Identification Problem

[davidtomlinson]

Identification Problem:

Can anyone identify this moth, please (trapped in Sussex last week)? I was thinking about Large Nutmeg, but according to local records, that's very unlikely. It doesn't look like the Rustic Shoulder Knots that I see up here, so I'm puzzled.

[bungled]

Hi David,

I see that you have had 23 views of your Identification Problem and no-one has put their head on the chopping block. So, axes at the ready folks -------- I think that this image is of a Nutmeg (Discestra trifolii).

Cheers for now,
Geoff.

[davidtomlinson]

Geoff,

Thanks for your reply; I'm very grateful, but I have to say that I think you're wrong ...... two reasons - Nutmeg has a distinct W in the outer cross line and the oval mark is almost circular with a border. The moth in my photo has no W and the oval mark is distinctly borderless and lozenge shaped. I'm coming round to the view that it's an odd-looking Rustic Shoulder-knot (i.e. without the shoulder-knot). There are some pics on the web that show RS-k without its knot, but of course that assumes that them as posted the web pics know what they are doing. If I get no further enlightenment, I'll send it to Dave Grundy, but I don't like to bother him because I'm sure he gets several pics a day in season and he's such a nice bloke.

David

[bungled]

Thanks David.

You may well be right.

There appears to be a hint of a basal streak on the right wing of your moth.

The text in Field guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, Waring et al,
states that "basal streak is sometimes greatly reduced" in Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens).

Cheers for now,
Geoff.

[davidtomlinson]

Geoff,

Thanks. I didn't read the text in W & T, just looked at the pics, and you're right about the hint of a streak. So, I will leave Dave Grundy in peace and decide that it is a Rustic Shoulder-knot.

David