Caryocolum viscariella

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stevehind
Posts: 2908
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:44 am
Location: Higher Poynton, Cheshire

Caryocolum viscariella

Post by stevehind »

The status of Caryocolum viscariella in VC58 Cheshire has always been something of a mystery to me.

There were no records of this species for VC58 in the data passed to me by Bill Hardwick when I became CMR and it is not mapped for VC58 in the original maps, now online at http://www.mothscount.org/uploads/0828.pdf which were presumably used to produce the distribution maps in MOGBI, yet the species map in MOGBI Vol.4 (2), p.194 does include a dot for VC58, so where does this record in MOGBI come from ? Could it have been an error, as there is no VC58 record on the Gelechiid Recording Scheme map at http://www.gelechiid.co.uk/species/cary ... ccordion-1 or on the rECOrd database held at Chester Zoo ?

I added the species to the county database based upon the map in MOGBI and the species is mapped for VC58 in the recent publications of Manley (2015), Smart (2017) and Langmaid, Palmer & Young (2018).

This is not a species which comes to light, so searching for the larvae is the best way to find it. For several years now I have been aware of the need to find some larvae in Cheshire and have been looking on the local Red Campion in the spring for feeding signs but have never found any. This spring I travelled deeper into Cheshire and on 21st April noticed a few plants of Red Campion in a small woodland at Crewe Green which had distorted growth and on closer inspection found larvae feeding at the tips of the stems. I cut off a couple of plant tops and brought them home to rear through and the first adult Caryocolum viscariella emerged this morning, so at last, we can now say for sure that Caryocolum viscariella does occur in Cheshire.
Caryocolum viscariella bred ex larvae - 14/6/2019
Caryocolum viscariella bred ex larvae - 14/6/2019
Caryocolum viscariella bred ex larvae - 14/6/2019
Caryocolum viscariella bred ex larvae - 14/6/2019
Regards
Steve
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