Moth mystery solved.

Last August I posted a photo of a tortrix moth that I wasn’t sure on the id. I was thinking along the lines of Apotomis semifasciana, which would have been a new site record here. I saved the moth for dissection to confirm the id. Jon Clifton kindly did the dissection for me recently and it turns out that it isn’t semifasciana at all, but is in fact Thaumatotibia leucotreta, the False codling moth. Looking likely to be a Suffolk first.
This moth is an Afrotropical species and is occasionally imported accidentally as a larva in oranges and other fruits and seeds (quoting from UK Moths). So did this moth blow into my trap in the garden from the Sainsbury’s supermarket not too far away as the moth flies from where I live? Guess I will never know for sure! Just shows you can never tell what is going to turn up in your trap!

Thanks must go to Jon and all the people he consulted on getting the final determination of the moth.

Neil

Thaumatotibia leucotreta

Thaumatotibia leucotreta

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