Preferring the sofa by the lounge window has benefits. I get to watch the local House Sparrows go about their daily squabbles, there’s that fly-over bird of prey which will one day turn into a real Red Kite and, occasionally, I’m quick enough to dash out, pot in hand, to nab any micro that happens to alight on it. The latter occured on Sunday afternoon and, when it finally settled long enough to get a half decent view, I was intrigued. The photo below doesn’t quite do it justice but after two + hrs of trying I don’t think I’m going to improve on it. But which species is it? Looking through available literature and various websites I’ve decided it is one of the Antispila sp’. Until recently, treitschkiella was the obvious fit but that now appears to be only a recent addition to the British list and, instead, petryi is the more likely contender. The former is associated with [Cornelian] cherry while the latter is dogwood. I do have a dogwood in the front garden – of the variegated type – but my neighbour also has a cherry tree of some sort so I’m a little hesitant. I’ll hang on to the moth anyway but am interested to know what others think.
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If you haven’t had a response to this elsewhere, the two Antispila species should be separable on size and colour. Metallella is 7 to 9 mm span and has a purple metalic tinge. Treitschkiella has no tinge and is 5 to 6 mm span. Gen det is possible but not easy.
Hi Raymond. Hope you are on the mend. No other feedback so far so thanks for comments. I ruled out metallela as background colour all wrong – black not bronzy – so has to be either treitschkiella or petryi. Given that former is only supposed to occur in London according to what I can find on the net, petryi seems the likely candidate.