I don't know for sure if aethiops is the only named dark form of Dark Arches but your melanic moth looks like it to me. They're rare in our area. Here in Bucks out of about 14,000 individual moths I've seen five (including one this year on 28th June).
thanks Dave, it's certainly the first one I've seen. I got the impression it was slightly bigger than the norm too. It's nice that even the really common species can throw up something interesting sometimes.
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteI don't know for sure if aethiops is the only named dark form of Dark Arches but your melanic moth looks like it to me. They're rare in our area. Here in Bucks out of about 14,000 individual moths I've seen five (including one this year on 28th June).
thanks Dave, it's certainly the first one I've seen. I got the impression it was slightly bigger than the norm too. It's nice that even the really common species can throw up something interesting sometimes.
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