I was about to dismiss last night's Actinic light trap catch as utter rubbish when upon checking a grass moth more closely I could see that it didn't have the usual pale green eyes of Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella) which is my usual grass moth species. My thinking is that it's Pediasia contaminella which is described in Sterling, Parsons and Lewington and being "very local". Certainly there's nothing else in the book which has such a dark eye and
it seems to match everything else well though you can't see it's
posture due to it being crammed into the egg box. I did check with Steve Goddard who traps a short distance away up in
Wolvercote and he's never had it in seven years of trapping so I am
guessing that it's comparatively unusual around here.
 |
| Presumed Pediasia contaminella |
Confirmation or correction of the ID would be much appreciated and also some information on how unusual it is to get it in central Oxford.
Adam Hartley
Looks good to me Adam - another one I had last year, so maybe it's spreading.
ReplyDeleteI've had a handful just over the border into the bandit country of Hertfordshire (Sarratt and Chipperfield) in the last couple of weeks.
ReplyDelete