. In 1999 a start was made on collating the Sussex micro records when all known sightings of the Pyralids and Plumes were published alongside the macros in “A Revised Edition of the History of the Butterflies and Moths of Sussex”. But, since the change into the new millennium, more micro-moths have been identified in the county than has been the case for 100 years. After a huge amount of work, in late 2005 Sarah Patton produced the first pan-Sussex register of all of the micros since 1905. A sufficient number of local moth enthusiasts now accurately record these species such that we currently have a great chance to carry Sarah’s work forward – with the help of experts, I’m currently collating all of the Sussex micro records made since 1848 into a comprehensive annotated list to be published in several years time. So, if you do see a tiny moth that you haven’t seen before, don’t push it aside for a Striped Hawk H. livornica, show it to John Radford, Dr Julian Clarke, or Sarah Patton, for identification, and send the record on – it could be a new county record!

FIELD MEETING REPORTS

Rewell Wood – 28th May daytime meeting

Our first experiment with a diurnal meeting, at least in recent years. The target was Drab Looper which was historically known from a number of woods in the Arundel area but does not seem to have been recorded in the county for a few years. Much to my amazement, the sun did shine so we actually stood a chance of seeing the target moth and sure enough we netted one rather worn individual. Recent management work has resulted in a profusion of the larval foodplant, Wood Spurge, and it is perhaps surprising that the moth was not commoner. I suspect that this may be because the amount of foodplant was greatly reduced until recently and the moth has not yet responded to the management that has taken place. Hopefully we will see increased numbers in subsequent years.

The species list for the afternoon was far smaller than would have been the case for a nocturnal meeting but in addition to the Drab Looper, Little Thorn was new to several people and everyone agreed that it was an enjoyable meeting and that we should have other diurnal meetings in the future. Footnote: Drab Looper was also found in numbers at a site in the far west of the county during 2006 and I managed to find it hanging on at a site in Kent where it has not been seen for 25 years. It is certainly worth looking at sites with a profusion of Wood Spurge, during late May and early June.

Tony Davis

Rewell Wood – 10th June

The purpose of this meeting was to search for the tiny Gelechid Teleiodes flavimaculella which has only been seen in Britain four times; two of these occasions being in Rewell. Searches by John Langmaid and myself in recent years have been unsuccessful but news that Brian Elliott had recorded the species some distance north of our usual trapping area during 2005 gave us renewed hope and sure enough, two specimens were caught. The other micro of particular note was the larch-feeding Tortricid Cydia indivisa which was caught in large numbers. Colin Hart came along as he had never trapped at Rewell before. I therefore suggested that he trapped in the traditional area, rather than joining us at the northern end of the wood. As well as typical Rewell specialities such as Scarce Merveille du Jour, Colin was rewarded with a Pretty Marbled, the first West Sussex record and caught under ‘my’ tree!!

Tony Davis

Hastings Country Park – 1st July

This was another new venue for the group after being invited by Andy Phillips. The site and night looked very promising, being of unique habitat in Sussex with heathland weald geology running up to the coast. Although the weather was good the turn out was rather poor with only four members although Andy also ran a trap and Norman Hall who traps here regularly also joined us with a couple of traps.

The target species was Olive Crescent, with a couple being caught here in 2005 we hoped to find some more. We were also hoping to reach 200 species for the night with the potential of seeing some migrants as well. The evening started off well with lots of moths on the wing and almost the first being a superb Lilac Beauty. Festoon then inundated us at all traps. A couple of the site specialities then showed themselves with three Cloaked Carpet in separate traps and one Sharp-angled Carpet. Andy also caught a very late, but very fresh, May Highflyer. Two Red-necked Footman were seen, as were two Shark and a single Grey Arches, but no Olive Crescent! As far as migrants, all traps caught Diamond-back Moth (a good year for this species), only a couple of Silver Y and probably the last moth of the night, a single Pearly Underwing. This was very poor for migrants, but probably a bit early in the season and in total we saw 169 species.

Hastings Country Park has got the possibility of being a great moth site and hopefully we will be doing another field meeting here next year.

Sam Bayley

Beckley Woods – 8th July and other disasters!

