All alone

For the umpteenth time, I am very grateful to a Commentor on the blog - in this case Richard, who pointed out that the 'November/Autumnal Moths' which featured in my last post were in fact Winter Moths. They made a change from the solitary predictable regular in the trap at this time of the year, the December Moth, which appears in the first two pictures here.

Because it's a very dark moth which often photographs poorly, I took this one inside this morning and snapped it under our most powerful table lamp. The sudden fierce light and warmth had no effect whatever on its deep sleep at 7am. I know how it feels.

On the Winter Moths, here they are in the Moth Bible, on the same page as the ones with which I muddled them. I have long ago given up hope of getting differences such as this right. I tend to go on colours and patterns and these are too similar for my limited detection powers. The easier difference is the size - Winter Moths being smaller - and to some extent the wing shape. November Moths are a little more pointy.

It's good to have the Winter Moth recorded for 2016 - the ones in the post below are my first of the year - and it's also a most interesting moth. Its equivalent of blood has an element of anti-freeze and it takes half-an-hour to warm up enough to take wing. Read more, if so inclined, from one of my earlier posts on the subject here.