A small black moth ? UK

[Prichard,AW,NAR7 PRICHAA2 M]

Things which concerns me about the id as Diurnea fagella are 
a)  the 1cm length mentioned in the description. This seems a bit short to
me from my recollections of the species, unless it was a female possibly.
b) I don't know that I would have described even a melanistic D. fagella as
resembling a beetle, but that's rather subjective.

The zebra striped legs seem to fit.

I see D. fagella frequently during the day at rest on oak tree trunks, it is
a common moth here in Suffolk. It is probably at the peak of its season at
the moment. 

The colouring of the moth doesn't actually seem to give very good camouflage
and they can be readily spotted from quite a distance. Most of the ones I
spot are males. Females I have seen very infrequently. The females I have
seen have been in the process of climbing up the tree trunk. Plenty of males
too light but I have had no experience of any females turning up to light.

Sorry but I have no alternative to suggest.

Tony Prichard

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Roger C. KENDRICK [SMTP:kendrick at hkusua.hku.hk]
> Sent:	Monday, March 29, 1999 1:30 PM
> To:	leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> Cc:	dhobern at hursley.ibm.com; ianadunn at globalnet.co.uk; alan5319 at alo.com
> Subject:	Re: A small black moth ? UK
> 
> 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
> 
> mailing address:
>   Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong
>   Lam Kam Road, Shek Kong, Yuen Long, New Territories, HONG KONG
> 
> Hong Kong Moths website coordinator
>   http://web.hku.hk/~kendrick/hkmoth.htm
> 
> HK Lepidoptera Group webmaster (English version)
>   http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/1085/