Friday 25 July 2014

Micro help needed

I have 3 micros that I would like some help identifying if possible.
The first one looks to me like Dioryctria sylvestrella (although I believe D. abietella is more common). The fw measured 14mm. Here are 2 photos.


The other 2 micros below I haven't managed to put a name to. Both have a fw measuring 6mm.



Steve Trigg, Cookham

4 comments:

  1. Hi Steve, the Dioryctria will need chopping to determine the species. The first of your two unknowns appears to be Argyrotaenia ljungiana. I can't really see enough of the second from your photo to be sure of what it is but I suggest you have a look at either Grapholita janthinana or Grapholita funebrana.

    As a general point, it would help greatly if you could try cropping your pictures before uploading so that we have a decent-sized image of the moth itself to work on.

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    Replies
    1. ...and in case you were concerned when reading up about Argyrotaenia ljungiana (as I know you will!), I should perhaps add that you can disregard what the books say about it being a moorland species - that may be true but it is also quite a common garden moth locally.

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  2. Many thanks Dave. My pictures do lose some detail on the upload, so I will try some cropping next time.
    I still have the Dioryctria moth. Would you be able to email me the chopping man's contact details? My email is s_trigg@hotmail.com.

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  3. Haha, I've been agonising over a tortix I caught last night, thinking it must be some sort of epinotia or misformed achatana. wasn't even looking in the right place, it is also Argyrotaenia ljungiana - the first time I've seen it. Not keen on the picture in the guide for this one, though retrospectively I can see it now. Good stuff, I got an id without even posting :)

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