Do moths fly in the rain?

After an evening of drizzzle with more forecast throughout the night, I put the trap out to see if moths fly in the rain. The answer here on the edge of Oxford is that quite a few do.

My secondary motive was being rather fed up with the way that the current dismal spell of weather has affected trapping. Knowing from experience how effective Mr and Mrs Robinson's simple rain shield usually is, I decided to risk things.

It was worth it, both for the interest re the rain and also because the last of the great hawk moths which I can expect here showed up: the Elephant Hawk above. The tally is now: Privet, Poplar, Eyed, Lime, Elephant and Small Elephant. If any of the others come, I will be in clover.

The other rain defiers were the cheery Spectacle shown second above, helpfully illustrating the reason for its name, a smart Swallow Prominent, third above, and the micro Cochylis atricapitana ( I am pretty sure) shown below. This little button was perched on one of the two eggboxes which had got damp and may have been enjoying the moisture.

There were also four Flame Shoulders, four Treble Lines, a White Ermine and a number of caddis flies of differing sizes, all of them sound asleep as the rain continued to patter down.