010 Drymonia dodonaea (Marbled Brown)

71.010 Drymonia dodonaea (Marbled Brown)

fw: 17-20mm (W&T), ws: 39-44mm (MBGBI9), ws: 33-38mm (Wikipedia, UKMoths); late May - early Jul; oak (Quercus spp); local in England, Wales and Scotland except the far north.

Drymonia dodonaea (Marbled Brown) §1 male

ID: Forewing an tegulae with a variable mix pale grey and dark brown fasciae and whitish crosslines of variable strength: subbasal fascia usually pale grey and bounded distally by a scalloped whitish antemedian line best marked in dorsal half; a horseshoe-shaped blackish line extends proximally within the subbasal fascia, from a subdorsal scalloping, and contains a pale brown patch; antemedian fascia dark brown, postemdian fascia pale grey; postmedian line whitish, somewhat dentate, with a blackish proximal margin which often incomplete; subterminal facia dark brown, often limted to costal and dorsal wedges; terminal facsia pale grey or dark brown; cilia chequered pale grey and dark brown. In some specimens all the pale grey areas are replaced with dark brown. Similar to D.ruficornis (Lunar Marbled Brown) which has a distinct central dark crescent and more sharply marked cross-lines and fasciae.

Variation
Dissection
Male genitalia
Female genitalia

§1 New Forest, Hampshire; 29/05/2010; male; fw 18.2mm
§2 North Ballachulish, Argyll; 05/06/2015; male; fw 17.7mm
§3 New Forest, Hampshire; 22/06/2016; male; fw 17.8mm
§4 Chobham Common, Surrey; 23/05/2017; male; fw 18.2mm
§5 Orlestone Forest, Kent; 18/05/2020; male
§6 New Forest, Hampshire; 30/05/2023; female; fw 18.5mm
All images © Chris Lewis