) MOTHSNEWTOPORTUGAL 97 AWEEKIN SERRADAESTRELA,PORTUGAL INEARLY SEPTEMBER 2001,WITH ADDITIONALLEPIDOPTERASPECIES FORTHE PORTUGUESEFAUNA MartinF. V. Corley PuckettyFarmCottage,Faringdon,OxfordshireSN78JP. ([email protected] Abstract Twenty-six species ofLepidopteranew tothePortuguese faunaare listed, precededby abrief account of a week spent studying the Lepidoptera of the Serra da Estrela, Portugal, in September2001. Introduction Although we had visited Portugal many times since 1989, my wife Alison and I had only visited the southern half of the country. For some time I had wanted to get into the more mountainous northern half. We arrived in Faro, in Algarve, on 30 August 2001, where we hired a car and stayed one night. The following morning we set off north after gathering up my own and borrowed collecting equipment. The next three nights were spent at Escusa in the Parque Natural da Serra de Sao Mamede near Portalegre in Alto Alentejo where I have been recording the Lepidoptera for the last six years. On 3 September we again headed north. Our route took us past Castelo Branco, Soalheira, Fundao and Serra da Guardunha, all places familiar to me from the literature as they were the hunting grounds of the great Portuguese lepidopterist Candido Mendes de Azevedo 100 years earlier. Under the scorching (35°C) late summer sun much of the area looked uninteresting, but it is clear from Mendes's records that this is not the case, oratleastthat it was not so ahundred years ago. Wearrivedinmid-afternoonatSerradaEstrela, travellingupthevalleyoftheRio Zezere to Manteigas from the east. Alison saw Nymphalis antiopa L. as we approached Manteigas. Serra da Estrela {mountains ofthe star) is a granite massif reaching a height of 1993m at Torre {tower- built to add the missing seven metres ofaltitude). These arethehighestmountains inPortugal andtheassociatedplateau is the largest area of high ground in the country. It also constitutes Portugal's largest natural park; the Parque Natural de Serra da Estrela is 55 km long and 25 km wide, withthelongeraxisrunningfromsouth-westtonorth-east. WeweremetattheParque'soffice inManteigasby DrJose ManuelGrosso-Silva, an all-round entomologist specialising in Coleoptera who had been surveying the insect fauna ofthe Parque Natural for the past three years, Pedro Pires an amateur lepidopterist from Coimbra with whom I had corresponded and his friend Fernando Romao. Fortunately all three spoke English, since our Portuguese is strictly limited. Jose's was excellent - he had done a British Council course to very good effect. Pedro's was not quite as good, but good enough to make puns in English using the scientificnamesofmoths: shecomesandshegoes. 98 ENTOMOLOGISTSRECORD,VOL. 114 25.V.2002 WeweretakentothehousebelongingtotheParquewhere wewereto stayforthe week. We wereonthe upperfloorofahouse atCaldasdeManteigasclosetothehot springs ofFonte Santa at 850m on the south side ofthe valley. The lower floorwas occupied by a radio station co-ordinating forest fire fighting activities. This is manned by students overtheir summervacation which coincides with the forest fire season. This was fortunate for us, since I managed to break ourkey almost as soon as we arrived. The students were able to let us in when we arrivedback from moth- trapping intheearly hours. Although spartan, conditions were quite adequateforour purposes, at least till the water supply failed towards the end of the week, which made cleaning up the house difficult on the day we left. The house is by the road running from Manteigas up the fine glacial valley of the Zezere to the summit at Torre. It isjust above a trout farm {truticultura) and below kennels where the local breed of sheep dogs are bred. Close to the house were plenty of well grown trees, predominantly sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus and narrow-leafed ash Fraxinus angustifolia with a few yews Taxus baccata, but many other species were present, many ofthem non-native species. 