Southern Bell, the last new moth of the year

My last night moth-trapping before I went away for the first 3 weeks or so of November proved to be a good finale to the season.  The main highlight was a tortrix that I didn't immediately recognise.  It soon proved to be a Southern Bell Crocidosema plebejana, a relatively new arrival to Britain that has only been recorded in Norfolk about 5 times previously.  A lifer for me and my last new moth at home this year (bringing my garden moth list up to 786).

Southern Bell  Crocidosema plebejana (female, gen det), North Elmham, 31st October

I would miss the main flight period for December Moth (which, despite its name, is November) so it was good to get my first for the year in just before I went away.

December Moth, North Elmham, 31st October

I resumed trapping at home after an excellent trip to Oman on 21st November, catching a single Sprawler.  No moths the next night but a caddisfly: Limnephilus lunatus.  The following night there were 3 moths: a December Moth, a November Moth agg. and a Sprawler.  That was it until 2nd December when this Winter Moth turned up.

Winter Moth, North Elmham, 2nd December

Over the next few days there were 2 December Moths and 3 Winter Moths on 3rd, December Moth on 4th, 2 December Moths, Winter Moth and Mottled Umber on 5th and Mottled Umber on 6th.  Then there was another lull in activity broken only by single Mottled Umbers on 10th and 12th.

The lull ended on the night of 20th December when 3 species of moth and 1 caddisfly appeared, including my first ever December Pale Brindled Beauty.  This species normally appears in January and February but there are quite a few records in December - not here until now though.  The others were 2 Winter Moth, Mottled Umber and Limnephilus lunatus.

Pale Brindled Beauty, North Elmham, 20th December

Next day there was less variety but December Moth, a record count of 5 Mottled Umbers and my second record of Micropterna sequax (caddisfly).

Micropterna sequax (male), North Elmham, 21st December

The following night there was Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana, December Moth, Winter Moth and a Dark Chestnut.

Dark Chestnut, North Elmham, 22nd December

There were no moths the following night but a Minotaur Beetle in the bottom of the trap was my first here this year.

Minotaur Beetle, North Elmham, 23rd December

The year ended with Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla and Chestnut on 30th and a single Chestnut on New Year's Eve.

I ended up with a total of 578 species of moth in my garden in 2017 (291 micros, 287 macros) - quite a long way short of 2016 (when I recorded 627 species), confirming what we all knew, which was that it was quite a poor year.  If you take away the 7 species I only recorded in 2017 by using clearwing lures (which I didn't use in 2016) it was 56 species (9%) down on 2016.

Among the 578 were 66 that were new for the garden.  I only need another 14 needed to bring the garden list up to 800, surely within reach for 2018, before the end of my 4th year here maybe...?  I only had 60 new moths for Norfolk in 2017 - I don't have comparable data for previous years but this must be a long way down on any previous year since I started mothing seriously.  No surprise there of course - the more you see the harder it is to find new species (unless you go twitching moths which I have no plans to start doing).

It was a good year for me personally in getting to grips with other groups though.  In the garden I recorded 8 species of mayfly, 37 bugs (21 heteropteran & 16 homopteran), 2 barklice 15 lacewings, 48 beetles and 39 caddisflies.  Among them were two firsts for Norfolk, both Waxflies (which come under lacewings), Coniopteryx esbenpeterseni and Semidalis pseudouncinata.