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| "Fern", Pitstone Fen 25 Jun 2009 |
A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
Friday, 5 June 2020
Cryptic Fern
Those of you who don't read the entomological journals may not yet know that a second species has been hiding within plain sight amongst the southern UK's Fern population since shortly after the millennium and maybe even before that. Fern Horisme tersata should begin its flight period very shortly if it hasn't already. The second species, Horisme radicaria, has been named Cryptic Fern. It flies at the same time and looks almost identical so if you are prepared to retain moths for dissection then for starters an example from each site would be the best way forward. We get quite a few records of "Fern" annually in the Bucks Chilterns and I imagine that it is fairly widespread in similar habitat in Berkshire and Oxfordshire too.
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There are a number of photos of radicaria on the Kent Moth Group public page, i.e caught in May this year. I have not seen it myself but I gather dissection is necessary for confirmation.
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