It's reached the time of year where my garden year list for Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, pretty clearly isn't going to go much further... Very few moths indeed the last several weeks, and a tendency for the same species (Lunar Underwing, Beaded Chestnut, Lesser and Large Yellow Underwings) to dominate. The individual photoed here, from just over a week ago, has me a little puzzled, though. My instinct was that it might be a Dark Chestnut on the grounds that it was, well, so dark. Its size is pretty well right for that, too. However, a photo with a flash revealed more detail, including an emphasis on that dark spot on the trailing half of the kidney mark which made me think a little of Red-line Quaker, but I don't think it's otherwise very similar to that. So is there one of those two which it more obviously is? Or is there another species in contention which hasn't occurred to me?
Hello Steve,
ReplyDeleteYour moth is definitely one of the Conistra species but I would not like to say for sure whether it is Chestnut or Dark Chestnut. The wing shape looks closer to the former.
Thanks, Dave. Tricky little pair.
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