RECORDS NOTEBOOK
Containing this issue:
WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY by Nick Mason
FORESTER MOTH - Go Green in 2008 by Tony Prichard
CORROXID BUGS: A New Addition to the Suffolk Checklist by Adrian Chalkley
ANOTHER LONG-TAILED BLUE MAKES IT TO SUFFOLK by Rob Parker
WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY
As far as I can ascertain an adult Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis)
had not been seen in Britain, bar the Channel Islands, before the 17th August 2007,
except in Sussex around 1980. Some exuviae from 
Kent, found in 1992, were
identified, a few years later, as being of this species. The scientific name was Lestes
viridis until recently. The genus Chalcolestes was used by Kennedy (1920) because
of differences in the larvae. K. D. Dijkstra in his Field Guide to the Dragonflies of
Britain and Europe (illustrated by Richard Lewington) uses the American name for
the emerald damsels, namely Spreadwing.
Willow Emerald damselfly is fairly common in Europe but does not, in my
experience, occur in great numbers.
On Friday 17th August Will Brame found a female of this species at Levington,
near the trout lake, beside the River Orwell. Wanting to obtain photographic proof of
his find he returned to his car to fetch his camera but, on returning, could not find the
damselfly. Ironically he forgot he had a camera on his mobile!
I was made aware of this find, and so contacted Steve Abbott. We agreed that
the identification was likely to be accurate, but, at the same time, the term “looking
for a needle in a haystack” was mentioned. We went to give it a go! We had a fair
idea where it had been seen and set out, with Steve’s son Jamie, to look for the
“needle”. After some 25 minutes, miraculously, it appeared right in front of me on a
piece of bramble in the hedge. Whether we had walked past it repeatedly on our
searches along the trees and the field nearby we could not tell.
We were immediately able to identify her. She was quite large for an emerald.
The underneath of the thorax and abdomen was yellow, with rings of yellow going
round where the segments met. There is a wide yellow ante humeral band. Also the
sides of the thorax had the typical irregular black lateral line and there was a spur
pointing forwards, as can be seen in the photographs. This feature can, I believe,
vary as one travels east across Europe. The pterostigma was a pale brown colour
with a dark / blackish border, a diagnostic feature of the species. Unfortunately the
position of the damselfly was such that we could not obtain perfect images as we
were stretching, but diagnostic features are easily seen.
This species is usually found on trees or bushes and, in fact, eggs are oviposited
into the bark of trees, above water. This individual stayed more or less in the same
place for the half hour that we were able to observe it. It occasionally flew a few
centimetres to try to catch prey and returned to the same position. Like the other
emerald damselflies it rested with its wings spread out at an angle – hence the
Spreadwing tag.
Eventually the damselfly lifted off and flew higher where it was lost from sight.
The weather became darker and cooler as well. Unfortunately others who arrived to
see this rarity were out of luck. The next day was dull and gradually the weather
reverted to being typical of this summer, with plenty of rain. Otherwise I think it
may have been observable again as the trees received sun from the morning round to
about 16:00 in the afternoon.
Was it a one off? Or is there a population in the vicinity? Next year we will be
out looking, especially where there are trees spreading over water.
Nick Mason
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FORESTER MOTH - Go Green in 2008
The Forester Moth (Adscita statices) is one of the moth species recently added to the
BAP list for Suffolk. As it flies during the day and is easy to identify, it a species that
butterfly recorders could keep an eye out for while looking for butterflies around the
county. In Suffolk the species appears to have been more widespread in the past,
having occurred in the north-western and north-eastern areas of the County and at
odd sites in the south. Comments in Morley’s Lepidoptera of Suffolk in the 1930s
suggest that even then it was on the decline, owing to loss of habitat to agriculture.
In contrast to Morley’s view of the species having its stronghold in north-east
Suffolk, the view that we have now is of its being limited to Breckland.
The moth inhabits open grassland where its food plants, Common Sorrel and
Sheep’s Sorrel, occur. The adult is on the wing only once during the year. The
textbooks give its flight period as May to July but in Suffolk our records of adults are
from the last week of June to the third week of July. It is similar in form to the
commoner red and black burnet moths to which it is closely related. However, the
Forester Moth is easy to differentiate from the red and black burnets as it is a
uniform metallic green colour. This green colouration is not very evident as it flies
over long grass but is easily spotted when it comes to rest on flower heads such as
knapweed and ragwort. Two other types of Forester Moth occur in the British Isles,
Cistus Forester (Adscita geryon) and Scarce Forester (Jordanita globulariae). These
could easily be confused with the Forester due to the similarity in appearance but as
neither of the latter two has occurred in Suffolk it seems safe to record all Forester
Moths seen in the county as the more common Forester Moth.
