Saturday, 12 May 2018

A tiny micro from a small catch

Despite the temperature holding up more than forecast and the wind dropping I only had 13 moths of 10 species last night. The catch did include my first Coronet and Scalloped Hazel of the year as well as this rather nondescript micro that is barely 5mm in length. Any help with this one welcome.


Andy Newbold Sibford Ferris Oxon.
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2 comments:

  1. Peter Hall12 May 2018 at 09:05

    It looks like Elachista canapennella, Andy.

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  2. Dave Wilton12 May 2018 at 11:13

    I agree and I'm sure that's what it is. This is always a difficult one, though, because the micro-moth verification guidelines (...and they are only guidelines) say "dissection required". In our area canapennella is very common indeed and the tiny males quite often exhibit no discernible markings at all, just like your example. Over the years I have records of getting on for 150 of them in my garden, about 40 of which have been dissected and they've always come back as canapennella. It might be worth you getting one example looked at critically just to satisfy any future lingering doubts!

    The verification guidelines are currently available on the Moths Count website but a year or so ago Martin Harvey uploaded an edited version to the Berkshire Moth Group website which is easier to interpret:
    https://sites.google.com/site/berksmoths/announcements/micro-mothverificationguidelines

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