150 metres up the valley was an open slope with numerous streamlets and flushes and an abundance ofgreen vegetationincluding the mintMentha suaveolens, which is very attractive to butterflies. Later in the week, I walkedthroughthis areainthemiddleoftheday. InhalfanhourI saw 17 speciesof butterfly, the most unusual being Lycaena tityrus (Poda), Erynnis tages (L.) and Hesperiacomma(L.). In the late afternoon we all drove up the valley of the Zezere for about three kilometres. Jose had brought his girlfriend Patricia, who had a leg in plaster. She remainednearthe cars while therestofus walked upthe valley floorforalittle way along a path between tall brooms Cytisus sp. and small fields. Agriphila deliella (Hb.) flew upinnumbers. Itwas getting late intheday forbutterflies, butwedid see Satyrus actaea (Esper) and Brintesia circe (Fabr.). A number of species of moth were recorded from wings we found on pools ofwater at orclose to the edge ofthe river. PedroandFernandothenreturnedhometoCoimbra. Back at the house, Jose and I set about finding apossible site torun anm.v. light. The only possibility was on asmall flatareawith afew weedyplants ofMentha and Echium below the house, down a steep flight of stone steps from the car park, adjacentto astorage areausedby theowners ofastallby thetroutfarm andabove a public convenience. The area was covered in litterfrom the carpark above. I think I can fairly state that it was one ofthe most squalid sites in which I have ever run a moth light. Although it never produced large numbers of moths, over six nights it produced a surprisingly largenumberofspecies, including noless thaneight species that had not previously been recorded in Portugal (new species for Portugal are marked with an * throughout this paper). Apartfrom the firstnight, when we stayed with the light from the time we returned from eating out, our practice was to take generators to a site somewhere in the Park, returning home some time after midnight, when the moths around the light were checked. In the morning I re- examined the catch and took the light in for the day. Some of the more notable species are as follows: 3-4 September:Aristoteliadecoratella (Stdgr.), *Anacampsis MOTHSNEWTOPORTUGAL 99 populella (Clerck), Caryocolum arenbergeri Huemer, a previously known but undescribed species of Bryotropha, Cosmia trapezina (L.) (very few Portuguese records), Atethmia algirica (Culot), Epilecta linogrisea (D.& S.); 4-5 September: *Aroga velocella (Zell.), Catocala optata (Godart), Euplagia quadripunctaria (Poda); 6-7 September: *Caryocolum proximum (Haw.), *Eilema pseudocomplana (Daniel), Arctia caja (L.) (very rare in Portugal); 7-8 September: *Eudemis profundana (D.& S.), Xanthorhoeferrugata (Clerck) (red form); 8-9 September: *Lozotaeniodesformosanus (Geyer), *Acleris sparsana (D.& S.), *Ecpyrrhorrhoe rubiginalis (Hb.), Merrifieldia tridactyla (L.); 9-10 September: Catoptriafulgidalis (Hb.). Otherregularvisitors tothe lightwerehornets Vespa crabroL., forwhichthis is the only known site in the Park. They were not aproblem, since they had become very quiet by the time we returned to the light. Only on the last night, when I had looked at the light and gone back into the house to sort the night's catch, I reached into my collecting bag for the lens I keep there and felt a sharp pain. I withdrew my hand, thinking I had pricked it on a thorn, but could find no projecting thorn, so I reached in again, this time with the other hand, for the lens in order to examine my hand for a small thorn. This time I again felt pricked and a hornet came out on my hand. A hornet sting (or two) was a "first" for me, but fortunately was no more troublesomethanawasp sting. Ontheafternoonof4September, AlisonandIexploredtheareaaroundthesummit