Monday, 14 September 2020

Small Ranunculus and Phyllonorycters


I was pleased to add Small Ranunculus to my garden list last night.

Is it possible to identify these as Phyllonorycter genicullella from the photos?

I have tended to assume all Phyllonorycter need dissection and then of course not all, especially females, can be done anyway.




Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.


6 comments:

  1. Hi Andy,

    Do you have the size please as this looks more like Large Ranunculus to me, which has just started appearing with my first last night too. BW, Marc

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    1. Yes you are right! That's a pity. Well spotted.

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  2. Hi Andy,

    It looks to me as though your two Phyllonorycters could actually be two different species. Unfortunately the three acer-feeding ones (acerifoliella on Field Maple, joannisi on Norway Maple & geniculella on Sycamore) all look quite similar so I'd still be tempted to keep them for Peter to confirm. All three are reasonably common though.

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    1. Thank you. Once I enlarged the images I did wonder if they were different species. I have recorded joannisi earlier this year thanks to Peter but not the others so I will put them in the next batch.

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  3. Hi Andy, if you believe the literature, the bottom phyllonorycter should be geniculella, as the second and third chevron are joined by a dark bordered orange line.

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    1. Thank you for your comment. That one certainly looked identical to some of the geniculella images on the Norfolk moths website. As it is in the freezer I will send it off to be checked anyway.

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