Some larger moths, even common ones found in gardens, are difficult to identify. This book gives naturalists the means to tackle these tricky species.
British and Irish moths: an illustrated guide to selected difficult species (covering the use of genitalia characters and other features) makes available up-to-date information on the identification of difficult macro-moths, beyond what is currently available in the field guides. Written by moth experts Martin Townsend, Jon Clifton and Brian Goodey, and originally published in 2010, 72 larger moth species (plus their subspecies and forms) are included.
Much of the Guide is focussed on genitalia characteristics, although there are discussions of other characteristics such as wing markings (see example pages shown below). It provides the next step for those wishing to make definitive determinations of difficult moths such as ear moths, dark/grey daggers, copper underwings and the November Moth group.
The book itself is out of print and there are no plans to reprint it. However, the full contents are now available online here.
At the moment the 72 larger moth species (plus their subspecies and forms) from the original publication are included in this online version. Simply click on the species of interest in the table below to view the text, keys and illustrations. The introductory text and how to use the guide can be found here. Details on dissection methods, morphology and the glossary can be found here. The references and further reading can be found here.
Some of the files are quite large and may take several minutes to download. You will need a .pdf viewer to open the files.
Please note that the key and figure relating to female Satin Beauty Deileptenia ribeata (pages 40 & 41) are the corrected versions.
© This online resource is provided for personal use only.