Noctuids cont: Heliothinae

2368 Celaena leucostigma leucostigma - Crescent

Status: Scarce wanderer.

Habitat/Food plant: Fens, Reed beds and marshes, the larval food plant are Yellow Iris and Great Fen Sedge.

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, the adult being on the wing from late July till September.

1999 - 2023 garden records: A scarce moth here, taken in only six of the twenty plus years that I've been running my garden month traps. I caught two in 2002, 3 in 2004, 2 in 2006, 1 in 2010, 1 in 2015 then latterly 1 on 19th July 2022 and 22nd July 2022.  

Earliest date: 9th July 2010.

Latest date: 3rd September 2006.

Peak count: Singles only.


2369 Nonagria typhae - Bulrush Wainscot

Status: Scarce wanderer.

Habitat/Food plant: Ponds, Marshes, ditches, lakes  etc where the larval food plant (Bulrush) grows.

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, flying from late July into September.

1999 - 2023 garden records: Seen on five occasions here, all a singles on 7th August 1999, 19th September 2013, 4th October 2014, 11th August 2017 and 29th September 2019.

Earliest date: n/a.

Latest date: n/a.

Peak count: n/a.


2370 Archanara geminipuncta - Twin-spotted Wainscot

Status: Irregular here.

Habitat/Food plant: Reed beds where the larval stage feed on Common Reed.

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, flying in July and August.

1999 - 2023 garden records: A species that has occurred here 16 times over the years, 15 times as a single moth capture. The best years were 2005, 2006 and 2009 which produced 3, 3 and 4 moths respectively.

Earliest date: 21st July 2005.

Latest date: 19th August 2013.

Peak count: 2 on 1st August 2009.


2371 Archanara dissoluta - Brown-veined Wainscot

The dark form.

The pale form, f.arundineta

Status: Scarce wanderer.

Habitat/Food plant: Reed beds and ditches - the larval stage feed on Common Reed.

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, the adults flying from late July into September.

1999 - 2023 garden records: I have taken only about 10 - 12 over the years, all as singles.

Earliest date: 30th July in both 2001 and 2005.

Latest date: 17th September 2006.

Peak count: n/a.

2373 Archanara sparganii - Webb's Wainscot

Status: Scarce wanderer from marshy habitat.

Habitat/Food plant: Ditches, ponds, fens, mashes etc. The larval food plants are Bulrush, Lesser Iris, Common Club-rush and Branched bur-reed.

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, on the wing from August till October.

1999 - 2023 garden records: This attractive moth has occurred on five occasions here, on 7th August 1999, 17th August 2002, 7th August 2008, 28th July 2015 and 7th August 2018.

Earliest date: Irrelevant.

Latest date: See above.

Peak count: See above.


2375 Rhizedra lutosa - Large Wainscot

Status: Annual in recent years, though it was once rather scarce.

Habitat/Food plant: Reed beds and ditches. The larval food plant is Common Reed.

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, on the wing in late September and October.

1999 - 2023 garden records: Catches of this enormous 'chunk' of a moth vary considerably here for whatever reason. Overall it is obviously more common than it used to be when I first started running traps here.

My annual catch rates show how numbers vary here:

 1999 = 0    2000 = 0.    2001 = 1.    2002 = 0.    2003 = 2.    2004 = 1.     2005 = 3.    2006 = 25+.    2007 = 1.    2008 = 2.    2009 = 6.    2010 = 6.    2011 = 20+.    2012 = 1.

2013 = 9.    2014 = 2.    2015 = 6.    2016 = 0.    2017 = 5.    2018 = 13.    2019 = 1.    2020 = 2.   2021 = 6.   2022 = 12.   2023 = 4.  2024 = 

Earliest date: 19th September in both 2001 and 2003.

Latest date: 13th November 2010.

Peak count: 4 on 28th October 2022. 


2377 Arenostola phragmitidis - Fen Wainscot

Status: Notable here.

Habitat/Food plant: They frequent reed beds where the larvae feed on Common Reed.

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, flying mainly in July.

1999 - 2023 garden records:  Number fluctuate here and I find it interesting to note how my annual catch rate (below) mirrors my catches of Large Wainscot, which use both the same habitat and food plant. During my period of trapping, they were scarce initially, had a couple of very good seasons, before numbers fell away again.

My annual catch rates:

1999 = 0.    2000 = 0.    2001 = 0.    2002 = 0.    2003 = 3.    2004 = 3.     2005 = 1.    2006 = 10+.    2007 = 0.    2008 = 1.    2009 = 1.    2010 = 7.    2011 = 2.      2012 = 1.

2013 = 0.    2014 = 0.    2015 = 1.    2016 = 4.    2017 = 3.    2018 = 2.    2019 = 0.    2020 = 0.   2021 = 1.   2022 = 2.   2023 = 12.   2024 = 

Earliest date: 30th June 2004.

