A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
Sunday, 10 September 2023
Is this Agriphila inquinatella?
Having seen Dave's earlier post about heathland trapping, which featured a picture of Agriphila inquinatella, I took a closer look at my latest catch of grass veneers. I thought this one looked like a possible candidate for inquinatella.
I also found in my garden trap this very tiny (length 3mm) micro. Is it possible to identify it?
Steve Trigg, Cookham
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Hello Steve,
ReplyDeleteIt would be worth getting the moth checked, but I'd say your Agriphila was a worn geniculea. A.inquinatella is an interesting species and more than three-quarters of the 80 or so Bucks records are from heathland sites (Littleworth Common, Stoke Common, Burnham Beeches, Rammamere Heath). I'd be very suspicious of any found away from that habitat if they haven't been dissected because the species is so easily confused with faded examples of the very common geniculea. That said, I've had two examples checked which did prove to be inquinatella, one from my garden (2017) and one from Bernwood Forest (2022), so it obviously can wander.
The other moth deserves the attention of Peter - he loves checking out tiny moths!!
Thanks Dave. I did think a worn geniculea was probably the more likely. However, I have kept the moth so I will get it checked, along with the other tiny micro.
DeleteMy own thoughts are that the grass moth is A. geniculea. I'm just back from France where each summer I get lots of geniculea and very small numbers of inquinatella (averaging one or two per night). The habitat is a mix of clay overlays principally used for intensive arable and areas of chalky and occasionally sandy thin soils which are mainly left as heathland or woodland: I think the inquinatella come from the thin chalky areas.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience A. inquinatella has a thinner and less strong central white streak and its single chevron is both less pointy and more weakly-marked (even than on a worn geniculea). There's also something about the central black dot on inquinatella that I find difficult to put into words, but "finer" is the best I can do. I do find one or two individuals so poorly-marked that I can't identify them with confidence and they go unrecorded, but the chevron on Steve's moth says "geniculea" to me. That's my hostage to fortune - let's see what Peter comes back with!