I know most Pugs are impossible to tell from a photo but this one does have some markings left on its wings so i hope someone can identify it
Other NFY moths over the last few nights include, Copper Underwing, Acleris forsskaleana(2nd) and Pandemis corylana, Fen Wainscot, Euzophera pinguis and Pyrausta aurata (3rd).
Darren Seaman, Milton Keynes.
Hello Darren, the first is Eulamprotes atrella, the second is indeed Caloptilia stigmatella, while for the third I presume you mean Spilonota laricana and it does indeed look to be a good candidate for that species (especially if you have larch nearby). I'll pass on the pug...
ReplyDeleteFen Wainscot is a very good record for Bucks although it is known from the lakes around MK. Do you have a picture of that one?
Thanks Dave and Peter. No wonder i couldn't find the Eulamprotes in the book, they forgot to put it in. Yes i meant laricana, the spell checker wanted it as several other things, and still sneakily changed it when i wasn't looking. No Larch around here as far a i can see, and no longer have the moth so it must be ocellana? photo of the tatty Fen Wainscot added.
DeleteIt might be a tatty Fen Wainscot but it is still a nice moth! Thanks for uploading the picture.
DeleteBoth Spilonota ocellana and laricana are very similar and variable enough so that features overlap. The true black and white forms are almost always ocellana. The image you posted can be either and these really need chopping to be certain - and frustratingly only males can be separated that way, female bits are indistinguishable. As Dave alludes to, if you have larch nearby, you may have both, if you don't have larch you will only get ocellana.
ReplyDeleteLooks very much like Slender Pug to me
ReplyDeleteThanks Marc, it does seem to have the 'dark blocks' along the leading edge.
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