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MOTH REPORT 2020
A REVIEW OF NEW AND INTERESTING MOTH SPECIES SEEN IN SUFFOLK DURING 2020 NEIL SHERMAN This article aims to review the new county records and other moth species of interest seen during the 2020 season. Species are listed in checklist order, with notes on the observation as well as the location and recorder(s). Any additional determination of the record will also be given. The number for each species is the one assigned using the Checklist of the Lepidoptera of the British Isles by Agassiz, J. L., Bevan, S. D. & Heckford, R. J., 2016. All records are from light traps unless otherwise mentioned. The number of moth records sent in increased dramatically in 2020, up from about 74,000 in 2019 to around 140,000. Some of this was no doubt due to the Covid pandemic with its lockdowns, as moth trapping was an easy way to study wildlife in the garden whilst stuck at home. The new website with its online recorder has also helped as it is now very easy for recorders to enter their data on there and get the records into the county database once verified. This important increase in data will give a much better understanding of how the moth fauna is faring in the county under increasing outside pressures like climate change and habitat loss.
14.011 Bucculatrix ulmifoliae (Hering, 1931) 25/10/2020 - Cornard Country Park VC26 (SMG). Recorded as leaf mines on an unknown species of smooth leaved elm (Ulmus sp.) with around 30 early mines plus a few vacated moulting cocoons found suggesting it is well established in the area. First noted in the UK in 2006 on an ornamental species of elm in Surrey, it has since spread in the south-east of the UK. The larvae make distinctive short leaf mines with an obvious straight section before they leave the leaf and continue feeding on the underside of the leaves. The early galleries are quite different to the other leaf mines found on elm. Likely to be found at other sites as colonization of the county continues. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 57 (2021)
Neil Sherman
4.052 Stigmella filipendulae (Wocke, 1871) 17/10/2020 - Secret Fen, Cavenham VC26 (JS & SMG). Recorded as a leaf mine on meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) in an area of fen. Only one vacated mine was found. The mines can also be found on dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris). The bright yellow larva creates a contorted gallery in the leaf with a central broken frass (dropping) line. The very small adult moths are brown with a white fascia and are very similar to other Stigmella species so can only be determined by dissection. Probably an overlooked resident species likely to be found at other sites as leaf mining species of moths were not well studied until recent times.
Neil Sherman
SPECIES NEW TO SUFFOLK IN 2020.