Micro Moth - Denisia similella?

Duaneyh · #1 (**permalink**) 04-06-2011, 05:05 PM

Hello. I have recently been doing some moth trapping at the nature reserve I work at in Lanarkshire. The other day (the night of the 31st of May) I caught the lovely little moth below and have been struggling to identify it. After far too many hours flicking through the UK moths pages I finally found a likely candidate - Denisia similella but have way too little experience to be sure. There are several other Denisia species listed which don't have photographs and there don't seem to be any other records from the south of Scotland.

I also found the micro pictured below on a walk near Douglas and have so far had no luck with it. I would appreciate any help anyone can give me with these two.

Cheers

Lizy

peter2009 · #2 (**permalink**) 04-06-2011, 08:23 PM

The second is Pyrausta purpuralis.

peter

roundwood123 · #3 (**permalink**) 04-06-2011, 10:00 PM

Hi Lizy, your id looks good but i would send a pic to the Lanarkshire Moth recorder for confirmation.
Steve.

Duaneyh · #4 (**permalink**) 07-06-2011, 12:31 PM

Hello

Thanks so much for your help with ID. I sent my pictures off to my mothing mentor and they seem to have ended up with an expert at Aberdeen University.

The official verdict is that the first moth is D. similella and that the second is possibly P. purpuralis but there is insufficient detail on the photo to confirm this. Apparently in this genus a view of the underwing is usually necessary for ID. If only I had known I would have stuck around and tried to get some more pictures...

Thanks again!

Lizy