Small Magpie (1 Viewer)

[Richard D]

I awoke saturday morning to find what I think is a Small Magpie on the wardrobe door. Sulphur yellow body and head, white, but not bright white wings with mid grey markings. Wingspan approx 30 - 35mm, depth at max 25mm. Any other possibilities?

 

[MikeWall]

I awoke saturday morning to find what I think is a Small Magpie on the wardrobe door. Sulphur yellow body and head, white, but not bright white wings with mid grey markings. Wingspan approx 30 - 35mm, depth at max 25mm. Any other possibilities?

Not sure what you mean by 'mid grey markings'. Does it look like pictures of Small Magpie on the web? If so, then the answer is yes - not much else it can be confused with

Mike

 

[Richard D]

Not sure what you mean by 'mid grey markings'. Does it look like pictures of Small Magpie on the web? If so, then the answer is yes - not much else it can be confused with

Mike

Thanks - it looks like a Small Magpie in my woefully inadequate guide. If there aren't obvious confusion species I'm happy with that.

 

[Surreybirder]

Presumably you've ruled out magpie?

 

[Richard D]

Presumably you've ruled out magpie?

I think so - Magpies I've seen have deep black markings rather than a mid grey, and the yellow was restricted to head and body - none on the wing.

 

[Surreybirder]

I think so - Magpies I've seen have deep black markings rather than a mid grey, and the yellow was restricted to head and body - none on the wing.

Sorry, Richard, obviously stating the obvious!
Ken

 

[MikeWall]

Thanks - it looks like a Small Magpie in my woefully inadequate guide. If there aren't obvious confusion species I'm happy with that.

Hi Richard,

I realise that identifying moths can be difficult, and Small Magpie is a 'micro' not found in all books. That's why I suggested looking at it on the web (do a search in Google Images for 'Small Magpie', or go to www.ukmoths.org.uk, or my site www.hantsmoths.org.uk, or any of the other good moth sites up and down the country.) It is far more likely to be this than The Magpie Moth, but that is the most likely confusion species.

Mike

 

[Richard D]

Thanks all - definitely a Small Magpie. Can anyone explain why it's classed as a micro?

 

[Brian Stone]

Can anyone explain why it's classed as a micro?

Its a member of the Pyralidae family and that family are classed as micros. The Macro/Micro split is an arbitrary one and generally the families containing larger species are classed as macros. This leads to anomalies where a small member of a macro family can be a lot smaller than a large example in a micro family: e.g. Round-winged Muslin (a macro in the Arctiidae, the same family as Garden Tiger (up to 65mm wingspan)) might be only 15mm across and Large Tabby (a Pyralidae micro) is up to 38mm across.

Pyralids fall in between in some ways as many are large and distinctive by micro standards. As a result they are often the first 'micros' studied by moth'ers who have previously only dealt with macros.

Personally I prefer not to worry too much about the distinction and treat macros, micros and butterflies all alike.

 

[Surreybirder]

I agree with all Brian says but I'd add that there are reasonably cheap readily available guide books to the macros, whereas you have to spend a small fortune to get a comprehensive set of books on the micros - which is probably why the macros have been better studied (plus the fact that many micros don't have vernacular names which, I suspect, puts some people off from trying to get to grips with them.)
Ken