Friday, 28 July 2017

The next confusing species...

I had my first Flounced Rustic of the year last night, a moth which has been known to cause a bit of confusion so I thought I would get an image on the blog early in order to pre-empt a few of the expected ID requests!  It can be quite variable but that bar in the centre of the wing (>--<) is generally a giveaway although you do have to be careful as some Common Rustic aggs can show a similar marking.  Surprisingly, this one wasn't a particularly early arrival as my garden sightings usually start sometime during the final week of July.

Flounced Rustic, Westcott 27th July

The next potential confusion species will be the infinitely variable Square-spot Rustic which should also start appearing any day now (there have been early records already from elsewhere in the country).

Two nights ago I got my first Straw Underwing of the season and last night also saw the appearance of an Ear Moth.  Despite Bucks having no records for any of the Ears apart from oculea, it is still necessary to get some of them critically examined so I tend to keep back one per site per year, just in case.

Straw Underwing, Westcott 26th July

Ear Moth agg., Westcott 27th July


Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

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2 comments:

  1. Martin Albertini28 July 2017 at 18:10

    To help with Flounced Rustic, the hindwings are usually mostly bright white (wing edge may be brownish). Common & Lesser Common Rustic hindwings are not white.

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  2. Dave Wilton28 July 2017 at 21:24

    Indeed, although for some strange reason a few people seem to have an aversion to handling moths and would rather ask someone else instead of using all the opportunities available on the insect itself to arrive at the correct ID! Luckily the general shape of the two moths differs too, Flounced Rustic having a stockier appearance and straighter costa and termen than the Common Rustics.

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