Tuesday 10 June 2014

A new micromoth for Islay

I caught this very small (c.12 mm long) moth last night. Unlike many micromoths for which I have to call on expert Danny Arnold's invaluable help to identify, this one is distinctive enough for me to be confident in my own identification!
There is no English name, but its scientific name is Olethreutes schulziana - also called in some books, Phiaris schulziana. It is the first reported for Islay (with no records from neighbouring Jura or Colonsay, either) and has a somewhat disjunct distribution, occurring in northern England and Wales and southern Scotland, and then in northeast and northwest Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides, with a big gap inbetween in which sits Islay!
Malcolm


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