Saturday 26 May 2012

Getting busier


Morning has broken and another beautiful May day looks likely. I want to get out and enjoy it, but must first catalogue a few more moths from Thursday night. Yet more await me in the trap. I got up earlier before making our tea and started having a look; but after only one photo, the camera's battery fizzled out, so I returned gratefully to bed.


This first micro is absolutely tiny. The blurry moth beyond it is a little pug, so I hope you can see that the micro is a speck - a millimetre long, if that. Next in ascending order comes this tortrix micro above. I await the forthcoming micro-moth Bible or a comment from one of my expert buddies to suss what these two are.


This, however, is a Grey Pug, I am fairly sure. Although very much in the Jane Eyre governess class of moth, it has a modest beauty in its own way. And finally for now, I am frustrated by uncertainty over this larger moth, below. I was opting for Shuttle-shaped Dart because of the patterning, but the one moth which I have photographed so far this morning is definitely an SSD and it is a lot smaller. So I shall publish it for now as Anonymous and wait to see whether help comes from comments before my researches here resume. I hope the weather is lovely with you too.

Speedy update (after only an hour or so...):  See Comments for brilliantly rapid IDs of the two micros by David Shenton, and confirmation that the last moth is indeed a Shuttle-shaped Dart. Very many thanks, as ever.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Martin,

Your little micro is Argyresthia trifasciata.

Regards

Dave

Unknown said...

Sorry Martin, forgot the second one, that's Epiphyas postvittana or Light Brown Apple Moth - an Aussie invader.

Regards

Dave

Unknown said...

....and yes, the bottom one is indeed an SSD; it can exhibit sexual dimorphism in appearance and size.

Off to the beach now...

Regards

Dave

MartinWainwright said...

Wooo David, amazing!

I am SO grateful.

Actually, I am also excited because the post has just come, including a book-shaped package which I think just could be a copy of the new Bible

I will be learned!

I really do appreciate your help and I'm also very relieved that I was right about the SSD, even if I didn't trust my own judgment.

all warmest wishes
M