A couple of Coppers - anyone able to ID these as the normal Copper?
Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford
A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
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A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
Hello Mark, that looks more like White-point to me (shorter and stubbier than Clay which should in any case be over by now). Males of both Clay and White-point have that black band on the underside so it doesn't help in telling them apart.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be happy telling the two Copper Underwing species apart from an underside view like that - the hind-wing needs to be opened out so that you can see the underside copper pattern clearly. It is an operation that might take a bit of practice to perfect because they are quite slippery critters, but try getting the moth head upwards in a pot then carefully grab it between thumb (underneath) and your first two fingers (on top). With your other hand you'll then be able to open out the wings on one side. The moth should suffer no ill effects other than the loss of a few scales and can be released straight away.
Hi Mark, see also my post from Friday called "Orange, copper and silver" and read Peter's comment re the Copper Underwing.
ReplyDeleteDave - perhaps you should post a small video on You Tube showing us how it is done.
thanks Dave, good suggestion Steve. However having managed to kill my one and only Rust Dot Pearl of the year while trying to pot it I don't trust myself to handle anything smaller than a cat.
ReplyDeletethey are a lot tougher than ferrugalis and even a cat, so give it a try
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be happy to identify the copper underwing from the pictures. I also like to see the part of the hindwing close to the body, especially in older worn specimens.
ReplyDelete