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Opinions please.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:53 pm
by swampthing
Hi,

I know it's a bit worn, but I would more than welcome opinions as to whether this is dark chestnut, or just a plain, old chestnut. Found resting at the foot of a birch tree near a path-level street lamp last night in Romiley. Struggling to catch much at the moment, so I don't want what I do catch to pass me by as just a 'maybe'. Thanks.

Andy B.

Re: Opinions please.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:17 am
by stevehind
Hi Andy

Chestnut. The apex of the wing is too rounded for Dark Chestnut.

There have been a few moths in the trap here this past week.
Last nights catch:
190321.JPG
Regards
Steve

Re: Opinions please.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:49 am
by PaulHopkins
Perfect conditions here in Bromborough last night, the counts reflect this:

Small Quaker 75
Common Quaker 30
Brindled Pug 16
Twin-spotted Quaker 14
Hebrew Character 8
Double-striped Pug 4
Oak Nycteoline 3
Clouded Drab 2
Ypsolopha ustella 1
Acleris ferrugana/notana 1
Dotted Border 1
Engrailed 1
Oak Beauty 1
Pale Pinion 1

Not quite a match for a report I saw yesterday from Monmounthshire: 882 moths in a trap, 704 of which were Small Quaker!

Cheers
Paul

Re: Opinions please.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 1:59 pm
by stevehind
Dark Chestnut rarely survives till the spring.
We had problems with spring records of Dark Chestnut when working on the National Moth Atlas and had to exclude them all.
If anyone does have any photos of spring Dark Chestnuts from Cheshire, I would be interested in trying to verify them.
Regards
Steve

Re: Opinions please.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:20 pm
by swampthing
Thank you, Steve. I had entered the moth as Chestnut in my records anyway. The only reason I thought it might be a 'Dark' was because of the state it was in, and it was rather small (wing length 13mm). This, of course, may have been due to the wings being abraded. I am certainly not going to argue, just glad to find a moth it's been that bad here.