Thursday, 4 July 2019

Black and White, with added pyjamas


There was plenty in the trap this morning, as usual at this time of the year, and although there was nothing new or unusual, I was struck by the prettiness plentifully available in 'monochrome moths'.

Here's a selection, all essentially black-and-white albeit with some additional subtleties such as the ever-so-slightly pinkish tones of the Least Black Arches (top right, above) - Update: sorry, I was not concentrating. This is a Muslin Footman, most unlike the other members of that family which resemble grey and yellow pills - and the flash of yellow on the Small Magpie micro-moth (top left, below).   The star of the monochrome show, the Black Arches, should be along in modest numbers soon but meanwhile the others are: above, clockwise from top left: the misnamed Single Dotted Wave,  a trio of Crambid micro-moths and a delightful Treble Brown Spot. Then below: a Clouded Border consorting with the Small Magpie and my far-from-monochrome pyjamas.


Finally we have a delicate Apple Ermine micro, wings furled like a rolled newspaper. This is one of the tribe whose caterpillars are capable of enveloping whole trees in spider, white webs.


Finally, some moths in other colours: a Large Fruit Tree Tortrix micro, appropriately arriving on a night when the trap was between an apple and a pear; a sharp-eyed Brown-line Bright-eye, a clumsy-looking Barred Straw and a Smoky Wainscot.


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