Gold spots

[toddytwo]

Yesterday afternoon we found a moth on a garden plant .He's got his wings closed but on the underside are the most beautiful shiny gold patches , one on the back of each wing .
We took photos but are yet to see him open his wings .
I can't ever recall seing anything like this , has anyone got an idea what we have please ?

[RobSutton]

Anything like this one? If so it's a Gold Spangle - I'm getting a few around at the moment.





The intensity of the gold spot does vary according to how the light catches it and also varies from individual to individual

[toddytwo]

Thanks Rob , your second picture is identical to the one I took ,so I'm sure you're correct.
I've never seen one here on the county Durham fells before ,but isn't it beautiful?

Thanks for your help

Toddytwo

[RobSutton]

They are rather nice I'm always amazed by how metallic that gold patch looks in the right light.

If you look on the UK-moths website you can see distribution maps for all the species and Gold Spangle has a Northern and upland distribution so the Durham Fells would seem fairly typical for it.

[aeshna5]

We had Gold Spangle everytime we put out the trap last week in the Highlands. Not one i recall seeing around London.