Last night (6th September) felt as though it should have been more productive here in Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, judging by the temperature, but still 50 species and not far off 200 individuals doesn't feel too bad. Lesser Treble-bar continued its decent run, with fifteen recorded (can't seem to find a Treble-bar among them, though), and we had a possible new record for the garden in the form of the moth below, which we think may be a Clay Triple-lines: a bit faded, and the spots on the hindwing aren't that apparent, but the markings otherwise look right, and the forewing is reasonably hooked; at about 14mm, the forewing length looks about right, too. Does that seem to add up?
 |
| Possible Clay Triple-lines, 6/9/16 |
A couple of micros gave us a bit of trouble, too: the first seems a little
Agriphila selasella, but maybe not exactly right - is it, in fact, the much-more-common-this-year
tristella?
 |
| Possible Agriphila selasella, 6/9/16 |
And the individual below looks like a
Eudonia pallida, and is about the right size at 8mm, but could just be some other species rather badly faded?
 |
| Possible Eudonia pallida, 6/9/16 |
As ever, all thoughts very welcome.
Steve and Xander Goddard
Hello Steve & Xander, I'd be wary of deciding what your Cyclophora is without dissection as that specimen seems to be so faded. Maiden's Blush is doing really well at the moment, perhaps topped-up by some immigration, while any second-brood Clay Triple-lines would theoretically be very fresh and well-marked. I'd be happy with your second picture as Agriphila selasella. I suppose the third must be Eudonia pallida if the size fits (again, a species doing well at the moment) although the lack of a paler cross-line at about three-quarters is a bit worrying because it is normally very obvious.
ReplyDeleteHi, I would have said that the macro was a fairly typical Clay Triple-lines. Granted it is a little faded, but not overly so. I've had specimens like that recently and I get quite a few of these, along with much fresher looking second broods with the white circles on the hind wing. The background colour also looks fairly typical. The Maiden's Blush that I see always show a more speckled fore wing and also show blotches along the outer edge, though I'm not sure the latter mark is that typical, but the ground colour isn't the nice orange/brown that Clay TL invariably shows.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Dave and Adam: I think on the balance of probabilities, I'm inclined to go for Clay Triple-lines. I did consider Maiden's Blush which I've had before (but oddly, not this year at all), but on balance I think the shape and overall markings are more reminiscent of Clay Triple-lines.
ReplyDelete