Having Kittens
Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 11:20 pm
Having Kittens:
On Sunday night, I found the moth in Picture 1 in the trap (in Tytherington, Macclesfield).
Initially, I guessed it was a Sallow Kitten (mainly because I remember getting one a couple of years ago !), but I thought I’d better work through the books to make sure. The more I read, the more the doubts crept in. Was it really a Poplar Kitten ? The dark central cross-band is actually on the blackish side of grey, so was it even an Alder Kitten ?
To cut to the chase, I’ve finally settled on Poplar Kitten.
I ruled out Alder Kitten, as its cross-band is supposed to be “pinched” at the leading edge, spreading “almost to the trailing corner”. In my Picture 1, the cross-band is of roughly uniform width. I looked back through my records, and found that an Alder Kitten had come to the trap in my garden in June 2016. My photo of it (Picture 2) shows the cross-band feature of the Alder Kitten quite clearly.
Even though Waring and Townsend lists Sallow Kitten as “Common”, whereas Poplar and Alder are “Local”, there are three distinguishing characteristics of Poplar Kitten which have led me to make the ID: the gentle curve of the outer edge of the central cross-band, the thick, black outline in the leading half of that edge, and the forewing length of 16-22mm.
These characteristics contrast with the Sallow Kitten that I recorded later in June 2016, (Picture 3). The irregular outer edge of the central cross-band, and the lack of a thick black outline can be seen in the photo.
The moth on Sunday night had a forewing length just over 18mm. Whilst that is right at the top of the range for the Sallow Kitten, it’s plum in the middle for the Poplar Kitten.
So, I’ve set out my rationale for Poplar Kitten. I’d be grateful for confirmation !
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On Sunday night, I found the moth in Picture 1 in the trap (in Tytherington, Macclesfield).
Initially, I guessed it was a Sallow Kitten (mainly because I remember getting one a couple of years ago !), but I thought I’d better work through the books to make sure. The more I read, the more the doubts crept in. Was it really a Poplar Kitten ? The dark central cross-band is actually on the blackish side of grey, so was it even an Alder Kitten ?
To cut to the chase, I’ve finally settled on Poplar Kitten.
I ruled out Alder Kitten, as its cross-band is supposed to be “pinched” at the leading edge, spreading “almost to the trailing corner”. In my Picture 1, the cross-band is of roughly uniform width. I looked back through my records, and found that an Alder Kitten had come to the trap in my garden in June 2016. My photo of it (Picture 2) shows the cross-band feature of the Alder Kitten quite clearly.
Even though Waring and Townsend lists Sallow Kitten as “Common”, whereas Poplar and Alder are “Local”, there are three distinguishing characteristics of Poplar Kitten which have led me to make the ID: the gentle curve of the outer edge of the central cross-band, the thick, black outline in the leading half of that edge, and the forewing length of 16-22mm.
These characteristics contrast with the Sallow Kitten that I recorded later in June 2016, (Picture 3). The irregular outer edge of the central cross-band, and the lack of a thick black outline can be seen in the photo.
The moth on Sunday night had a forewing length just over 18mm. Whilst that is right at the top of the range for the Sallow Kitten, it’s plum in the middle for the Poplar Kitten.
So, I’ve set out my rationale for Poplar Kitten. I’d be grateful for confirmation !
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