Foxglove or Toadflax?

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andrewjcharlton
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 2:57 pm

Foxglove or Toadflax?

Post by andrewjcharlton »

Good Morning,

In 16 years of garden trapping I've never had Toadflax Pug.
Is this my lucky day?
What do you guys think? (and why?)

Grateful for your guidance.

Andrew
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Greg
Posts: 1508
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2014 11:10 am
Location: Davenham Nr Northwich

Re: Foxglove or Toadflax?

Post by Greg »

Hi Andrew

Your moth unfortunately is another Foxglove Pug. The Toadflax Pug is slightly smaller, has brighter markings
and the outside leading edge of the dark cross band is gently curved, whereas on your Foxglove it has a
definite kink.
I'm also patiently waiting for my first Toadflax Pug.

Regards
Greg
Last edited by Greg on Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
andrewjcharlton
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 2:57 pm

Re: Foxglove or Toadflax?

Post by andrewjcharlton »

Thanks very much for that Greg.

I've put this up because looking at many photos of these two species online, the classic difference you describe in the curve of that cross-line is not as clearcut as I had hoped (of course, some of the online photos could be mis-identified). With regard to size my impression of this one was that it is smaller, thought that is very subjective without another moth to compare it with. I guess colours fade too as moths age. I noted also that Mapmate holds 2047 Cheshire records of Foxglove Pug and only 33 of those (a rough count) are August records (though indeed I had one such before).

Oh well, one day....!

Andrew
PaulHopkins
Posts: 456
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2014 4:11 pm
Location: Bromborough, Wirral. MapMate Recorder

Re: Foxglove or Toadflax?

Post by PaulHopkins »

Re size: not sure if Foxglove Pug ever produces a second generation, but if it does I guess you’d expect the individuals to be smaller? Could that be a possibility for your late record?

(I had my latest Poplar Hawkmoth by far last night, which I assume was a second gen- it was noticeably smaller than the May/June ones). EDIT - Or was it a second gen? I see I've actually had them pretty much continuously from 5th May to 25th July; 14th August isn't that much later...

Cheers
Paul
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