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Hello all,

Could someone tell me please if these Burnets are 5 spot or Narrow Bordered 5 spots, and how do you tell the difference?

Many thanks and regards,

Deano.

Hi Deano,

Sorry for the delay in replying, but I was hoping that an expert would have jumped in by now . I am not an expert but can deal with the basic issues and point you in the right direction for further information.

The 'narrow bordered' part of the name relates to the width of the black border on the upperside of the hindwing. (All of my books refer to a black border, but it always looks blue to me). However the difference in this detail between the two species is only slight and the two are notoriously difficult to tell apart. Another indicator is that examples where the middle pair of spots on the forewings are merged are frequent in 5-Spot, but rare in Narrow-Bordered. Differences are also apparant in the larval stages and the larval host plant can sometimes be an indicator. It does not help that the flight periods of these closely-related species overlap, but Narrow-Bordered is earlier (late June-July) while 5-Spot is July-early August. The Narrow-Bordered 5-Spot is the more widespead species.

I think your best bet would be to contact the Suffolk Moth Group http://www.suffolkmothgroup.org.uk/index.shtml who may be able to make a determination based upon the site and date of the sighting.

Cheers,
Vince

Hi Deano,

I'm also not an expert and like Vince was hoping one might have answered!

I would plump for 5 spot. In my experience in Narrow Bordered the narrow border along the costa is more narrow than in your picture resulting in the red spot it houses looking almost squeezed in.

I have (I think) pictures of both in part 5 of my report from France: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4269

Not definite by any means but that's what I would go for.

Cheers

Lee