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Is it possible tp ID this fly? County of Angus on 20/08/2023.

James

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Hi James, I think it's an Epicampocera succincta.

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Thanks, Eric. How sure can you be?

James

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Hi James, I'm nearly 100% sure that it's a female Epicampocera succincta, but the slightly red tip of the scutellum confuses me lightly. A lateral view of the head could help (the palps should be distincly thickened).

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I'm not entirely sure that what you are seeing is a real colour. If you look at the detail photo (sorry about my head and the tripod spoiling the picture), you will see a couple of faint purple stripes on the thorax. Those are not real purple stripes but rather light effect/wear and tear or something similar. Is the colour effect at the tip of the scutellum not something like that?

James

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I'm sure you are right that we see purple reflections on your fly and I've found these reflections on some of my Epicampocera photos, too.

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Sorry to spoil the party, but shape of antenna is off, facial ridge has many bristles, tibiae are reddish and calypter is of Sturmia-typ: hence Pales. quite dark, I admit.

Theo

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Thank you both for your contributions to the discussion.

I have done some further research and it must be Pales pavida:

1. The updated British List (July 2022) only mentions Pales pavida; there is no mention of Pales processionae.

2. The Oak Processionary Moth does not occur in Scotland - the nearest ones seem to be no further north than Birmingham. Even if P. processionae did occur in the UK, the nearest moths are about 500km south of this sighting.

James