Hi there,
I'm a bit confused about these two. The first I make either a very dark form of the variable Beaded Chestnut or the highly contrasted form of Dark Chestnut - but the wing shape looks too curved for that.
The second is, I think, a Pale Mottled Willow, but I'm not familiar enough with that species to be sure.
Can someone sort me out, please? Many thanks, David
Hi David, you are right about the shape of the first moth - the Beaded Chestnut is generally narrower winged and has a characteristically narrow oval mark. This seems likely to be your second choice - the Dark Chestnut - with its colouration and relatively straight (slightly concave?) outer edge. Dave might well want to comment on this, since there is always some discussion about Dark Chestnut vs. Chestnut. I'm not sure what the dark patch is in the middle of the wing (overlying the kidney mark slightly). Your second moth fits well to the Brick, although rather a pale colour - the Pale Mottled Willow is again a narrower moth, usually identified by some white spots around the kidney mark but has other features such as dark costal spots.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, John - I can see that Brick fits better than Pale Mottled Willow, although it must have been a small one! Like you, I would be interested to hear Dave's view on the other moth. Looking forward to hearing from him.
ReplyDeleteVery best wishes and thanks again. David
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI agree with John - Dark Chestnut and Brick. The wing shape looks good for Dark Chestnut and this form of it, with the contrasting light colouring to the outer edge of the wing (one of the three illustrations in the field guide), does seem specific to that species. Or perhaps I should say I've never seen a Chestnut looking like that! The ground colour of Brick does seem to fade quite markedly with age but the red reticulations are almost always there to give the ID.