Dave Appleton
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applewildlife.bsky.social
Dave Appleton
@applewildlife.bsky.social
Interested in pretty much any wildlife, especially birds, moths and a host of other insect groups. Norfolk county recorder for lacewings and allied insects.

Based in North Elmham, Norfolk, UK.
Is it safe to call this Callitula pyrrhogaster or are there any confusion species? I can't find a relevant key but it looks like other photos of this species and it's supposed to be distinctive. It's 1.5mm long and was found by suction in late July in grass at the edge of wet woodland in Norfolk.
November 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
A good day to come across this account: apparently it’s the 10th anniversary of my Brown Shrike find…
October 20, 2025 at 7:24 PM
In case anyone's interested, here are the faces of each species (yellow except for a dark central keel on signatus, yellow with a pair of thick dark stripes on brevirostris). I had originally doubted my brevirostris ID as the femora had dark patches but comparing each one's epandrium settled it.
October 12, 2025 at 10:59 PM
I had fun identifying Conopid flies today including two recent Ivy Waspgrabbers (Leopoldius signatus) and one from last year. Armed with this experience I revisited and confirmed a suspected Early Waspgrabber (Leopoldius brevirostris) from 2020, quite rare apparently. All four had come to light.
October 12, 2025 at 10:50 PM
The number of Harlequin Ladybirds hibernating in my kitchen went up yesterday: 18 late morning, up to at least 54 by evening. I usually get 2- and 7-spot Ladybirds hibernating in my study and Harlequins in the kitchen but this is more than usual.
October 7, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I'm working on my specimens caught over the summer. This from my garden moth trap on 13th June appears to be Deleaster dichrous, although there were some problems keying it (tarsus 4 not simple for starters). Not many records in Norfolk (only one up to the end of 2021, don't know after that).
October 3, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Diasemiopsis ramburialis (Migrant Sable) in mid Norfolk last night. I’ve caught lots of good moths here incl. 3 county firsts but this may be the rarest @migrantmothuk.bsky.social so far.

4th for Norfolk (3rd this year) unless @norfolkmoths.bsky.social has others pending.

#NorfolkMoths #TeamMoth
September 20, 2025 at 3:49 PM
I like it when a #newt shows up at my moth trap. I've had Smooth Newts here a few times now but previously they've always been unspotty juveniles (one was a little spotty).

#Amphibians
September 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
It would be great to have an up-to-date book on Europe's lacewings etc. but this isn't it. A hefty price for a small book that covers a small % of its too-big scope. The plates are mainly set specimens, too small to be of use. Some useful detail but limited value with so much omitted. More in ALT.
September 10, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I caught this Wasp Nest Beetle (Metoecus paradoxus) in my moth trap last night, a new species and family for me. They lay eggs in rotting wood that a wasp might harvest. If one does then the larvae climb on to the wasp, hitch a lift to its nest and then parasitise the wasp larvae. Neat trick.
September 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
How many generations do Ruby Tigers have? They're said to have two, one in spring and a larger one in Jul-Sep. But my records show a dip in late Aug, and phenology charts at @norfolkmoths.bsky.social & other county websites reflect this pattern so I wonder if they have 3, spring, Jun-Aug & Sep?
September 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Best thing in the trap this week was the mayfly Heptagenia sulphurea (Common Yellow Dun) which has quite a restricted distribution in East Anglia. See ALT text for notes about its changing eye colour. Also two Clifden Nonpareils were nice, the first time I've caught two in a year. #NorfolkMoths
September 6, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Three more lacebugs Kalama tricornis today, this time in pitfall traps. Two were in the same place as the one I found by suction yesterday. I look forward to encountering more lacebugs - they're rather smart. Platydracus stercorarius was quite striking for a rove beetle, even on its last legs.
August 26, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I enjoyed some productive suction-sampling today. Lots still to identify but among the highlights was my first (long-awaited) lacebug: Kalama tricornis. Also Angle-spotted Scymnus (Scymnus frontalis), one of the commoner inconspicuous ladybirds to have eluded me until now. #UKbugs #UKbeetles
August 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I've twice caught November Moths where the tegumen was separate from the rest of the genitalia which consisted of a globular structure presumably consisting of malformed valvae and sacculus, with the loose aedeagus emerging through an opening. Here's an Elachista atricomella with similar deformity.
August 18, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Yesterday I found this Figwort Sawfly (Tenthredo scrophulariae) in my garden in a pheremone lure trap that hadn't been set. A decade and a day previously I'd found a larva on my garden Buddleia.

It must have been a good day for them as a friend in Sandwich had one for the first time too.
August 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
I've been processing some of my finds from early-mid May and here are four of the highlights from fieldwork. They're not all rare, but were all new to me: Phratora laticollis, Elachista adscitella (Oblique-barred Grass-miner), Gyrohypnus angustatus and Lilioceris lilii (Lily Beetle). #NorfolkMoths
August 8, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Not the moth I was hoping for in my trap last night.

I often find frogs on the ground round my trap and occasionally they jump up on top of the trap, but I think this is the first time I've found one actually in the trap. I wonder how many moths I lose to them?
August 1, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Here is a final instar Field Damsel Bug (Nabis ferus) nymph photographed yesterday, and some photos of the same insect after moulting today - as a teneral adult with a deformed hind leg stuck in its nymphal exuvia, then freed by me and then 2-3 hours later after acquiring its normal colouration.
July 31, 2025 at 9:19 PM
They often don’t but when they do sit still there TG7 really comes into its own. These were taken with it and were better than I could get with my Canon 7D + Sigma 105mm f2.8 lens. I don’t really have much experience using it for other things, though I have done some flowers that worked well.
July 26, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Question for spider folk - I'm thinking this may be Oedothorax apicatus, but am I right? I tentatively got it to retusus or apicatus based on the epigyne and then apicatus based on shorter tibia IV spine, but I'm still new to spider ID so confirmation welcome, or correction if need be.
July 25, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Another new moth for the garden last night and one I really wasn’t expecting here (15 miles inland): Aristotelia brizella (Thrift Elder). The NW wind paid dividends! #NorfolkMoths #TeamMoth There have been inland records in Suffolk before but not in Norfolk as far as I can see.
July 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM
And from last Thursday, a superb Oncocera semirubella (Rosy Knot-horn), a new species for me - expected but also much longed-for. Also new for the garden, a Tawny Wave, a species that seems to be turning up away from the Brecks with increasing frequency. #NorfolkMoths #TeamMoth
July 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
My next two new moths for the garden were both on 14th July: Pempelia genistella (Gorse Knot-horn) and Epinotia solandriana (Variable Birch Roller). The former is increasing and set to colonise if it hasn't already while the latter seems to be very scarce, not quite recorded annually in Norfolk.
July 23, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I've had at least six more new moths for the garden this month, starting with these two: a long-awaited Bordered Straw on 5th and a much less expected Chrysoclista linneella (Lime Flame) on 6th. I'd only seen Bordered Straw abroad before and the Chrysoclista was completely new for me. #NorfolkMoths
July 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM