A small black moth ? UK

[Roger C. KENDRICK]

Well, I'd have to agree, Diurnea fagella is a possibility, although I don't recall
seeing by day before (but regularly recorded the males at light - females have very
reduced wings and I rarely saw any to light). This species (light form) is also
illustrated in Chinery. The males are well known to exhibit melanistic forms; which
appear almost as 'negatives' of the normal colouration.
I guess three years away from UK recording has made my species recognition a little
rusty!

regards,

Roger.

Donald Hobern wrote:

> I think that the description of the legs rules out the Eriocraniids.
> Perhaps the most likely match would be Diurnea fagella, a member of
> the family Oecophoridae, which is quite common at this time of year.
>
> It is rather variable in ground colour.  Last year I caught several
> that were almost black.  Certainly it exhibits yellowish chevrons on
> the fore wings much as described.  The legs are exactly as described.
> It comes readily to light.  If the wings extended beyond the end of
> the abdomen it would have been a male.  If they reached more or less
> to the end of the abdomen it would have been a female.  The texture of
> the forewings is very dusty, as descibed.
>
> An illustration of the moth is most easily found in the 'Field Guide In
> Colour to Butterflies and Moths' by Ivo Novak (published by Blitz),
> which has been on sale in many of the remainder bookshops at least down
> here in Hampshire.  I have seen photographs in other general books on
> insects.  Most such illustrations show a more typical tawny-grey ground
> colour but the range is great.  I have a colour drawing I made last year
> of a male that perfectly fits the desciption.
>
> Donald
>
> "Roger C. KENDRICK" wrote:
> >
> > Hi Ian,
> >
> > If you have any birch trees nearby, I'd be tempted to say you have seen one of
> > the several species of Eriocrania moths that occur in spring sunshine. They're
> > all pretty small, about a 10mm wingspan when set. At rest, they hold their wings
> > very steeply tented (tectiform). Under a handlens, the basic ground colour is
> > usually a metallic dark purple, with a spattering of yellow or golden scales. The
> > species are quite difficult to tell apart. There are several books to view,
> > Chinery's Insects of Britian and Western Europe illustrates one species in its
> > natural resting posture and the Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and
> > Ireland gives much greater detail about all the species that occur in Britain,
> > but the illustrations in the volume (either 1 or 2) are rather poor and don't do
> > the colours justice.
> > E. sparmanella (which occurs in Britain) is illustrated at
> > http://mpi-seewiesen.mpg.de/~kaisslin/pheronet/ins/eriocsparr.html
> >
> > Hope this helps,
> >
> > Roger.
> >
> > Dr Ian Dunn wrote:
> >
> > > Hi
> > >
> > > Stuck my head out of the back door this am , into the sunshine , very close
> > > to the conurbation of Nottingham to find something small and black on my wall
> > > at about 1.5m basking in the sun . I've not seen this before . There is a
> > > garden which usually seems insect friendly , a hedge row and fields the
> > > otherside of the A 52 .There are ponds too .
> > >
> > > It's 1cm long , overall black but with a yellow V on its back and the
> > > impression of being dusted with pollen ( perhaps it has been ! ) The legs
> > > seem to be black and white , reminded me of a zebra spider ( only 6
> > > though ! ) . At first I thought it might have been a beetle but a hand lens
> > > leads me to believe it is a moth .
> > >
> > > Does this description remind any one of anything ?
> > >
> > > Ian
>
> --
>
> Donald Hobern : CB Development, MP 189, Hursley Park, Winchester,
> England
> E-MAIL        : dhobern at hursley.ibm.com
> TELEPHONE     : +44 1962 815301



--
Roger C. KENDRICK
  Demonstrator / Ph.D. Student
  Dept. of Ecology & Biodiversity, The University of Hong Kong
  mailto:kendrick at hkusua.hku.hk

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