Moth Wing Features

I realised that many people may not understand the names of the moth wing features that I routinely use in identifying moths. I made this, and I hope it is useful (This is Version two - first one had a spelling mistake!).

הועלה ב-נובמבר 10, 2019 08:36 אחה"צ על ידי

mamestraconfigurata

תגובות

Great stuff, thanks @mamestraconfigurata.

פורסם על-ידי benkeen לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

This is outstanding! Thanks for sharing this.
Flagging fellow moth-ers so they can reference it when helping people: @sambiology , @gcwarbler ,@kimberlietx , @annikaml, @ellen5, @thebark, @jordandcochran, @jjmiller , @aguilita, @royaltyler, @mako252, @jeffmci9

פורסם על-ידי amzapp לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

I'm totally bookmarking this, so I don't have to guess

פורסם על-ידי ellen5 לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Very nice! I use a field guide for the ones I don't know, but it's much better to have an online image so I don't have to get up and walk 3 steps to get the book. Ha! Thanks for posting this! (And thanks for the tag @amzapp!)

פורסם על-ידי kimberlietx לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Much help to have a nomenclature. Thanks! @starrgirl Worth bookmarking.

פורסם על-ידי thebark לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Am I right in guessing that the spots (orbicular, claviform and reniform) are more about the shape of the spot (circular, club shaped and kidney shaped) rather than their position on the wing - unlike most of the other parts labelled? asks the moth bystander :)

פורסם על-ידי marykrieger לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

@marykrieger Yes you are correct, although the spots do show up in the same place on the wings. The orbicular is round or oval (occasionally it merges with the reniform in some groups). The reniform is kidney shaped, and often the filling and the colour of the outline are important. The claviform is the really variable one - on many moths it is absent. Keep in mind that this is a rather 'classical' moth and fairly often moths may be missing some these main features, or they may be distorted. Except for the Costa and the inner margin - all moths have those!

פורסם על-ידי mamestraconfigurata לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

super - thanks for the clarification :)

פורסם על-ידי marykrieger לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Thanks all for the feedback. These are the most common field marks, so I hope that this will be useful. A full glossary (wing veins etc.) can be found at http://pnwmoths.biol.wwu.edu/about-moths/glossary/

פורסם על-ידי mamestraconfigurata לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

This is great! Thanks for posting it.

פורסם על-ידי jordandcochran לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Thanks for guide, @mamestraconfigurata, and tag, @amzapp!

פורסם על-ידי annikaml לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Wonderful. Thank you!

פורסם על-ידי mothmaniac לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Thanks for sharing this!

פורסם על-ידי jeffmci9 לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Fantastic! Thank you!

פורסם על-ידי jjmiller לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Thanks for sharing!

פורסם על-ידי aguilita לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

@lisa281 For your list

פורסם על-ידי kimberlietx לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Thanks!

פורסם על-ידי mamestraconfigurata לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

Great!!

פורסם על-ידי mothmaniac לפני יותר מ 4 שנים

The Facebook link to the image doesn't work for me (i.e. just reports "URL signature expired"). I came here via this post, however, which I assume includes the originally linked image: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/noctuid-moth-identifying-features/7850/6 . Perhaps you could update your journal post to link to the Discourse image URL which I presume won't expire.

פורסם על-ידי benarmstrong לפני בערך 4 שנים

I only used facebook to get the picture onto the internet, but have had problems doing that with others. I saw there was no picture at the top - just a little black box. I have transferred the image to Flickr, and re-posted it (that's the route I had to go with the most recent two). The image should be visible now, and I will check the forum post now.