This post kicks off with a whole pile of these ghastly Crambids which are a pain to identify. Any help would be very much appreciated. I'll likely take a good few samples for dissection, I have one or two in the fridge. However, if you know what any of these are, or can confirm or correct my presumptive identifications please do comment below (if you don't want to comment publicly please FB Message me, or email.). Please refer to the #numeral and apologies for these being out of order. Many, many thanks. The more I look at these the more confused I become, on the whole!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYkAULNmlRjsQggc6MbRJrjLArTLOYiVWQj0-Nazq3p0OvMw-rmBLsklALVI3peLSpLV3bSCjaWWSDwiVDL4olhCdvGes_0cOwQq8yPURpNo6Z-BEWsix1VOPPpAAtyAkV336BNveOgnVkGDyWq64gBTE2HxDgJtNGKzxhxCp-Q9G6xX8HabRZn-gX5o/w498-h640/Eudonia%20mercurella%20%232.JPG) |
#2 Eudonia mercurella
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XDaPVGVNlM7i-w6XSU8plonpcJH8YDmwdcKfT-AXoN_wOqqX9W9YmvzfVTRW-YwvmrXz5F4bVXeKTKKDqbA7jMICdloyX3hDkKrpo4Mug1FBNA0uImQXGXQhowtNUOmDs7KaZQ0Asgw5mGQ0l_U5SdYRPZog3KfGT2omAoG90gwDEEboD5zJeq9pzB4/w488-h640/Eudonia%20mercurella%20-%20murana%20%231.JPG) |
#1 Eudonia mercurella Corrected Eudonia lacustrata.
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGhMC5HkpInlqEBTCLFPQPQwbHgzSH1CxNqkkk8EPF7WQFWgtjrU-Bx1Z1OvLQVgrH5yifTm_CBcbbZ5qJGRCpejEGBrgxqj7Ms_KFex3aHgzVnhrdvWcddcBdleHpiSvC95UMdGibVxw8jA5N27Vy1qXGyic-DKcpoGe49P-DFsRC1B9GE_RQT_qQQc/w640-h536/Eudonia%20murana%20%234.JPG) |
#4 Eudonia truncicolella or lacustrata
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2Wa2U0cUefNl8puiuzvd9VsHUT9krXQ0-7-WxDuEfC2iznIS0tKwgau9z6d0-W1jB6X5eQk6dphpmSo9ioII5fmwkuFJ95JPQiNYk1Yoix5I-KneYRySYxVXrBQioF-rvRTn6VRPEYZJ2E64k0o3Fy7-oWVgmVkJPC0n-N48wC-3M-h4jA8ekO0kHbg/w512-h640/Eudonia%20murana%20maybe%20%233.JPG) |
# 3 Eudonia truncicolella
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVfBBYRwozKdFztuYZ3lW8-1WcDKlwjjBJNVw7ukfDpfAU3lzVPUfMtHT-YBaCHJql7Iy13hkV2voRR6E61MG2D9CZlaBUXFMbEB7ntd9VTk40haRhUl9pylhqXnYmPx59GG6MZoSLQFuuYb2NI4zoPs-Q7DuOSG14DEaj1G4L472ENe49QWgWBWWSf4/w514-h640/Eudonia%20murana2.JPG) |
#5 Eudonia mercurella, corrected to Scoparia ambigualis
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGutLXv04vZOJ8_yRHpJPoUbWmaSsPphfpkkFO8BFj_KtAISU5IEr0qjC3DChIpICuV74tqskwh65XZwL4p0WcYIEaihde1WT8DtX15xRP2x5IGn1NBvhJg-FEKgODarIdxiq-RlC0U3Rw3sNIHEdN8-jU-VROZfXaSFdQwoDRGtgiQjlbZpRd6vqzmlI/w498-h640/Eudonia%20pyralella%20maybe%20lo.JPG) |
#6 Eudonia pyralella Corrected to Scoparia ambigualis.
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In other business Spotted Flycatcher is becoming regular in the garden. I've seen both Osprey and Kingfisher again on the patch. Interestingly, the Common Gulls have disappeared and Lesser Black-backed Gulls are regularly around 30, stealing the sheep feed.
Elephant Hawk-moth was nice (and easy to identify) in the traps on election night, when the rain came in earlier than expected, so I didn't catch much in total.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrJpvLpgv01tmBN5N_LwkIkVhLa-jJ4S_FwXKlV6QrpcLZZ0pOd-bySo2W2KBlH9Q2a814WQCWf684s3MorYWLI_dV55AfGPjrLc9KINZqHBASwp5M5l0cUgr_nliNBmYVpJ9m9dVrk8X_J3PSDk7dDxFtXYiHKBIlDln730-Zbu-tD4GDYrWa-xWUKI/w640-h490/Elephant%20Hawk.JPG) |
Elephant Hawk-moth.