Usually the most popular field meeting of the year and so it proved again in 2006 despite my best efforts to put people off coming! Was I just being unsociable? No, the reason for trying to put people off was that just before the meeting, David Burrows discovered that the Forestry Commission had changed the combination of the padlock on the gate so we couldn’t get vehicles into the site. Despite this, we persevered and managed to record many of the target species such as Olive Crescent, Clay Fan-foot and Scarce Merveille du Jour. I placed my traps to target Dusky Peacock, one of which was caught here last year, but without success. I am still suspicious that the 2005 specimen arrived in Sean Clancy’s trap!

Sadly this was not the only problem with access during the year. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust kindly didn’t bother to turn up for our meeting on 19th August so no-one could get in to the site (we will be writing to tell them what we think of their public relations!) and the event at Pagham Harbour on 30th September was defeated by a jack-knifed lorry blocking the only road down to Church Norton. Hopefully everything will run much more smoothly in 2007!

Tony Davis

Woolbeding Common – 15th July

As far as I know, no trapping has ever been done at this heathland site before so I thought it would be interesting to see what was there. The date was chosen on the slight chance that we might get Clay Fan-foot in the small Sweet Chestnut copse in the middle of the site.

Some visitors from the Lincolnshire branch of Butterfly Conservation bolstered the small number of members who attended and no doubt they were pleased to see some moths as presumably they don’t get any up there!! Traps were sited along the border of the heathland and secondary woodland and also in the Sweet Chestnut copse. Most traps produced something of interest but it was surprising how much the catch in different traps varied. Highlights included good numbers of Waved Carpet and single Clay Fan-foot and Triangle, both of which turned up in the chestnut copse after everyone except Sarah Patton and I had left! It was good to see that the gorse-feeding pyralid Pempelia genistella was well established on the site. This species was formerly restricted to the coast but has spread rapidly inland in the last few years.

Tony Davis

Pheasant Copse, Petworth Park - 28th April and 21st July

This was the first time that the moth group had had a field meeting in this well known 50 acre woodland and the hopes were quite high for the possibilities of what might be found.

The target species for the April meet was Marbled Pug, an oak woodland species that has only ever been recorded in Sussex at this site. Unfortunately, only four members turned up for the meeting and we decided to focus our efforts in the North-west corner that seemed to have the most mature oak woodland. As we set up we were amazed at the amount of Wood Spurge that was growing along the rides (a possible place to look for Drab Looper in the future) and the presence of a number of Woodcock and a Barn Owl was a nice addition. Unfortunately, the sky was very clear and it got cold very quickly and by about 11pm the moths had stopped flying, so Tony showed us the intricacies of the micro-moth family Pyschidae of which we managed to find the cases of three members on the surrounding tree trunks Taleporia tubulosa, Luffia lapidella and Psyche casta.

In the end we didn’t find Marbled Pug, but out of the 23 species we did record the best was a very fresh White-marked, which was a new species for most, certainly in Sussex.

The target species for the July meeting was Light Crimson Underwing (where this was the last place of residence in Sussex) and Devon Carpet (only recorded once in Sussex at this site). The turnout for this meeting was very disappointing with only six members coming along, although we still managed to have 10 traps set out. The night was quite warm, but there weren’t the masses of moths that were expected with pretty good weather, but out of the 178 species recorded, we did have some interesting finds. A single Horse Chestnut and a single Pretty Chalk Carpet were very interesting discoveries considering that the site is nowhere near heathland or chalk. Nationally scarce species were well represented with the beautiful Waved Black seen in four traps, the Mocha seen in two traps and at least 3 Kent Black Arches.

Probably the most exciting find was a single White-line Snout in my trap (Hooray) with which Tony did the honours and played with its bits. Interestingly, Simon managed to get a large collection of Synaphe punctalis to his light which was on the edge of the wood which weren’t seen at any other trap except for a stray that got to Valerie’s. The only migrant that was caught were about 10 Diamond-back Moth. Unfortunately, no Light Crimson Underwing even though Tony did try some wine ropes and no Devon Carpet although a couple of Small Phoenix did try our patience. Saying this, we were treated to a showing of Bats in the hand by Dan Whitby who lives nearby. His Heart trapping at the park has caught no less than 14 species. Of the species he showed us there was a Bechstein’s, Barbastelle, Whiskered and Brown Long-eared to name just a few, no wonder promissa didn’t survive!