at Torre and I found attractive ground for the night's trapping activities - around CovaodoBoi at 1850m, alittleeastofthe summitin an areaofgullies, boulders and heavily grazed patches ofmountain pasture between granite tors and the spectacular towering Cantaro Magro. The vegetation consists ofNardus stricta dominating the grassy areas, a number of dwarf shrubs particularly among the boulders including Juniperus communis ssp. alpina, Erica arborea, Echinospartum lusitanicum, Cytisus purgans and Genista anglica. Patches of granite detritus and rock crevices had a number of the local specialities such as Rumex sujfruticosus, Minuartia recurva, Silene ciliata and Teucrium salviastrum. In the afternoon the temperature was over 30°C, but at dusk when Jose and Patriciajoined us it fell rapidly to about 21°C, and asnomothsappearedIfearedthatIhadmadeamistaketrapping sohighupsolate in the year. In time moths did begin to appear and soon were present in numbers. After dark we were joined by another of my Portuguese correspondents, Ernestino Maravalhas, themostactivelepidopteristinnorthernPortugal. About65 species were recorded including *Xenolechia aethiops (Humphreys & Westwood), Teleiopsis bagriotella (Duponchel), *Caryocolum mucronatellum (Chretien), Eana nervana (Joannis), Symmoca serrata Gozmany (endemic to Portugal), Scotopteryx coelinaria Graslin, *Charissa avilaria (Reisser), Gnophos obfuscatus (D.& S.), Hadena compta (D.& S.), Aporophyla haasi Stdgr., Polymixis xanthomista (Hb.), Calamia tridens (Hufn.) and Catocala nupta (L.) (the first Portuguese record for about 70 years according to Ernestino). Afterpacking up at about01.00 hours, with the temperature havingfallenlittlefromwhenwebegan, wewentbacktoManteigas forrefreshments inanallnightcafeintown. Ernestinothenlefttodrivethe250kilometrestohishome inPorto, ashehadareporttowriteinthemorning. 100 ENTOMOLOGIST'SRECORD,VOL. 114 25.V.2002 The following evening, by way of contrast, we set up lights by the River Mondego near Videmonte towards the eastern end ofthe Park, at 730 metres. We were informed this area had the most Mediterranean climate in the Park. In the valley were riverside trees and shrubs including alder {Alnus glutinosd), sallow (Salix sp.) and alderbuckthorn Frangula alnus. On the slopes above wereRubus, Cistus, Erica, Cytisus and a few scrubby Quercus ilex ssp. bullatus. Three m.v. lights were used along with wine ropes. In one spot just above the river, the steepness of the slope made it impossible to use a light on a stand over a horizontal sheet, so a sheet was hung vertically, which was a technique I had not previously used. In total about 120 species were recorded. The wine ropes were not spectacularly successful but brought in Catocala nupta again, Mormo maura (L.) and Xestia baja (D.& S.). Lights produced *Parectopa ononidis (Zell.), abundant Argyresthia goedartella (L.), Coleophora alfacarensis Baldizzone, Epidola stigma Stdgr., *Mirificarma lentiginosella (Zeller), Stomopteryx flavipalpella Jackh, Dichomeris alacella (Zeller), *Epinotia tenerana (D.& S.), Cydia coniferana (Saxesen), Acrobasis porphyrella (Duponchel), Drepana curvatula (Borkhausen), ldaea rubraria Stdgr., *Eupithecia tenuiata (Hb.), Lymantria dispar (L.), Apaidia mesogona (Godart) and mainly on the vertical sheet, abundantEilema caniola (Hb.). On 6 September, Jose and Patricia took us to the western part ofthe Park. After lunch at Seia we went south through Sao Romao to the terraces of an abandoned forestnursery at Sazes da Beira. These were rich in butterflies includingHipparchia alcyone (D.