'One to look out for' - the Lesser Treble-bar.

This is the second in my series of  'One to look out for' and this time I'm focusing on the Lesser Treble-bar, a species which has only been recorded five times in the county as opposed to the much more common Treble-bar. The last time it was recorded in Montgomeryshire was in August 2009.  The Lesser Treble-bar tends to be most frequent and best distributed in central southern and south-east England, the Midlands up to Northumberland in the northeast. It is however very local in Wales and it gets more uncommon the further west you go. It is double brooded May-June and August-September. It frequents a wide range of habitats, including grassland, woodland rides, field margins, sea cliffs and sand dunes and gardens.

Treble-bar Aplocera plagiata

Lesser Treble-bar Aplocera efformata

On the diagram below (and the photos above) note the difference between the shapes of the two inner bars where they meet the leading edge of the wing this can easily be seen with the naked eye or a low powered hand lens. 

                           

This is certainly one to look out for in the county - so make sure you examine all your Treble-bar records very carefully just in case there's a Lesser Treble-bar lurking amongst them.

Peter.