The next day Sarah and I put on the first Sussex Moth Group educational event at Petworth House, showing off some of the moths that we caught. It was a great success with around 100 people visiting our gazebo between 11 am and 1 pm, with which some had specifically come from as far as west Hampshire to find out about moths; Sarah found it her duty, and rightly so, to give them contacts for the Hampshire Moth Group. Petworth House were very welcoming and were even able to supply a fridge for the moths while outside. We have already been asked to do another one next year which I have accepted. Hopefully we may have more luck with our targets next year.

Sam Bayley

Sandgate Park, Storrington – 29th July

Unfortunately, nobody turned up for this event. So I went home!

Sam Bayley

Sussex Police Training Area, Kingstanding, Ashdown Forest – 8th September

This was the groups third visit to the area and we were hoping to find a heathland speciality – the Heath Rustic. When I arrived, there were already several members in the gatehouse enjoying the tea and biscuits that we’ve become so used to on visits to this site!

The night wasn’t very conducive to moth trapping, being clear with a cool wind and a full moon. Nevertheless, nine members plus Steve Wheatley of Sussex Police (our host) and myself walked the area and eventually seven traps were set up, together with a sugar run and wine ropes.

Moths began to arrive albeit slowly due, I suspect, to the weather. However two of our members were pleased to see the first of three Neglected Rustics for the first time, which turned up quite early. The sugar run was checked throughout the night but apart from a Pinion-streaked Snout, all that was found were Large Yellow Underwings, Angle Shades and a Copper Underwing.

News filtered through later that a Heath Rustic had been caught, along with two Autumnal Rustics (not at the traps I expected them to appear at; shows you how wrong you can be with the siting of a trap!). Another Heath Rustic was caught at the same trap a little later.

We stayed hoping for more but the wind picked up halfway through the night and little else came to the lights so we began to pack up at 23.30hrs. Everybody seemed happy with the night in spite of the weather and one or two members suggested a spring meeting there, in April perhaps.

A total of 25 macro species were caught, together with 5 pyralids and a plume. Two bats were present over the traps in the early evening; one large and one a lot smaller. So far the group has found 166 species at this site, with plenty more to find I reckon.

Dennis Dey

Seven Weeks in 2006

On the twelfth of September Keith Alexander phoned to tell me that Mark Tunmore in Cornwall had recorded 40 Convolvulus Hawk-moths in one night. 2006 already had the makings of a special moth year – even to one with only local contacts and no internet or e-mail. Earlier in August, I had drooled over a splendid Clifden Nonpareil at the Dungeness Bird Observatory and seen my first live Passenger.

At home in the far east of East Sussex, I had missed out on the ‘invasion’ of Great Brocade in early August that everyone else seemed to have, but later in that month a Convolvulus Hawk-moth arrived and two days later a Cosmopolitan. Things were happening.

So: - number one daughter lives in Beckley and has Scarce Merveille du Jour, Clay Fan-foot, Red-necked Footman, Olive Crescent, etc. in her garden; number two daughter lives in the Brede Valley (and four miles from the coast at Hastings) so a single 125w Robinson trap was run there on all but five nights from September 12th to October 31st. The downside of the site is a healthy Hornet population with up to 14 every night!

On the first night at Brede the migrant pyrale Loxostege sticticalis (formerly Margaritia) turned up. From then to the end of October, migrant species were recorded every night, often in numbers and included 30 Convolvulus Hawk-moths (surely ‘the year of the Convolvulus’) at up to three per night. To avoid re-recording, all were boxed up and released at home, four miles north of there.

The numbers of Delicate seem to suggest local breeding, with 114 altogether. Scarce Bordered Straw and Vestal totalled 30 of each. There were 26 Gem, with 11 on the night of October 18th (when there were also 57 Nomophila noctuella). Seven Four-spotted Footman (all males) and seven Clancy’s Rustic were also in that magical period. Unusually, Dark Sword-grass and Silver Y, the traditional migration indicators, were in short supply. There was great excitement on September 16th – a huge but badly ‘hornet-shredded’ Clifden Nonpareil.

