Photo © Andy Mitchell

Choreutis nemorana

Checklist Number
48.0071 [B&F: 0389a]

Verification
Record will require further evidence, at least a good photograph, unless CMR is aware recorder has confidence in identification

Classification

Family:Choreutidae
Subfamily:Choreutinae
Genus:Choreutis
Species:nemorana
Authority:(Hübner, 1799)

Reported as new for Britain when it was reared from a fig tree Ficus carica in Hyde Park, London, July 2014 (de Prins, Ent Rec J Var 126:157). Now expanding in range across the south of England.

In our area, found for the first time on 5th November 2021, when Iain Outlaw found the pupae of this species on Fig (Ficus carica) in the front garden of a now abandoned hotel in Shanklin, in leaves with feeding signs and folded edges. Inside the folds there were tough silk cocoons with an outer layer binding to the leaf and an inner layer containing a pupa. At the end of the inner layer was the final larval skin. One folded leaf showed an exuxium, presumably left when the adult emerged. That cocoon was examined and found to be vacated. Found to be relatively common around the coast of the island in 2022, and further expansion saw the first record for Hampshire in 2023, near Lymington, and a number more in 2024 along the south coast.

The abundance in each month is indicated as follows:

No records
Very occasional
Irregular
Uncommon
Off-peak, but not unusual
Off-peak, but not unusual
Main flight time
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Adult
Larval

Records by week (adult)

Records by week (larval)

VC10 Isle of Wight

Site Date Quantity Recorder Stage
Shanklin (SZ58)05/11/2021-Iain OutlawPupal
Shanklin (SZ58)06/11/2021-Iain OutlawPupal
Shanklin (SZ58)26/06/2022oneIain OutlawLarval
Old Park (SZ57)26/08/2022-Iain OutlawAdult
Shanklin (SZ58)29/08/2022oneIain OutlawPupal
Old Park (SZ57)07/09/2022oneIain OutlawAdult
Shanklin Chine (SZ58)12/09/2022threeIain OutlawPupal
Fishbourne (SZ59)19/09/2022-Iain OutlawCocoon
Foreland (SZ68)20/09/2022-Phil BardenLarval feeding signs
Bonchurch (SZ57)20/09/2022oneIain OutlawAdult
Ventnor (SZ57)20/09/2022-Mark G TelferLarval
Bembridge (SZ68)20/09/2022twoPhil BardenCocoon
Ventnor (SZ57)20/09/2022-Iain OutlawMine
Osborne House (SZ59)25/09/2022threePhil BardenLarval feeding signs
Ventnor (SZ57)27/09/2022oneMark G TelferLarval
Shanklin (SZ58)27/09/2022-Iain OutlawAdult
Totland (SZ38)29/09/2022-Phil BardenLarval feeding signs
Shanklin Chine (SZ58)29/09/2022oneIain OutlawLarval

VC11 South Hampshire

Site Date Quantity Recorder Stage
Lisle Court, Lymington (SZ39)08/09/2023-Andy MusgroveLarval
Bishop's Waltham (SU51)26/06/2024-Dennis TruneckaLarval
Bishop's Waltham (SU51)10/07/2024oneDennis TruneckaAdult
Bevois Valley, Southampton (SU41)29/07/2024oneMike CreightonAdult
Warsash (SU40)03/10/2024-via iNaturalistAdult
Warsash (SU40)03/10/2024oneMegan SiceLarval