Breckland sites where the species has been recorded in recent years include
Barnhamcross Common near Thetford, Mildenhall Woods and West Stow. It is
likely to occur at other sites in the Brecks and we shall we be working towards
getting a more detailed understanding of its distribution over the next few years.
Some very old records from the north-east of the County at Bradwell Marsh, Oulton
Broad and Barnby Broad may mean that searches in this area could uncover
currently unknown colonies.
I would be grateful if any records of this species could be forwarded to me.
Tony Prichard,
emails to:
tony.prichard AT btinternet.com
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CORIXID BUGS:
A New Addition to the Suffolk Checklist
Corixid bugs are among the commonest and most obvious invertebrates in ponds
and rivers all over the country. 
In March 2005, Sheila Brooke and Bernard Nau
found, in a disused and flooded sand pit in Norfolk, a species new to the British
Isles. The species was Sigara iactans and it had been expected for some time. The
Dutch water bug atlas (Aukema et al. 2002) showed that several water bugs had
spread through The Netherlands during the last decade and seemed likely to colonise
Britain before too long. Of these Sigara iactans was always the most likely species
and with its proximity to the Dutch coast, East Anglia was most likely to be the first
location. The identification of S. iactans as a new species was not, however, quite
straightforward due to a very close similarity with the very common S. falleni.
Having spent some time this winter making a start on cataloguing the Morley
collection of caddis flies in Ipswich Museum I decided it was time to
get in order my own collection of voucher specimens but decided to
vary things and to make a start on the aquatic bugs. This meant,
amongst other things, re-examining all my specimens of Sigara
falleni, comparing them with photographs by John Blackburn and
descriptions from Sheila Brooke in Het News, the newsletter of the
heteroptera recording schemes. I was agreeably surprised when I
found that three out of nine individuals in a sample from
Framlingham Mere, TL 288635, had palae very much resembling S.
iactans. I subsequently sent photographs to Sheila Brooke, the
National Recorder, who confirmed my identification.
Sigara iactans has so far been recorded in Norfolk, Lincolnshire,
Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Sussex and now it also becomes a new species
on the Suffolk aquatic checklist. In addition, the date of my visit to Framlingham
was 29/8/2001, which Sheila informs me is the earliest occurrence of S. iactans in
British waters so far recorded. I expect however, that more specimens are lurking
elsewhere within tubes of S. falleni and are awaiting discovery.
Identification
The bug resembles S. falleni very closely but the male palae (fore tarsi) are of a
subtly different shape as may be seen by comparing arrowed features on the
photographs above.
1. On S. falleni the lobe at the base is broad whilst on S. iactans it is narrower.
2. Each pala is widest at the basal end in S. falleni but widest at or near the distal
end of the top row of pegs in S. iactans.
3. The long, lower line of pegs on S. falleni points, if extended, towards the inner
end of the short top row of pegs. On S. iactans the lower row points towards the
outer end or even misses the short row.
The differences are in many ways minor but the species can be separated in the
field with a x20 lens when comparing specimens side by side.
Further records of Sigara iactans are of course invited and members are also
welcome to send specimens to be identified. Four more new species of
aquatic bugs are also likely to appear in Suffolk waters any time soon, namely
Sigara longipalis, Notonecta lutea, Naucoris maculatus and Cymatia rogenhoferi
References
Aukema, B., Cuppen, J.G.M. et al 2002 Verspreidingsatlas Nederlandse wantsen
(Hemiptera: Heteroptera) Deel 1: Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha,
Gerromorpha & Leptopodomorpha. Publ. by: EISNederland, Leiden.
Brooke, S. Het News, 2nd Series, no.5, Spring 2005.
Downloadable from:
www.hetnews.org.uk (See also nos. 6, 7, 9 & 10)
Adrian Chalkley
Freshwater Invertebrate Recorder
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ANOTHER LONG-TAILED BLUE MAKES IT TO SUFFOLK
Avid butterfly recorders will remember the surprise appearance of a Long-tailed blue
near Lowestoft in 2006, which was considered likely to have been a migrant arriving
with the easterly winds. In 2007, there was an event of a different sort. SNS member
Phil Evans’ recording sheet carried an interesting footnote:
“I bought a sealed pack of peas at my local Co-op. Inside there were two caterpillars.
These pupated promptly, and two Long-tailed blues emerged. I killed both. Imported
peas seem to be a way of these butterflies getting into the country.”
Phil had occasionally reared hawk-moth larvae in his youth, so he had no
difficulty with these larvae, which were almost fully-fed when they emerged from
the pea pods. He tells me he had thrown away the packaging before discovering the
stowaways, so their country of origin is unknown, and he did not record precise
dates, but they were purchased in spring. One of the adults was photographed. I am
glad they were not released to pose as genuine migrants.
Rob Parker
Butterfly Recorder
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A HAPPY XMAS TO ALL NATURALISTS
