Invasion

 

My biggest invasion by a single type of moth took place on Monday night when hundreds of little micro Ermine moths assembled all over and around the trap. These fragments of insect life come in a whole range of types, even just in the UK, with Spindle, Cherry-tree, Willow and other close relatives all hard to determine apart unless you are patient enough to puzzle over the number and pattern of their black dots. Here are some examples from my horde and you will see others in the background to further photographs below.

I will get out my micro moth Bible when time permits but for now I can say with reasonable certainty that there are plenty of Willow Ermines in there. All these little specks can carry a massive punch when they combine to weave cocoons for their pupal stage which can envelope whole trees and even, overnight, parked cars.

Nestling among them was a nicer surprise: my first Kent Black Arches, above, a moth which has been spreading from its original eponymous base on the South Coast, with a series of arrivals in Oxfordshire recently which convinced me that I would not have too long to wait.  Grassland and brambles have helped in their discovery of new places to live and they are warmly welcome.

Here to welcome them was one of my favourite regulars, the Tree-lichen Beauty whose delicious green has not printed well in my moth Bible's illustrations by the painstaking Richard Lewington. It is not easy either to capture the startling effect of the colour with an iPhone but here are two efforts, along with the misleadingly dull paintings from the book.

 Here are some of the other arrivals on a busy, warm night: a Common Carpet, first in its 'I'm a butterfly' resting position and then with wings extended, alongside a Marbled Coronet (I think) in both pictures, a Coxcomb Prominent, a Brown Plume micro (I also think), a Lime-speck Pug aka Bird-dropping moth, a Ruby Tiger giving just a little hint of its hidden glories, and a Red Twin-spot Carpet showing clearly the reason for its name.

Below we have the very big micro Hypsopygia glaucinalis followed by the all-mauve version of the dread Box moth, destroyer of hedges.

That's all at the moment from here in Oxfordshire but in my granddaughter's moth world, much is going on. She attracted several pristine Elephant Hawks including the one below which we nearly transferred to a neighbour of theirs who is having her house painted pink 

Here are the rest of her catch on Tuesday night when we were over there: the Apple Leaf Miner micro, Lyonetia clerkella, the Light Brown Apple micro, Epyphyas postvittana, a Crambid micro and another little speck which I have yet to ID. Then a Rustic, a Heart and Dart, something too worn to be sure of, a Chinese Character and a Common Footman. 

Next we have a Nut-tree Tussock, a Flame Shoulder (the granddaughter snorted with derision at this name which she considered wildly overblown), an upside-down Buff Ermine, a Ruby Tiger sporting its lovely knee-breeches, the other, more beautiful form of the evil Box moth, A Spindle Ermine, Yponomeuta cagnagella, like its many relatives here, a Coronet, a cherry Fruit moth micro, Argyresthia pruniella (I think) and a second Apple Leaf Miner.

And finally, we have a Riband Wave, one of four Jersey Tigers (far from home but they have spread like fun in recent years), the second Elephant Hawk, another Riband Wave, the trap showing the Box moth in my second composite shortly after its arrival, two more Riband Waves, a Canary-shouldered Thorn and a Scalloped Oak.

Oh and here's a challenge from the granddaughter. Can you spot the Jersey Tiger in the photo below?