Here's another diurnal target, a bit like Adela fibulella and the Micropterix spp but harder to find. Like them it's rather metallic and rather small.
Monochroa tenebrella is a Gelechid, so holds its pointy-tipped wings relatively flat. It's about twice the size of a Micropterix. There are no wing markings: the whole moth is shiny metallic browny-green. The only distinctive feature is the white antenna tip of the female. There are only a few Carms records, but I found a thriving colony on Sorrel in our garden and also swept one from a lane bank in the far west of the county today. The two in the photo were scampering, jumping and fluttering around a stunted Sorrel plant at 11:30am in an open, parched bit of short grass, along with 10+ of their friends in a bit of a frenzy: I suspect they were males gathering at a female. It's probably worth sweeping any bit of rather dry Sorrel-rich (or Sheep's Sorrel-rich) grassland, or just looking carefully around Sorrel plants while you're out searching for Foresters.
I saw this species, for the first time, in Caernarfonshire last week. No doubt massively under-recorded!
ReplyDeleteA really useful, instructive blog again, Sam.
ReplyDelete