May the moths be with you

With a nice sense of timing, the moths have laid on a Star Wars show to coincide with the arrival of our grandchildren for a few days of sunshine here.  Darth Vader has assumed the shape of a Straw Underwing, top right in the composite below, and then we have a series of spaceship-like insects: an Agapeta hamana micro with a slight wing fault, top left, plus a Gold Spot and Ruby Tiger (nice to see the latter's vivid but normally-concealed body through its whirring wings) and a Straw Dot.

Here's another wing-whirrer: the Straw Underwing from the first photo which I tapped out of its eggbox cone retreat. It wanted to fly away immediately but need the time and whirring practice before lift-off.

Then a delightfully delicate (and, for me, unusually unblurry) Common White Wave, one of what I have long referred to as the Laura Ashley family of moths because of their dainty nighties, like those in the famous dress designer's early collections.

One of the commonest moths in the trap at the moment is the Blood-vein, well-named for the thick red band from tip to tip of its wings.  The second picture below shows the variety of sizes in which Blood-veins come - especially this year when there seems some evidence that the very dry weather has reduced the supply of foodplants and possibly speeded up the process of pupation, leading to smaller adult insects.  The third picture, although hopelessly blurred (in part because of the problems for digital cameras when taking pictures of moths in the black but reflective trap bowl), shows the feathery antennae of the male.

Lastly, here are some everyday but handsome moths: a Bright-line brown-eye with a Straw Underwing and a boldly reflecting/refracting Burnished Brass accompanied by that jumbo and well-named micro,  Schoenobius gigantella.