After the ball is over

After last year's excitements over the Death's Head Hawk moth, I keep placing the trap optimistically on our potato patch, which is the biggest we've ever planted (for both culinary and entomological reasons). No luck so far, but a very fine Privet Hawk paid a call last night in between Friday's downpours and the further heavy rain which is forecast today.

The chief feature of the eggboxes, and the surrounding potato plants, was an army of Footman moths, as if our humble veg patch was the aftermath of an 18th century ball with carriages lining up outside to collect dozy revellers in the early morning. They were so omnipresent that I didn't even notice the one in the background to this photo, below, of a Brimstone, a moth whose cheerful colouring I can never resist.

For the rest, it was a busy night with over 350 moths in the eggboxes but nothing new so far as my limited skills could discern. Goodness knows what this pug is, immediately below; I was kindly given a guide to British pug moths in return for a talk to Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society but it has left me none the wiser, I am afraid). I have captioned the others, I hope correctly.

A notably long and spindly micro - I will guess Eudonia angustea

A female Ghost Moth in a cosy nook

Anania coronata - always catches my eye

Small Emerald, another stunner

Snout - the Pinocchio of moths