The last couple of trappings have been very poor in my central Oxford garden. However, this morning I did get this one grass moth which to my inexpert eye looks like Agriphila selasella rather than A. tristella. My reasoning is based off this article here but basically boils down to:
- the longitudinal streak doesn't have the pinch at 1/2 to 1/3 of the way along
- there are no prominent terminal "fingers"
- there's no hint of a subterminal line
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| presumed Agriphila selasella |
Hello Adam,
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed Agriphila selasella which seems to have become much more widespread in recent years. The important things to look for (on fresh specimens anyway) in separating it from tristella are the lack of a pinch in the middle of the streak and the fact that the streak is "underlined" with darker scales.
Thanks for that Dave!
ReplyDeleteI'd just like to add that the dark edging on the pale streak is not a diagnostic for selasella. Paler forms of A. tristella frequently have this. I happened to look at my specimens today and what struck me was that the paler tristella are quite orangey-brown whereas selasella is more the colour of milky coffee, like this one.
ReplyDelete