Latest date: 29th July in both 2008 and 2010.

Peak count: 4 moths, in one heady night back in 2006 then 4 on 8th July 2023. 

2379 Coenobia rufa - Small Rufous

Status: Scarce. 

Habitat/Food plant: Fens, Heathland and Marshes, the larval food plants are Jointed Rush, Sharp Flowed Rush and Soft Rush. 

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, flying in July and August. 

1999 - 2023 garden records: I am not sure how many that I have taken here as I just noticed now, after taking one last night, that I had totally forgotten to include the species at all on this Bloggy list wotsit. I did get one, as I say overnight, on 5th September 2023, and whilst I know it wasn't a new species for the garden I will now have to trawl through twenty plus years of records to find out how many have shown up? It wont be very many, one or tow others perhaps? 

Earliest date: n/a. 

Latest date: n/a. 

Peak count: n/a. 

2380 Charanyca trigammica - Treble Lines

Status: Annual in small numbers.

Habitat/Food plant: The occur pretty much anywhere, the larval stage feeding on a vast range of plants which includes Plantains, Knapweeds and Dandelions etc.

Broods/flight period: Single brooded, flying from late May into early July.

1999 - 2023 garden records:

My annual catch rates show a fairly stable local population.

 1999 = 0    2000 = 4.    2001 = 0.    2002 = 2.    2003 = 2.    2004 = 11.     2005 = 2.    2006 = 3.    2007 = 11.    2008 = 2.    2009 = 3.    2010 = 6.     2011 = 5.      2012 = 8.

2013 = 4.    2014 = 1.    2015 = 1.    2016 = 1.    2017 = 2.    2018 = 6.    2019 = 2.    2020 = 2.   2021 = 11.   2022 = 8.   2023 = 2.   2024 = 

Earliest date: 11th May 2011.

Latest date: 2nd July 2007.

Peak count: Up to two moths on only three occasions over the years.



2381 Hoplodrina alsines - Uncertain

Status: Common.

Habitat/Food plant: They occur commonly in every sort of lowland habitats, the larval food plants are varied including Chickweeds, Docks and Dead Nettles etc.

Broods/flight period:  Single brooded, flying from June till early August.

1999 - 2023 garden records: A plentiful species, visiting the traps in good numbers in June and July.

Earliest date: 9th June 2018.

Latest date: 17th August 2010. I also caught what appeared to be a second generation moth on 8th September 2015 and another (a fresh specimen) on 4th November 2017.

Peak count: 27 moths, in July 2013.

2382 Hoplodrina blanda - Rustic

Above: Two fresh specimens, the top moth showing more cross lines than the other.

A classic Rustic showing very few cross lines and satin finish in grey brown rather than ochre brown as in the similar 'plumaged' Uncertain.

Status: Fairly regular in small numbers.

Habitat/Food plant: Any lowland habitat - the larval food plants are varied and include Docks, Chickweeds and Plantains etc.

Broods/flight period:  Single brooded, flying from June till August.

1999 - 2023 garden records: A summer moth that arrives fairly often, though always in small numbers here.

Earliest date: 14th June 2003.

Latest date: 19th August 2013.

Peak count: Five one night in July of 2003.

2384 Hoplodrina ambigua - Vine's Rustic

Status: Common.

Habitat/Food plant: The larval food plants are stated to be wide ranging, including common plants such as Docks, Dandelion, Prickly Lettuce and Primrose etc.

Broods/flight period: Double brooded, flying mainly from May to July then again from August - September/early October.

1999 - 2023 garden records: A moth that colonised the UK during the 1940's ... it occurred only as a migrant in the late 19th and early 20th century apparently. It is now one of the most common of the garden moths, often arriving in large numbers (20 - 30+), especially during the second generation which is on the wing during the autumn months.

Earliest date: 30th April 2017.

Latest date: 2nd November 2007.

Peak count: 119 on 3rd September 2006. I have taken numerous other 50+ catches here, always during the second brood in August and September.

2385 Spodoptera exigua - Small Mottled Willow

Status: Scarce migrant, resident in mainland Europe.

Habitat/Food plant: varied, including Groundsel, Dandelion, Docks, Restharrow etc.

Broods/flight period:  ?

1999 - 2023 garden records: This species has showed up here on 14 occasions, once in 2000, once in 2002, five times in 2003, four times in 2006 and three times in 2009. I then took none in 2014 but nine moths were caught in 2015.

2023 = 3.  2024 = 

Earliest date: 21st June 2000.

Latest date: 6th October 2015.

Peak count: I have only ever caught single moths here.



2387 Caradrina morpheus - Mottled Rustic

Status: Common.

