I think I have only found it once, caerulea is by far the commonest, in just the habitat types you mention. I know Alan, been in the field with him.

None of those features are definitive, there are some macro-morphological characters that can point towards this scarce species, eg gill edge colouration, but even with this it needs to be recorded as a possible.

Why not S. caerulea (syn cyanea)? Checked chrysocystidia?

Yes, I know it well, shall be there this evening😊

The two 5-spot burnets are essentially indistinguishable as adults in the field. Habitat and presence of food plant are indicative but not definitive. In my experience in North Somerset Z. lonicerae are common while trifolii is vanishingly rare. But things are always changing!

That one is certainly showing the features of fasciatus, but we have 3 species in Britain!

Presumably Zygaena lonicerae? in that habitat both could be present.

I don't think this can be fasciatus, possibly sexualis?

Opiliones, harvestman

Which race are your Dorset insects?

Right, such variation in Z. lonicerae seems to be very rare, I see lots of them. In Z.t.palustrella these fused spots seem common, but I've not seen them in Z.t.trifolii, although said to occur? Frequency?

Is this equally frequent in both ssp? I have seen many palustrella like this but rarely Z.t. trifolii, not that I have seen many of the latter recently.

btw what about leaf tip of xwintoni? the middle one in the collage had a typical incarnata leaf tip.

can't

Thanks Sean, I did identify a couple of plants as xwintoni but wasn't at all sure. I know, but I like to record things at the finest level available literature allows, can always amalgamate records later but can disassociate them if didn't take note.