Literal Naming

 

When my granddaughter was small and enjoying the excitement of using language for the first time, she had a very straightforward system of naming toys as 'Yellowy Duck' or 'Greeny Owl', taking their colour as her guide. She was at one with some of the moth and butterfly-namers of 18th century England whose famed inventiveness with coinings such as the Clifden Nonpareil or Scorched Carpet went in tandem with a literalness, as in this occasional visitor, the Tawny-barred Angle.

Tawny, barred and angular it indeed is, as well as being slightly more common than usual this year. The day before the relatively smart specimen above arrived, I had my first example of the season; the more faded moth below which has been apparently around for a little longer or had a harder time.

The TBA comes in two main versions and both of mine seem to have a little of each albeit predominantly the colouring of the standard form. Here they are from the Moth Bible, followed by a photo which shows how deceptive cameras (or in my case my iPhone) can be. The moth was resting on the side of the trap's black bowl in a spot whose lack of light which played havoc with the digital, light-searching lens.

Busy times continue in the warm and sunny weather although I join with everyone else in the country in hoping for rain soon. There will be a huge amount of data processing under way this Winter as scientists work out how many moths and other insects have moved to the UK as a result of the warming of our climate. Here are some of my other guests: A Common White Wave pretending to be a Holly Blue butterfly; a Snout, an Angle-shades, a Clouded Border and a Tree-lichen Beauty.

Then we have a Broad-barred White, a regular visitor but in modest numbers,  a Common Carpet, a welcome sample of green with a Light Emerald snoozing in an eggbox alongside a Green Carpet, and the Light Emerald in all its own glory.

Onwards with a September Thorn on the rim of the trap's transparent cowl; all the Thorns often prefer the outside of the trap or cling to plants or walls nearby; a Lime-speck Pug (one of my two candidates for renaming as the Bird-poo, along with the Chinese Character), two Poplar Hawks which also preferred a grass stem and stayed on it all day, un-noticed by predators because remaining absolutely still; and a White-spotted Pug (I think but the bowl plays havoc with the camera as mentioned above).

So to a Silver Y (just after my Light Crimson Underwing neighbour sent a vid clip of one in her house),  a European Cornborer micro, Ostrinia nubilalis, which was a rare immigrant until its population took off in the 1930s, a Maiden's Blush - lovely name and lovely moth but in awful light here - and ditto a September Thorn and Orange Swift, forming a rather appealing duo. 

And finally a Sallow Kitten, showing its pretty colouring from the side, and a Ringed China-mark micro which rejoices in the far from micro botanical name botanical name of Parapoynx stratiotata.