The only Pyrausta species that I usually get in my central Oxford garden is aurata but in my Actinic trap last night I had the following which has what could be interpreted as having a rather worn example of the diagnostic "seagull" marking on the lower inner wing near the dorsum. So is this my first purpalis of the garden or just a more marked than usual aurata?
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| P. purpalis or aurata? |
Hi Adam,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it isn't safe to decide between aurata and purpuralis (note spelling) purely on the forewing markings, although you can sometimes hazard an educated guess which one you have - and I'd suggest your example is probably aurata. The hind-wing markings do need to be checked and this can be done quite easily inside a pot. Have a look at this (which I accessed from the Berkshire Moth Group web-site "Resources List" if you don't fancy copying out the link!):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U_n_3WBJsZFIQL83zIzXUrEoibDJcepZ/view