Friday, 4 September 2015

Uncertain guidance

Are these Uncertain?. I am a little confused as to where the Uncertain and moths such as Vine's Rustic begin and end. As it's September are they likely to be the latter or not, as I had  eight specimens this morning in various shades and all between 13 and 15mm FW. As I'm doing my weekly GMS and I want to try and get it right!. Many thanks.

 Steve Lockey (Garsington)
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4 comments:

  1. Peter Hall4 September 2015 at 10:31

    It's too late for Uncertain or Rustic for that matter. These are Vine's Rustic, much greyer, with a sheen to the wings and most importantly, the hindwings will be white

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  2. Dave Wilton4 September 2015 at 10:35

    Hello Steve, they should all be Vine's Rustic now, as are the two you illustrate. I've never had a September record of the Hoplodrina pair (Uncertain and Rustic) although they do sometimes go on until late-August.

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  3. Steve Lockey4 September 2015 at 13:02

    Thank you both .When moths appear in a year appears to be very specific as you point out. Butterflies seem to have a little more leeway regarding their flight times

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    Replies
    1. Dave Wilton5 September 2015 at 11:26

      Not quite as specific as you might think. Don't forget that the 60-odd British butterflies are not really any different from the other 2,400-odd species of our Lepidoptera other than that they're day-flyers, showy and have lots of conservation money thrown at them. The flight times (and sometimes the number of broods) of all Lepidoptera fluctuate a little depending upon the type of season we're having but they can be a very useful guide during the process of establishing the identity of any species. Don't regard them as being set in stone, though!

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