Saturday 24 June 2017

Playing catch-up!

Owing to various distractions, while I've been putting out the trap regularly in our garden in Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, I've not been able to enter up records, or check dubious IDs, as much as I'd like -- I'm hoping to catch up over the next day or so. Even before the recent heatwave, my impression was that this year is being considerably better than 2016, and like many others, I've had some very good catches in the last week (even more work to catch up on 😄), with good numbers of, among others, Scarlet Tiger, several Blacknecks (not by any means an annual species here), some pleasing Elephant Hawkmoths and so on. I don't propose to put here all my queries from the last month -- and in any case, I've managed to sort out quite a number of them -- but I'm going to start by including here a few where I've got a pretty good idea of the species and would be grateful for confirmation or a pointer in the right direction. Firstly: what I think is a Chilo phragmitella from 21st June; a possible Cochylis hybridella from 28th May; what would be a garden first in the form of a possible Endothenia quadrimaculana from 22nd June; what I think is a Mottled Beauty from 30th May (but this is an ID I've always had trouble with); a possible Obscure Wainscot from 14th June; and a possible Vine's Rustic from 30th May.

Possible Chilo phragmitella, 21/6/17

Possible Cochylis hybridella, 28/5/17

Possible Endothenia quadrimaculana, 22/6/17

Possible Mottled Beauty, 30/5/17

Possible Obscure Wainscot, 14/6/17

Possible Vine's Rustic, 30/5/17
And secondly, a few where I think I've established the genus, but I haven't got any further than that: an Aethes species, I think -- either francillana or beatricella; what I think must be the same Cydia species from 21st and 18th June; and what looks as though it should be an easy-to-identify Cochylis species from 14th June.

An Aethes species: francillana  or beatricella?, 17/6/17 

Presumed Cydia species, 21/6/17

Presumed Cydia species, 18/6/17

Presumed Cochylis species, 14/6/17
As ever, all suggestions or corrections very welcome!

Steve Goddard

2 comments:

  1. The bottom picture is Phtheochroa sodaliana, Steve. Very nice to get as a garden moth as it is usually a chalk grassland specialist. The two above it are not Cydia (check the head/palp shape) but are Gypsonoma and may well be minutana. Could do with a better images of them to be sure and the same goes for the Endothenia which I agree is most likely quadrimaculana (which would be another good garden record).

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  2. Many thanks, Dave: I should have recognised the Phtheochroa, as I've had it before. Thanks re. the Gypsonoma -- I agree, it looks very much like minutana. Sorry about the picture quality -- I'm having some trouble with the rather ancient camera I'm using, and really should think about updating. I think I'm inclined to assume the Endothenia is quadrimaculana. On the whole, the species I'd managed to put a name to, I'm fairly confident about; do you have any views on the Aethes species? -- I'm inclined to think it's probably beatricella, but I'm very unsure.

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