Tuesday 11 July 2023

Agonopterix liturosa and others

I think the above is Agonopterix liturosa, which will be new for me, but I'm not 100% certain. The micro below I think is Zeiraphera isertana--(FL~7 mm), but again I'm not entirely convinced--it seems a bit anonymous!



The next two from a few days ago I am fairly sure of, but as they are considered local and very local respectively in the field guide I'd be interested to learn how common they are in the region.
Phtheochroa inopiana, Stowe

Ethmia dodecea, Stowe
Thanks
Phil
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4 comments:

  1. Will Langdon12 July 2023 at 09:08

    Phil, I agree with your last three identifications. In my experience your last two are both fairly common where their foodplants occur (around Oxford at least). P. inopiana around Fleabane in damp grassland, wetland and woodland, and E. dodecea in calcareous areas with Common Gromwell, particularly on the Chilterns but also away from there. For your first one, you have a Depressaria species rather than an Agonopterix. It is one of the better-marked species, douglasella/pulcherrimella/chaerophylii, and being so small and slim I think it must be one of the first two, and so brick red, my guess would be the second, pulcherrimella, but be interested to know what others think - I don't have much experience of these or the relevant volume of MOGBI on me at the moment! I note that in a previous query about this pair, Dave has mentioned the leg colouring: https://upperthamesmoths.blogspot.com/2019/09/depressaria-pulcherrimella.html, and the forelegs of yours do seem a better fit for pulcherrimella based on what he's said there.

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  2. Dave Wilton12 July 2023 at 10:47

    Hello Phil,
    Will has kindly covered it all above. If you still have the Depressaria it would be best to have it critically examined because pulcherrimella does look to be the best fit and that would be a very nice sighting as there are only half a dozen previous records for Bucks. You may well get Agonopterix liturosa eventually as it is quite a common species, but despite the field guide saying it flies from June onwards I normally associate it with late-Summer locally (August/September) so perhaps just a little bit early for it yet.

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  3. Phil Tizzard12 July 2023 at 12:01

    Many thanks Will and Dave,
    Re. E. dodecea, I am a long way from any chalk here! There may be Common Gromwell around, but I'm not at all familiar with it and have never knowingly see the plant. However I do have a couple of plants of the cultivated form of Lithospermum in the garden, (now called Lithodora), and maybe that has attracted it?
    Re. the Depressaria, that was my other choice, but as I was uncertain I have retained it, so will send it for checking at the end of the season.

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  4. Dave Wilton12 July 2023 at 12:58

    Ethmia dodecea is another spreading species and I think could turn up anywhere in Bucks now. The first county record was from Bernwood Forest in 2010 (so away from the chalk) and it turned up in my garden on the clay in 2015 and has since become an annual here. Most records are indeed from the chalk of the Chilterns but not exclusively so. As you suggest, it could well be using cultivated plants.

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