A Biodiversity Information System for Cheshire, Halton, Warrington & Wirral

5spot narrow bordered burnet moth or 6 spot burnet moth?

I was told (by a very experienced naturalist) that if the last spot on the wing was on the ‘inside’ edge then it was 6spot burnet - but I have never seen this given as ID criteria in a book or on the internet. Any thoughts?

Hi Susanne,

The two spots side by side near the wing tip which are sometimes merged indicate the common Six-spot Burnet.
The other two common species Five-spot and Narrow-bordered Five-spot lack this feature. The only other species with similar but mostly with a merged wing tip spot is the Slender Scotch Burnet, found only in the Inner Hebrides.
So your specimen is a Six-spot Burnet.


Greg

Thank you for the clarification.