Habitat/Food plant: They occur anywhere and eat pretty much anything by the looks of it?

Broods/flight period:  Mainly a single brooded species, though there can be a very small second generation every now and then. The adults are on the wing from late May/June till early August.

1999 - 2023 garden records: My records show that the population of this species remained amazingly stable through the past 15 years.

My annual peak counts have veered between 12 (in 2008) and 29 moths (in 2009) but this is misleading as a quick glance at the amounts of dates they occur on and the majority of peak counts being in high double figures and into the twenties, show a very stable population over the past fifteen years here.

Earliest date:  They are mostly a single brooded species but I do on occasion catch the odd second generation moth here. All the first generation records have occurred between 17th May (2007) and 4th August. (2001)

I have taken the far smaller (and in some years non-existent) second generation moths here on c.10 dates, once in 2005 (October 6th) then on four dates in 2006, once in 2009, once in 2010. and again in 2014. The earliest date was on 2nd September 2006.

Latest date: 8th October 2017.

Peak count: 29 moths in June/July 2009.



2387a Platyperigea kadeii - Clancy's Rustic

Status: Hard to explain ... see below.

Habitat/Food plant: Don't know?

Broods/flight period:  Double brooded, on the wing  in June/July then again from late September into October.

1999 - 2023 garden records: They are resident in southern and eastern Europe and were once a very rare migrant, not all that long ago either. The first one was identified as short a time ago as October 2002 after arriving in Mister Clancy's trap down near to Dungeness (hence the name) and from that time onwards it started arriving more and more as a migrant, in no time becoming a resident UK species ... it can all happen in a very short space of time with moths of course.

I caught my first moth here on 3rd October 2005 and very soon they became a regular (ish) moth, especially during the autumn, though there was also a small summer brood too. The cold winters of 2011/12 and 2012/13 seemed to affect this species greatly and by 2013 it was getting rather scarce again. Hopefully the very warm winter of 2013/14 will help to boost numbers again?

Between the first record in 2005 and the end of 2013 I had caught this species on 69 dates, mainly in September and October and rarely during the summer brood at all, in fact on only 7 occasions in total. 

The moths usually arrive as singles or pairs but I did catch a rather incredible 8 specimens on 7th October 2010. By 2012 I only took 5 in total all year and this had dropped to just one in 2013 ... hopefully they will hang on? (see 2018)

The annual totals have been:

2004 = 0.    2005 = 2.    2006 = 15+.    2007 = 10.    2008 = 4.    2009 = 8.    2010 = 40+.    2011 = 7.

2012 = 5.    2013 = 1.     2014 = 0.    2015 = 0.    2016 = 0.     2017 = 1.    2018 = 13.   2019 = 50+   2020 = 60+   2021 = 131.   2022 = 120.   2023 = 197.  2024 = 

Earliest date: 1st brood - 23rd June 2007 and 2nd brood, 12th September 2009.

Latest date: 1st brood - 26th July 2010 and second brood, 17th October 2010.

Peak count: 12 on 7th October 2021 and 15 on 28th September 2023. 

2389 Paradrina clavipalpis - Pale Mottled Willow

Status: Common, though an obvious decline showing in recent years.

Habitat/Food plant: They occur pretty much everywhere, the larval food plants are the seeds of various grasses, also the seeds of  Plantains and Garden Pea.

Broods/flight period:  At least double brooded, flying in April - July and August - October. They can arrive at pretty much any time of the year during warm winter periods, I assume as migrants?

1999 - 2023 garden records: I used to get very large catches of this species but nowadays I'm fortunate to get catches of two/three or more in any one night. For instance my annual peak catches (i.e. in one night) in 2003, 2005 and 2006 were 32, 41 and 41 moths respectively ...whereas the last nine years peak numbers have been a rather worrying:

2009 = 9.     2010 = 11.     2011 = 8.     2012 = 6.     2013 = 3.    2014 = 2.    2015 = 2.    2016 = 12.    2017 = 25.    2018 = 50+.    2019 = 40.    2020 = 100+   2021 = 100+   2022 = 100's. 

Earliest date: 3rd April 2011.

Latest date: 26th October 2006.

Peak count: 41 in September of 2005 and 2006.


2391 Chilodes maratimus - Silky Wainscot

My first capture here, taken on 24th June 2015

... and numero two, caught on 6th July 2017.

Status: Rare.

Habitat/Food plant: Reed beds ... the caterpillars are omnivorous, eating small invertebrates and the inner stems of common reed.

Broods/flight period: single brooded, on the wing from June till August.

1999 - 2023 garden records: Four records, taken on 24th June 2015, 6th July 2017, 25th June 2019, 10th June 2021 and 2nd July 2023.  

Earliest date: n/a.

Latest date: n/a.

Peak count: n/a.