Pyrales were very much in evidence over the six weeks – some of them rare or notable. When Antigastra catalaunalis turned up on September 20th I telephoned Colin Pratt who said that he’d had a couple and another had been taken at Wadhurst. I then had a second one (at Icklesham on NMN) and three more at Brede! On September 28th Spoladea recurvalis (formerly Hymenia) showed up, with a second of that species on October 18th. Another special pyralid (on October 10th) was Diasemiopsis ramburialis, again followed by a second on 13th. The very beautiful Palpita vitrealis appeared five times and there were 20 Ostrinia nubilalis all told.

Now there are some dates in life that one never forgets. The nineteenth of October 2006 will be one such; it marked the arrival, at Brede, of that ‘moth-ers’ Holy Grail Acherontia atropos, the Death’s Head Hawk-moth – the ultimate ‘lifetime first’. On going through the trap next morning after a lurid sky at sunset the previous night with lightening and rain, a very noisy night, with strong southerly winds, I realised that there were actually fewer moths inside the trap than on and amongst the surrounding vegetation. The overall total of moths that night was only 34, against 158 the night before. After a second (or third) check round before I packed things away, I peered behind the water butt against the garage wall and hollered the proverbial ‘EUREKA’!! I then had to physically shift the butt to get the moth!

Post Script Besides what must have been a record year for migrants, the 2006 season also threw up some odd second / third brood examples: September 18th and 27th – Marbled White Spot. September 21st - a perfect White Admiral butterfly supping ivy blossom in the garden, also Short-cloaked Moth. September 22nd and 30th – Oncocera semirubella. September 23rd – on NMN a Swallow-tailed Moth and Dingy Footman caught with a Mottled Umber. September 27th – Dingy Shell September 28th – Dark Arches and Rosy Footman, with the latter on three other dates to 25th October. Buff Footman on five dates between 28th September and 11th October. October 15th – Dwarf Cream Wave. October 23rd – Peacock Moth. October 26th – Buff-tip October 28th – Two fresh Blood-veins

David Burrows

A New Species for Sussex

With this amazing year for immigrants coming from far and wide onto our shores, I was hoping that this could be the year that I catch a new species for Sussex or possibly Britain. Although I have caught some great moths this year, I didn’t trap anything new for county or country.

But, on 21st October, I had just started up a group of volunteers to do some birch thinning at Warnham Local Nature Reserve and after a short while I noticed a few little white moths flying off the birch trees when they got disturbed and settling on the next. At first I thought that they were Depressariinae, but then realised that they were in fact Tortrix moths. Within about 20 minutes I must have seen about 30 of these moths and managed to pot three of them (receiving some very strange looks from my party).

As soon as I got back I logged onto to UKmoths and almost straight away found it, Acleris logiana, or had I. The information started saying that it was resident in birch woodland in the Scottish Highlands, but then went on to say that it has been found a couple of times in the South-east in recent years.

I started to get quite excited and contacted Tony to source some information. I was interested to learn that there had been only a handful of records in the South-east all of individuals coming to light traps - two in Surrey and singles in Essex, Hampshire and Berkshire, but not Sussex. These records being so widespread seem to imply that these are migrants from the continent that might be looking to set up shop in Blighty. This is the first time that more than occasional individuals have been found and is almost certainly a breeding site. This area will be looked at again in Spring 2007 as their flight season is from September to April.

Sam Bayley

REQUEST FOR MOTH TRAPPING A request for moth-trapping amongst the mixed habitats on two large farm estates near Mayfield has been received. Environmental surveys are being undertaken at Rolf’s Farm at Mayfield (map reference TQ614271) and at Maplesden Farm at Stonegate (TQ653288). While a little moth prospecting has been performed here, only the surface has been scratched. For further details please contact Colin Reader at colinreader@onetel.com, or telephone 01435 810446.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON SUSSEX HORNETS, STAG BEETLES, AND THE ROSE CHAFER The yellow and black banded Hornet (Vespa crabro), the charismatic great Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus), and the brilliantly-coloured iridescent-green day-flying Rose Chafer beetle (Cetonia aurata), all have volatile status histories in Sussex and during recent decades the first two mentioned have been colonising the county. Their progress is being charted and any records of these two species, from any era, would therefore be of great interest. Please contact Colin Pratt, at 5, View Road, Peacehaven, East Sussex, BN10 80E. Telephone 01273 586780. E-mail: colin.pratt@talk21.com

