Is this just a Flame Shoulder?

[A_Neal]

Hi all,

I caught this last night and originally recorded it as a Flame Shoulder but the colour of it has thrown me slightly and has got me unsure on whether it’s a Flame Shoulder, as originally thought or whether it could be a Radford’s? Can someone confirm this as a Flame Shoulder.

Regards,
Alex

[CliveJ]

I'd say Flame Shoulder - take a look at https://britishlepidoptera.weebly.com/ochropleura.html and see what you think.

[A_Neal]

Thanks Clive for your opinion. I suspect it’s a Flame Shoulder simply because of the rarity of Radford’s. Thanks for the link however I’m really struggling on this - I can see features of both in my specimen. Any other identifications from anyone else would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Alex

[JulianB]

I see where you're coming from with this one Alex, and we should always dare to hope! But leaving the rarity aside there's two other things to consider before zooming in on your moth. First is location - Radford's is an immigrant, and has only ever been found right on the south coast. There's nothing to say one won't eventually get swept up the country, but it's not happened to date. Second is flight season - we're close right now, but not bang on. Radford's peak in October, ranging from Sept to Oct, but has never been found in August in the UK. Then to the moth - they are tricky to tell apart, but it doesn't quite work as a Radford's for me either. I think every feature would need to be perfect to get this past a CMR. Next time!

Cheers, Julian

[A_Neal]

Thanks Julian for confirming. It definitely was a long shot but I just needed to make sure that I wasn’t missing something exciting.

Cheers, Alex