DAY-FLYING MOTHS AT BARNHAM CROSS COMMON,
5TH JULY 2003

This was a joint meeting with the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation and we were joined by a few of their members. The meeting was arranged as an opportunity to see the number and variety of moths that can be recorded during the day. It’s probably not too surprising that day-flying moths like the sunshine just as much as butterflies do, so as the weather on the day was rather overcast prospects for a good day were not too promising.  Walking south across the west side of the common it was not long before the first of several Forester moths was seen. These metallic green moths are akin to the more common red and black Burnet moths although the Forester in Suffolk would appear to be restricted to the Brecks.  With their green wings and rapid wing movement in flight they can be a bit tricky to spot as they fly over grassland.

Slowing your walking pace and having a good look at things around you normally means that something of interest will be seen - and it might even be lepidopterous. Keen eyes quickly picked out a caterpillar in amongst the grassy sward that turned out, on consulting the books, to be a Hedge Rustic. Knowledge of what plants and time of year are likely to give results when searching for moths increases the chances of success, such as looking at honeysuckle leaves that revealed signs of feeding by the caterpillar of the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth. This species would appear much more widespread in the county now that we have started searching for the larvae. The common normally has good numbers of plume moths flying during the day and we managed to locate a couple of species,   Stenoptilia pterodactyla and Pterophorus pentadactyla. One of the larger micro-lepidoptera, Sitochroa verticalis , was disturbed while looking for larvae - this species would appear to be another that has its stronghold within the county in the Brecks. While we were looking for moths Neil Sherman was looking for False Mocha larvae by ‘beating’ oak, unfortunately with negative results. This moth seems to be decreasing in its range and the frequency it is recorded on a national scale and there is some concern over its status.

After lunch we moved to the west side of the common where the habitat does not appear as rich in flora and the number of moth species recorded was certainly lower, although with the change of habitat different species were recorded.

Others species recorded on the day were:

Tony Prichard, Moths Recorder