REQUEST FOR MIGRANT LEPIDOPTERA RECORDS Will the recorders of migrant moths please be kind enough to let me know about their sightings, as these are collated county-wide and forwarded to the national authorities for the UK-wide summary published in the Entomologist’s Record. A grand annual total of the number of Humming-bird Hawks seen by each enthusiast would also be very useful as 2006 has numerically been the most advantageous in Sussex since 1947. Please contact Colin Pratt, at 5, View Road, Peacehaven, East Sussex, BN10 80E. Telephone 01273 586780. E-mail: colin.pratt@talk21.com

Gypsy Moth on the Sussex/Surrey Border

First thing on Saturday 5th August, I got an elated phone call from Wes Attridge saying that he thought that he had caught something of interest that night. So he came over and produced an almost immaculate male Gypsy Moth. Wes had caught the moth using a homemade 15-watt actinic trap in his garden between Warnham and Ockley right on the Sussex/Surrey border.

The next day, I took the moth to Warnham Local Nature Reserve to show and got postings put out on the Internet and pager services for people to come and see it over the next two days. This proved very popular; with about 80 people coming to see it from as far as west Hampshire and a group of people even came from Gloucester! Obviously a species many people want to see.

If accepted as a Sussex record this will be the first for Sussex since one in Ringmer in 1960 (pers. comm. Colin Pratt).

Sam Bayley

Editorial note : But it was in Surrey Sam! Close but no cigar!!

Musings from Marley

I’ve always been a bit of a ‘square-basher’! By the time I became reasonably competent at moth identification I was living in north-east Hampshire and Barry Goater, the County Recorder, was working towards an updated atlas for the county. As Barry had been extremely helpful to me I felt I owed it to him to fill in the unrecorded tetrads in my area; quite a task as there were no other recorders in my area who trapped anywhere other than their gardens! After a period of just randomly trapping in unrecorded tetrads, I started to print off maps of every species so that I could see which squares were blank and target them to at least fill in the gaps for common species. It became a habit for me to count up how many new tetrad records I’d made each night when I got home before I could go to bed!! I know this probably sounds very sad indeed but it’s amazing how exciting a Large Yellow Underwing becomes when it’s a new dot on the map!

It’s also surprising what you end up finding when square-bashing. I remember trapping on one occasion on the embankment of the M3 because it was the only place I could get access to within a square. Amongst other things, I caught several Blacknecks – the only time I recorded that species in NE Hampshire. In mid-summer it was rare for me to not catch anything of interest, even in the most unlikely habitat.

The square-bashing philosophy seems to be rare amongst lepidopterists when compared to other entomologists. Perhaps I am being unfair but it seems to be a Red Data Book species in Sussex! With the Macro-moth Recording Scheme starting, and increased interest in recording micro’s in Sussex, I hope that more people will develop an interest in ‘putting dots on maps’.

Winter is a good time to start because there’s little else to do (after you’ve sorted out your records and sent them in!). Below are a few thoughts on things that should be reasonably easy to find during the winter months. - Phyllonorycter leucographella. Known as the Firethorn Leaf-miner, this is most easily recorded by looking for the whitish blotch mines on the upper side of Pyracantha leaves. - Spring Usher. This species is easily disturbed from tree trunks in woodland if you wander off the path a bit. If you walk around carefully you may find them at rest on the trunks, together with other species. Searching tree trunks can be a productive sport at any time of year, particularly after bad weather when the moths seek refuge on the sheltered side of the trunk. - Tortrix moths in teasel heads. Three species can be bred from teasel heads; Endothenia gentianeana, Endothenia marginana and Cochylis roseana. I tend to find that the most prominent seedhead is the most frequently occupied. Collect the seedheads in late winter and keep in a dry container to breed the moths through. Note that the two Blastobasis species can also be bred from teasel. - Psyche casta larval cases can be found attached to all sorts of things in the early spring (wheelie bins seem a particular favourite!). The very similar Psyche crassiorella is inseparable in the larval stage (although the cases tend to be slightly bigger) but is a very rare species so you are unlikely to find it!

Good hunting!

Given an imminent (hopefully) house move, this piece will have to be re-named ‘Rantings from Rogate’ in future newsletters. Let’s hope that there is no space to fill ………

Tony Davis