NOCTUIDAE | Xyleninae | Xylenini

73.220 Brachylomia viminalis (Minor Shoulder-knot)

fw: 13-15mm (Waring & Townsend); ws: 29-35mm (MBGBI10); Jul-Aug; grey willow (Salix cinerea); common in damp woodland, marsh, fen and heath throughout GB.
Formerly placed in Subfamily: Cuculliinae
Picture
Brachylomia viminalis (Minor Shoulder-knot) §3 male
ID: Forewing ground colour varies from whitish-grey to blackish-grey, with a short black basal streak. Male antennae shortly pectinate.
Named forms: stricta - whitish-grey is the most frequent; obscura - dark grey, occurs in the Midlands and N.England; saliceti - rare, basal half dark grey, terminal half paler; unicolor - rare, uniformly blackish. 
Oligia strigilis/versicolor/latruncula (Marbled/Rufous/Tawny Marbled Minor) all lack the basal streak.
  • Variation
  • Dissection
  • Male genitalia
  • Female genitalia
<
>
§1 Loch Rannoch, Perthshire; 25/08/2008; male; fw 14.0mm
§2 Loch Rannoch, Perthshire; 25/08/2008; male; fw 13.2mm
§3 Loch Rannoch, Perthshire; 27/08/2008; male; fw 12.9mm
§4 Loch Rannoch, Perthshire; 27/08/2008; male; fw 14.8mm
§5 Dalmunzie (Glenshee), Perthshire; 27/08/2016; female; 13.8mm; to light
§6 Seathwaite, Cumbria; 25/07/2016; male; fw 13.5mm
​§7 Orlestone Forest, Kent; 07/07/2019; female
​§8 Orlestone Forest, Kent; 07/07/2019; male
​§9 Orlestone Forest, Kent; 07/07/2019
​§10 Orlestone Forest, Kent; 07/07/2019; female
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 11/06/2016 (§1-4)  | §5 added 03/01/2017 | §6 added 03/07/2017 | §7-10 added 31/01/2020