Yes, that is Acleris cristana. The scale tufts are there but they quickly wear down/break off from their original size (they can't be very aerodynamically efficient!). A good pointer to cristana is the white head. It probably doesn't hold good in every case because both species are so incredibly variable, but for the most part cristana has a white head and hastiana doesn't.
I agree this is cristana, but to further clarify - cristana may have a white head whereas hastiana seldom if ever has it white. In cristana, although some of the commoner forms have a white head, they don't all. Of the 17 illustrated in Bradley, Tremewan and Smith British Tortricoid Moths, only 6 have a white head and none of the hastiana have a white head. Therefore the other characters given therein and in Sterling and Parsons, should be used. In the plainer dark forms the head, thorax and large central scale tuft are often white, as in this case. Here, the white costal streak is confined to the base - all permutations seem to be possible!
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteYes, that is Acleris cristana. The scale tufts are there but they quickly wear down/break off from their original size (they can't be very aerodynamically efficient!). A good pointer to cristana is the white head. It probably doesn't hold good in every case because both species are so incredibly variable, but for the most part cristana has a white head and hastiana doesn't.
I agree this is cristana, but to further clarify - cristana may have a white head whereas hastiana seldom if ever has it white. In cristana, although some of the commoner forms have a white head, they don't all. Of the 17 illustrated in Bradley, Tremewan and Smith British Tortricoid Moths, only 6 have a white head and none of the hastiana have a white head. Therefore the other characters given therein and in Sterling and Parsons, should be used. In the plainer dark forms the head, thorax and large central scale tuft are often white, as in this case. Here, the white costal streak is confined to the base - all permutations seem to be possible!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to you both for your detailed comments.
ReplyDelete