& S.). Larvae ofLeucoptera lotella (Stt.) and Coleophora discordella Zellerwere foundonLotuscorniculatus. On seedheads ofAchilleamillefoliumthere werenumerouscasesof^Coleophoraargentula(Stephens) In the evening the Parque's biologist, Jose Paulo Pires took us up to the hilltop plateau south-west of Manteigas, where we were shown a seasonal lake, dry in September. We then set up lights at Alto do Espinheiro at about 1350 metres. This proved to be a rather disappointing spot, partly because the vegetation was not particularly interesting, but also because temperatures fell to much lower levels than on previous nights. The area appeared to be a frost hollow. About 32 species were recorded included Paramesia gnomana (Clerck), Trichiura castiliana (Spuler), Chortodespygmina (Haw.), Tholera decimalis (Poda) and Trigonophora jodea (H.- S.). On the evening of 7 September we were joined by Pedro Pires when we visited birch Betula alba and rowan Sorbus aucuparia woods at the head of the glacial valley of the Zezere. These woods, near Albergaria at 1500 metres, face north to north-west and lose the late afternoon sunshine, allowing temperatures to drop quite low overnight. In the afternoon larvae of *Phyllonorycter sorbi (Frey) were found mining Sorbus. By night about 47 species were recorded including *Ypsolopha scabrella (LJ, Agonopterix nervosa (Haw.), Caryocolumfibigerium Huemer, *Epinotia ramella (L.), collected by Alison, Chesias legatella (D.& S.), Enconista miniosaria (Duponchel),Agrocholahaematidea (Duponchel) andPolymixislichenea (Hb.). It was interesting to see these autumnal species so early in the year, and it MOTHSNEWTOPORTUGAL 101 brought home to me how much topography influences flight times. Further south in PortugalinwarmersituationstheywouldnotbeflyingtillNovember. On 8 September, I saw Cacyreus marshalli Butler flying in the centre of Manteigas. This was not new for the Park, as it turned out that Pedro had seen it in Seiaaboutanhourearlier! ThateveningwewenttoPyreneanoakQuercuspyrenaicawoodlandonthe south- facing valley side above Manteigas at 1000 metres. Pedrojoined us again, but was not able to stay on for the following night. About 120 species were recorded including Ypsolopha lucella (Fabr.), Teleiodes huemeri Nel, Mirificarma cabezella (Chretien), Notocelia incarnatana (Hb.), Pammene amygdalana (Duponchel), Crocallis dardoinaria Donzel, Euxoa cos (Hb.), Xestia castanea (Esper), Antitype chi(L.) andLuperinanickerlii(Freyer). The following afternoon, 9 SeptemberI revisited the valleyside above Manteigas. AbushofalderbuckthornFrangulaalnusgrowingfromaroadsideditchhadseveral larvae of*Coleophoraahenella Heinemann. Late in the afternoon there was aforest fire in the BetulalSorbus woodland at the head of the valley less than a kilometre fromwherewehadbeenworking twonightsearlier. In the evening we went to the well-known waterfall at Poco do Inferno, south of Manteigas. At that time of year there was almost no water in the fall. Most of the area is heavily planted with trees, mainly species not native to the Serra such as beechFagussylvatica and sweetchestnutCastaneasativa andanumberofconifers. There were also afew Quercuspyrenaica,Alnusglutinosa, Salixspp. and above the road and car park some Betula and Sorbus. Steep rocky banks were largely treeless with a mixture of grasses, Dianthus lusitanus and Saxifragafragosoi. As on other nights wine ropes were used, but this was the first time in the week that the number of species attracted reached double figures. More notable species were Menophra abruptaria (Thunberg), Peribatodes rhomboidarius (D.