Saturday 10 August 2019

Oegoconia question

I recorded my first Oegoconia species last night (attracted to a lit window). I think it is probably O. quadripuncta, but I see there are 2 other possible confusion species. My question is, do I need to retain the moth or can it be positively identified from my picture below?


Steve Trigg, Cookham
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3 comments:

  1. Dave Wilton11 August 2019 at 12:09

    Hi Steve,

    As it says in the field guide, the Oegoconia species are sufficiently variable that "reliable identification of all three species can be achieved only by examination of genitalia". So another one for Peter! Both deauratella and quadripuncta are equally as common locally so it could be either of those two(I've never seen the third, caradjai, which doesn't yet feature on the Bucks list and I don't think has been seen in Berks or Oxon either).

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    1. Steve Trigg11 August 2019 at 14:06

      Thanks Dave. You have confirmed what I thought was the case with these moths. Strangely, the Garden Moth Scheme has quadripuncta listed on it's limited list of micro-moths that can be recorded each week. They normally don't include tricky ones that need genitalia examination.

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  2. Martin Townsend11 August 2019 at 17:24

    Hi Steve if I was doing GMS I would query that with them and point out what the Field Guide says.

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