January 2021

Search Box
I have had several suggestions that this site would benefit from a search box. I agree - but this is not available as part of Weebly's free hosting service. When I put a donations box on the home page I did so with every intention of upgrading the site to include a search box. I am grateful to the few people who have made donations, but they have so far not come anywhere near the Weebly annual subscription fee. So - if you want a search box please make a donation using the PayPal box at the top of the Home page. When / if I have received sufficient donations to cover the subscription costs I will upgrade the site. Meanwhile the "search this site" extension of Google Chrome works very well.

Coleophora - male genitalia
In the process of my ongoing work on identification of Coleophoridae I have come to regard what is usually termed the uncus as a gnathos. This is based on the position of the anal tube. In Lepidopteran genitalia the anal tube enters the genital armature between the ventral and dorsal layers of the tegumen and emerges through the ventral layer near the apex of the tegumen - when an uncus is present the anal tube is therefore ventral to it, and when a  gnathos is present the anal tube emerges dorsal to the gnathos, between the gnathos and the apex of the tegumen. In Coleophora the anal tube emerges dorsal to what has traditionally been referred to as the uncus. Its structure - a median lobe set at the apex of a pair of side arms - is also closer to that of most gnathi (gnathoses?) than to most unci (uncuses?).
Comments invited.

15.061 Phyllonorycter scopariella; Thetford Forest; 25/05/2020

3 additional new species identified from off-season dissections, bring the total to 1627

I have also written a page on identification of Choristoneura species 

37.053 Coleophora betulella; Pound Wood; 01/06/2020

43.006 Scythris potentillella; Thetford Forest; 25/05/2020