Gold spot or Lempke's? (1 Viewer)

[edenwatcher]

Those of you following my thread will know that, after a recent run of jolly nice plusias, I have almost reached the full set available for the garden list. The one outstanding species (or so I thought) was Lempke's gold spot which led me to wondering how one tells the 2 gold spots apart.
Looking at photos on the web led me to re-examine my photos of the single gold spot I caught last August - with the result that I had the thought - why isn't that Lempke's?
The ground colour looks quite yellowish and the spots seem more the right shape for Lempke's.

What does anyone else think?

Rob

 

[Brian Stone]

Last I heard they were dubiously separable even on genitalia! Be interested to hear more. The attached one was accepted as a Gold Spot on the photo by my CR but I've always had a nagging doubt.

Perhaps we could put both pictures on UKMoths and ask the latest?

 

[edenwatcher]

Be my guest Brian - I haven't subscribed (yet).
Caught on 6th August 2005 on Eden Estuary LNR, Fife (well more or less!)

Rob

 

[Brian Stone]

Just one response from ukmoths, from Michael Bailey. At least it answered my query about how practical separation is.

"Sticking my neck out I'd say the one from Hunts is a good match for the Gold
Spot. This is using the pictures in Skinner and MoGBI which show the bottom
subapical streak as being longer in the Gold Spot. The other one looks
closer to Lempke's but the books do urge caution and MoGBI says "The species
can only be separated with certainty by examination of the genitalia"

I was on one of David Brown's moth courses at Malham Tarn in Yorkshire and
both of these sp occur there, so it was a good opportunity to compare them.
We did an experiment and I checked them on genitalia and on well marked
specimens David could get them correct every time. (Well at least that is
how I remember it!)"

 

[edenwatcher]

Cheers Brian - hope I catch some more in the coming weeks!

Rob