& S.), Selidosema taeniolarium (Hb.), Amphipyra pyramidea (L.), *A. tetra (Fabr.), Polymixis dubia (Duponchel), Pseudenargia ulicis (Stdgr.) and Catocala nupta again. About 96 species came to light including Goidanichianajourdheuillella (Ragonot), Batia lambdella (Donovan), Gladiovalva badidorsella (Rebel), Caryocolum schleichi (Christoph), *Eana canescana (Guenee), Dioryctria sylvestrella (Ratzeburg), *Phycitodes lacteella (Rothschild), *Stenoptilia millieridactyla (Bruand), Macaria notata (L.), Glossotrophia rufomixtaria Graslin, *Noctua tirrenica Biebinger, Speidel & Hanigk and *Catocalafraxini (L.). Driving through the woods on our journey home we had a glimpse of a small party of part-grown wild piglets Sus scrofaontheroadside. We left the Serra at mid-day on 10 September. We drove up the valley past the areaburnttheprevious day andthenoverthe highgroundheading south to Covilha, which lies at the foot ofthe southern edge ofthe Serra. The devastation caused by forest fires was nowhere more apparent than on this road. Hardly anywhere had escaped,andinsomeplaceshouseshadbeenseverelydamaged. Somefireshadbeen recent, but the scars offires in earlier years were still evident. Regeneration is very slow, perhaps due to heavy grazing. The fires are alleged to be started by 102 ENTOMOLOGISTSRECORD,VOL. 114 25.V.2002 shepherds to improve the grazing; this seems the most likely explanation forfires in areas remote from roads. However, it seemed tome thatthere weremore fires atthe weekendthanduringtheweek,andthatthesewereclosetoroads. Before visiting Serra da Estrela, I had little idea ofwhat we might expect to find. A trawl through the literatureproduced a listofabout 110 species ofmoth. Candido Mendes (1913), whoevidently visitedthe Serraon severaloccasions foundvery few species that could not be obtained elsewhere and considered the mountains disappointing, although he listed ten species that were found only at high altitudes. Thereasonsforhislackofsuccess arenotevident. Itmaybebecauseheonlyvisited theZezerevalley inAugust. Ifhewasonly workingbyday, itislikelythathewould have obtained little other than Crambinae. It is clear that he missed a great many speciesfromthenumberwewereabletoaddtothePortugueselistinjustoneweek. In total we recorded about 300 Lepidoptera species in Serra da Estrela during the week. A small number are still unnamed, particularly Trifurcula spp. and other Nepticulidae. A high proportion of this total (and most of the species recorded as new for Portugal) are widespread European species reaching their southern limit in the Iberian Peninsula in the Serra da Estrela and the nearby Sierra de Gredos in Spain. A lower number are widespread Mediterranean species, and fewer still are Iberian species. Perhaps the most notable ofthese are Caryocolum arenbergeri and Charissaavilaria, which were considered to be confinedto the Sierrade Gredos. At least26specieswereaddedtothePortugueseLepidopteralist. Acknowledgements I am grateful for all the friendly assistance we were given in Portugal, especially by Jose Manuel Grosso-Silva (who also provided useful comments on this paper) and the others mentioned above, to Fernando Matos, director of the Parque Natural da Serra de Estrela for the use of a house belonging to the Parque, to Jose Passos de Carvalho forthe use ofhis equipment and his house in Algarve. My thanks are also extendedtoPeterHuemerforidentificationofCaryocolum species. References Mendes, C. de Azevedo. 1912-1913. Lepidopteros de S. Fiel (Beira Baixa - Portugal). Supplemento.Broteria,Seriezoologica,Lisboa. 10, 161-182; 11, 15-44. Appendix. LepidopteraspeciesaddedtothePortuguesefaunafrom SerradaEstrela. All records except Epinotia ramella made by the author. Species marked + are known to occur elsewhere in Portugal, but the earlier record has not yet been published. +Stigmellatrimaculella(Haworth, 1828) BEIRAALTA:Manteigas,9.9.2001,emptyminesinPopulus. Parectopaononidis(Zeller, 1839) BEIRAALTA:RioMondegonearVidemonte,5.9.2001 MOTHSNEWTOPORTUGAL 103 Phyllonoryctersorbi(Frey, 1855) BEIRAALTA:Albergaria,ValedoZezere,7.9.2001,minesonSorbusaucuparia. Ypsolophascabrella(Linnaeus, 1761) BEIRAALTA:Albergaria,ValedoZezere,7.9.2001 ColeophoraahenellaHeinemann, 1876 BEIRAALTA:Carvalhais,N.ofManteigas,8.9.2001,larvaeonFrangulaalnus. Coleophoraargentula(Stephens, 1834) BEIRAALTA: SazesdaBeira,6.9.2001,larvaeonAchilleamillefolium. Xenolechiaaethiops(Humphreys&Westwood, 1845) BEIRAALTA:CovaodoBoi,4.9.2001 