I think the micro in the photo below is Sciota adelphella, again an immigrant. If anyone could confirm the id, that would be good.
Will Atkinson
A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
Hi Will, Four-spotted is an excellent catch and adds to the small list of probable migrant species seen on Thursday night. There are a handful of records from the very north of Bucks where it seems once to have been resident (last seen 2004), but Bedfordshire has more recent records (up to 2009 at least).
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about your pyralid - it doesn't seem to look all that much like the illustrations I can find of Sciota adelphella (a species I've not seen) but is more akin to one of the Acrobasis species, marmorea perhaps. Do you still have the moth?
...or do you have any further pictures, taken from the side?
DeleteHi Dave, thanks for your suggestion, but I forgot to give an indication of size. This moth is 14mm long, so too large for the Acrobasis spp I think. I still have the moth and have a photo which shows the side more clearly than the one I posted. I don't seem to be able to copy tthe photo in this comment, so here's a link:
ReplyDeletehttps://goo.gl/photos/t6MaL2w1R7f6tXGQ9
Hi again, thanks for sending the link and I've cropped and added the picture above. Knowing the size makes all the difference and I'm now fairly sure that this is Phycita roborella, probably a female given that it doesn't have the noticeably thickened base to its antennae which is sported by the male.
ReplyDeleteDave, Thanks, P. roborella looks like a very good bet to me. It matches the distinctive feature in the Berks Micro book.
DeleteHi Will,
ReplyDeleteI believe there have been records from Appleford, Didcot and Cholsey of Four-spotted in the not too distant past and so your record in Culham could actually be a resident individual and is therefore a very exciting record as this species is high priority for conservation. However, given the migrant activity it could well be an immigrant individual too. Could you sne dme more details of where you caught it - I'm trying to locate it in known sites locally to report back to BC. I visited the known Didcot site with no luck earlier in year. Worth having a look during the day as it is a day active species as well as coming to light. Great record. Best wishes, Marc
Hi Marc,
DeleteThe possibility of a resident population is interesting, though I trap at least once a week during the season and it's never turned up before. I certainly have plenty of bindweed at the end of the garden, and now I have an excuse to leave it alone. My location is SU5105295322, next to the Waggon & Horses at Culham traffic lights. I'll keep my eyes peeled for more examples.