More Identification Help Please

[A_Neal]

I have had several pugs and micros which I need help with identifying. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Alex

[JulianB]

Hi Alex - just had a quick look at your first micro and your pugs.

I can make your micro into Argyresthia curvella - would you be happy with that? If confirmed, that would be a nice record for Cheshire, with only one or two showing up each year.

I agree your first pug is Grey. The second is possibly Grey. The third is too worn for my liking, but at 24mm this might have been a Freyer's. I wouldn't record this one.

Some nice moths all in!

Cheers, Julian

[PaulHopkins]

Hi Alex,

Your last micro looks like Ephestia woodiella to me, but since that’s not on the Cheshire list it seems unlikely! Watching with interest...

Cheers
Paul

[PaulHopkins]

Actually reading up a bit more, I see species in that genus are hard to separate. None remotely common in Cheshire, anyway.

Cheers
Paul

[A_Neal]

Hi Paul and Julian,

Thanks for the identifications.

Firstly, Argyresthia curvella looks good to me and also I think that you're right with saying the second pug is Grey.

I do think that the Ephestia woodiella looks like a decent match after comparing to some pictures however I will wait for someone to provide a second opinion before saying anything more.

Alex

[stevehind]

Hi Alex

Epinotia bilunana is also correct.

Regarding the Ephestia species. Ephestia woodiella (previously known as E. unicolorella) appears to have become fairly common in recent years, especially in West Cheshire. These need dissecting to be sure and as most are released without being dissected, the few, confirmed, county records give a false impression of their status. This is the case with all species requiring dissection. They are all poorly represented on the county database and all appear to be much rarer than they actually are. Some of these difficult to identify species can be recorded as an aggregate, such as the Marbled Minors agg. but for the Ephestia you would have to use the top level aggregate 'Unidentified micro lepidoptera species' as no specific aggregate exists for the Ephestia. If you do record it under the 'Unidentified micro lepidoptera species' aggregate, please add Ephestia sp. in the comments field.

Regards
Steve

[A_Neal]

Many Thanks Steve