Lychnis or Campion

[JohnR]

I would welcome opinions on this moth. The slight purple cast may favour Campion but, as far as I can understand what is written, the shape of the base of the 'valley' formed by the stigma is ambiguous. On one wing it' seems 'square-ish' and the other wing 'rounded'. Identification tips gratefully received.

Regards, John

[Greg]

Hi John,

I'd say that's a second gen Campion.

Regards
Greg

[GasMacc1]

The only other ID tip I can find comes from the Hants Moths web-site.

https://www.hantsmoths.org.uk/species/2173.php

[In the Lychnis, the] "subterminal line joins dorsum at an angle of about 45°, clearly inclined to and almost parallel with termen (MBGBI Vol 9)".

To be honest, I have trouble with that sentence.

- in their sections on Anatomy, none of Waring/Townsend, Sterling/Parsons, Manley defines "subterminal line". Only in Berkshire Moths do I find it: "immediately before the termen", the termen being the outer edge.

- how can something be both "clearly inclined to" and, simultaneously, "almost parallel with" something else?

In your photo, John, the sub-terminal line seems to be a little worn, especially where it meets the dorsum, so even if I could make sense of the tip, it probably doesn't help us here.

Cheers,
Dave Maddy.

[GasMacc1]

Waring and Townsend put it better:

"On Campion, the pale outermost cross-line is zigzagged throughout and turns to finish at or near the trailing corner.

"On Lychnis, it is zigzagged only near leading edge and in the middle and then curves more smoothly to finish on the trailing edge, usually angled towards the base of the wing".

Now that I look again at your photo, there is a clear abrupt change of angle of the outermost cross-line, where it meets the trailing corner. It's anything but smooth!

So. I agree with Greg. The slight purple hue and what we can see of the "subterminal line" points to Campion.

[stevehind]

Campion.

With the wing-tip being worn, the hint of purple would suggest Campion. This is most often more obvious on the smoothly curved postmedian fascia, which is white tinged purple, with a black central line and is usually distinctive on Campion but much less obvious on Lychnis.

Regards
Steve

[GasMacc1]

I've tried to sketch out the features that Waring and Townsend were describing to illustrate the differences in the shape and position of the "subterminal lines" to help differentiate between Campion and Lychnis if no purple colour is visible and the features of the kidney marks and ovals are in doubt.

Lychnis and Campion Difference in Outermost Crossline

[JohnR]

My thanks to all contributors who took the trouble to answer my question. Especially GasMacc1 for explaining in pictures. Being a simple soul that worked better for me than words.

Cheers, John

[Greg]

Hear are pics of fresh examples of Lychnis and Campion. Showing the differences which have already been highlighted.


Greg