On 21st February 2026 a superb colour variant (aberration) was trapped by Christian Heintzen at Long Clough, Glossop. The moth was so distinctive and unusually marked, it prompted Christian to do some digging, to find out exactly what the variant was likely to be. After making a search on the National History portal and subsequent search for the original publication, Christian discovered that the appearance of the Oak Beauty suggested ab. berus, first described in 1933 from a specimen caught in April 1925, Hörhammer, C. (1933). The description is a very good fit for the one trapped by Christian.
The translation from German of the publication reads – ” I collected the specimen on April 19, 1925 in Berlin. It is distinguished by the completely alien-looking deep black marking of the forewing bands, which normally have an olive-brown tone. Only a trace of this normal coloration remains, a very fine line in both bands, mainly running from the inner margin of the forewings parallel to the ante- and post-median lines. The hind-wings are also blacker than in normal specimen. This striking aberration is named ab. berus”.
