Too many moths, too little time

I see that I have not done a post since 17th July, although in fairness, Mike has done the posts from our two successful Garden outings, but this does not excuse me.

Since my last post, the above title has been very true, and the trap has been full, with lots of interesting moths. In addition, Mike and I spent an evening at Whixall Mosses with Dave Grundy (the person who started the Garden Moth Scheme (q.v)) and with 6 traps running there were more than 190 species recorded, including several site specialities.

At home, I have recorded lots of species new to me here. A lot of these have been micro moths which need dissecting to distinguish them from other similar species - and some of these have not been recorded in Shropshire since the 1930s - but that does not mean they have not been around.

So, here are a few pictures, some of them of moths which are less than 5mm long, some which are new and a very interesting one, which was a Grayling butterfly - yes, in the moth trap


Phyllonorycter harrisella

Grayling

Pebble hook-tip

Caryocolum blandella

Phyllonorycter geniculella

And a few caterpillars, including the fully grown Puss moth larva and some others found around the area.

Poplar Grey

Puss Moth

Elephant Hawk-moth