Sunday, 24 May 2020

Presumed Mullein

The moth below came to my trap last night - well about 10 feet away on patio furniture actually.  I am assuming that it is a Mullein, but I have never had this nor Striped Lychnis before, though have had Striped Lychnis caterpillars in the past.

Date wise, I guess this favours Mullein, the moth doesn't look pristine so may have been out for a while. Looking at the underside of the hind wing, there is a small dark crescent mark, but it is very faint. I have posted a photo next to a ruler to give size, again it is reasonably big so favours Mullein, but I wasn't exactly sure where the start of the forewing is, maybe 21mm, which is on the cusp.

Does anyone more familiar with these two have a view?




Otherwise, my first Privet Hawkmoth of the year and the first Square Spot for some years.

Adam Bassett
Marlow Bottom
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2 comments:

  1. Dave Wilton24 May 2020 at 17:53

    Hi Adam,
    I'm not able to help personally, having seen many hundreds of Striped Lychnis larvae but not a single adult! For what it is worth, though, there is only one adult record for the moth in Bucks prior to the beginning of June and that was from a rather dubious character in Ballinger on 27th May 2003.

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  2. Dave Ferguson24 May 2020 at 18:01

    I had a Mullein in the garden on 18th May, the 1st adult I have seen, so maybe they are having a good year.

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