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And Clouded Buff was exceptionally nice.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhecD3zQ6Xz4njep9jTECw7-OoNCzQFIauLTvkX_unBGrmCo1XhE4NbMgXw1vKU_uZlK5yZbk68y27mPbM-f1883Ed1w7cs6PscWfkH1cgBmE3F2QakuHU1RgHL-C8Gw0cdXG-IuojDxs0UaTSzz0eFGiivVeosWOWKoZonOHSgVr6jSJyPBvFBd6BbE/w640-h492/Clouded%20Buff%20m%20lo.JPG) |
Clouded Buff.
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I've dissected three minors Oligia sp as they are not reliable from external characters.
All were females, and one dissection my solution was a bit strong and everything of use disappeared. But the other two worked and proved Marbled Minor.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEugMyjQQ8YlicJOJSaDx7XuIZC2JN97C_yeUmdvdsyMOYQ_gSroJWGXuRQUKQtcsa-Oqg2XRZyLd8RRE8iSvVUXznbl4gJAKQYee8T72CZaQRPvliXujCGZjFhEFsid3G2FnORCo20pmvffuscwOJHowvvjhvdBpn6J2CgohihqNziVZ4jhc7cjNqeYQ/w640-h504/Marbled%20Minor%20lateral%20lo.JPG) |
Marbled Minor, female.
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Most valuable record of the week; I poked about in Oak Trees and in a spider's web found a long dead "thing". I thought it was an Ichneumon, but on sticking it under the microscope found it was a cranefly that mimics Ichneumons. Not only that it was nationally scarce Ctenophora pectinicornis. According to NBN mine, when verified, will be the most northerly UK record, rather chuffed.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OknRyfy70EpxCTCXmkMlUsIW0fBeEFd_F7Uc9AHo8ZWFTxlLGBsqQ5aDqxOAolXbj9ZugaPFbvv1sA43UQmzDwyhF6RXk7EX1d0KTi0XhiQJe7WWQSo6fipRrkGL7S_Ll7fqhuThA6iWPf8DCORcaf5sQAUrUlZA1LXxcSzsIdcqh6t1OMAX0C_6exw/w640-h484/Wing%20lo.JPG) |
Bits of long deceased Ctenophora pectinicornis.
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I'm still battling with botany! And it helps with finding interesting insects. Here's today's find.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyr0OsmfZkfBrDX8nuJBJ5-zvP5DX0uhMmAv8yPUO8p-dylhkMsOtPURpyq9Cz9kNSAwWm3_CKNcq2qcAF2xyLFsAwPj1A_3D6shGhP-rl1yQkbf-hfQYmYR1ccoLGUZgfP1OyXdcpTwALFrZZbF5CvH2YjtoCoZo0qOeQ1dHFJnmWxO9JN7mDPNm7KA8/w640-h500/Grypocoris%20stysi%20lateral2.JPG) |
Grypocoris stysi.
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The dog and I were nearly taken out by, or maybe nearly took out about eight cyclists, as we were in the verge/road edge when taking the photos. It could have been rather messy. In the garden, on the Buddleia was another addition to my spider list (and garden list). I'm still slowly adding things to my PSL. I think I've got enough here to claim Araniella cucurbitina.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDxwSaGYdIIE8ys256mapkjHJd0CG0R0n_EG_4ZaKW8Aa_FrEjsk3xmynBwY1D9LCXhTTchSYWkrGClXCRk5ITosM8PpwYIarGu0ratbTlTXn5q0y0odm0EbuFlKjIYlD9qJ_aE3t-tJ5ENo9dS9CbiW1OTnqaFt8sq79nW6XZKOaoeMrGZpIvJF_dxM/w640-h484/Araniella%20cucurbitina%20ventral%20epigynes.JPG) |
Cucumber Spider, Araniella cucurbitina, the genitalia don't seem to stick out enough for the very similar confusion species, A. opisthographa.
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3 comments:
Hi Al,
These are trciky but for what its worth -
1. Lacustrata
2. Mercurella
3. Truncicolella
4. Unsure? Lacustrata or Trunc?
5. Ambigualis
6. Ambigualis.
Cheers Stewart
Thanks Stewart, that's very helpful. I'll try taking one or two and dissecting them although according to Chris Wells the genitalia of some of these are not altogether helpful in proving the identifications. I usually find that once I've dissected something I start to get my head around the external features better, for some obscure reason. Chris's guide is here (which I've only just come across, I should have thought of looking at his site before) - https://britishlepidoptera.weebly.com/scopariinae-id.html Many thanks for your help with these.
No worries Al, I find them tricky too but 90% of mine are Ambigualis or Lacustrata with odd others in the mix....
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