Plume moths - body patterns help id

Identification of Plume Moths

Plume moths are not the easiest to id at the best of times, and often one sees beaten-up, partially scaled individuals in the field. Wing patterns of many species are confusingly similar, or bland, making identification in the field difficult, or impossible, on wing pattern elements.

Fortunately, the dorsal body patterns are very handy id guides…. for most species (but not the genus Pterophorus!) [thx to Donald Hobern (@dhobern ) for this tip], as they seem to get less rubbed than wing scales (that would make up the wing patterns usually used for moth identification in the field)

Here’s 16 of the 22 HK species de-winged so one can appreciate the variation of pattern elements.

so what to use as help to id plume moth species?

• dorsal pattern elements on thorax and abdomen
• lateral pattern elements may exist, too (but beyond the scope of this post)
• common elements include spots, bands (narrow and wide), chevrons and longitudinal stripes, even blotches (triangular and trapezoidal seem to be a popular theme!)
• abdominal ridges and pattern element placement relative to these ridges (compare the two Deuterocopus species, for example)
• colours of the patterns are all pigment based, so will fade with exposure to daylight, and may not be consistent from one individual to another, or between populations, so should be used as a secondary identification tool

hope these pointers help a little.

More at the blog

Posted on January 9, 2024 03:19 PM by hkmoths