Mirificarmalentiginosella(Zeller, 1839) BEIRAALTA:RioMondegonearVidemonte,5.9.2001 Arogavelocella(Zeller, 1839) BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,4.9.2001 Caryocolummucronatellum(Chretien, 1900) BEIRAALTA:CovaodoBoi,4.9.2001 +Caryocolumschleichi(Christoph, 1872) BEIRAALTA:PocodoInferno,9.9.2001 Caryocolumproximum(Haworth, 1828) BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,6.9.2001 ^CaryocolumarenbergeriHuemer, 1989 BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,3.9.2001 +StomopteryxflavipalpellaJackh, 1959 BEIRAALTA:RioMondegonearVidemonte,5.9.2001 Anacampsispopulella(Clerck, 1759) BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,3.9.2001 Aclerissparsana(Denis&Schiffermiiller, 1775) BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,8.9.2001 Eanacanescana(Guenee, 1845) BEIRAALTA:PocodoInferno,9.9.2001 Lozotaeniodesformosanus(Geyer, 1830) BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,8.9.2001 Eudemisprofundana(Denis&Schiffermiiller, 1775) BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,7.9.2001 & Epinotiatenerana(Denis Schiffermiiller, 1775) BEIRAALTA:RioMondegonearVidemonte,5.9.2001 Epinotiaramella(Linnaeus, 1758) BEIRAALTA:Albergaria,ValedoZezere,7.9.2001,leg.A.S.Corley Phycitodeslacteella(Rothschild, 1915) BEIRAALTA:PocodoInferno,9.9.2001 Ecpyrrhorrhoerubiginalis(Hiibner, 1796) BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,8.9.2001 Stenoptiliamillieridactyla(Bruand, 1861) BEIRAALTA:PocodoInferno,9.9.2001 104 ENTOMOLOGISTSRECORD,VOL. 114 25.V.2002 Charissaavilaria(Reisser, 1836) BEIRAALTA:CovaodoBoi,4.9.2001 Eupitheciatenuiata(Hiibner, 1813) BEIRAALTA:RioMondegonearVidemonte,5.9.2001 Eilemapseudocomplana(Daniel, 1939) BEIRAALTA:CaldasdeManteigas,6.9.2001 Catocalafraxini(Linnaeus, 1758) BEIRAALTA:PocodoInferno,9.9.2001 Amphipyratetra(Fabricius, 1787) BEIRAALTA:P090doInferno,9.9.2001 NoctuatirrenicaBiebinger,Speidel&Hanigk, 1983 BEIRAALTA:PocodoInferno,9.9.2001 Rearing the Fox Moth Macrothylacia rubi (L.) (Lep.: Lasiocampidae), an alternativestrategy I read with interest the account by Harry Eales (antea: 65-66) of his eventual successful overwintering andrearing oflarvaeoftheFoxmoth. Attheriskofboring my friends in Yorkshire who have heard this story before, it may be of interest to recount the circumstances ofmy own success on the single attemptthatIhavemade torearthis species. On28 May 1990, my friendsFrankBotterill andJohnNewbouldmadeanevening visittoLittleHowdenMoor,nearSheffield, duringthecourseofwhichafemaleFox moth was attracted to their m.v. light. It was temporarily enclosed in ajar by John andsubsequentlyreleasedattheendoftheevening. On the evening of 22 June the three of us met up to run m.v. lights at Anston StonesWood,nearRotherhamandduringtheevening asJohntookoutajarfromhis bag he noticedthatthere were some small larvae inthebottom. Theexplanationwas evident, the female Fox moth had laid some ova in the jar and these had fairly recently hatched. Rather than have him tip out the survivors then and there, bearing in mind that there were no records of Fox moth at that site, I offered to take them home and attempt to rear them. I placed them, about a dozen in all, in aplastic fish tank covered with nylon stocking where they fed readily on the bramble Rubus fruticosus that I provided and grew quite quickly. Towards the end of September they appeared full grown and showed little interest in feeding so I placed several layers of newspaper in the bottom of the tank together with a couple of sprays of foodplant (just in case any were still hungry) and sited the tank in a sheltered position on the ground between a wooden boundary fence and my garden shed. I reared a large square ofplywood against the fence, over the tank, to provide some protection againstheavy rain. The larvae soon disappeared underthe newspaperand Ileftthemalone.