In my garden trap I had the moth photographed below which will go in my personal records as an Ear Moth. However, to be an "official" record, does it require further examination to separate it from the other scarcer members of the ear moth group?
Hi Steve, your county recorder will need to pass judgement really! In Bucks it is preferred that an example from any new site is given a close inspection "just in case", but there's little doubt that you will have Ear Moth Amphipoea oculea which is a reasonably widespread species in the three counties. If you were trying to claim a record of any one of the other three Ear species it would definitely need dissection as they are all rare/non-existent locally. If you use MapMate for your sightings there is an option to use "Ear Moth agg." (agg. = aggregate) which is really how it should be recorded.
Hi Steve, your county recorder will need to pass judgement really! In Bucks it is preferred that an example from any new site is given a close inspection "just in case", but there's little doubt that you will have Ear Moth Amphipoea oculea which is a reasonably widespread species in the three counties. If you were trying to claim a record of any one of the other three Ear species it would definitely need dissection as they are all rare/non-existent locally. If you use MapMate for your sightings there is an option to use "Ear Moth agg." (agg. = aggregate) which is really how it should be recorded.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Dave.
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