Other moths I need to catch up on

A long catch up post. Things have been busy both indoors and outside, with the spell of warmer weather we're enjoying. These pictures were taken over the last few days in the bathroom, or at least upstairs. I have to get ready to go to work now, and as well as doing the evening shift today I've got the early shift tomorrow, so I'll probably not finish the catch up until tomorrow afternoon.

The more I look at them these next two pictures are less and less credible as photographs of the same moth. They were taken in the second bedroom and I only ever saw one moth at a time. But...

I have no idea about this moth (yet). It is so small I almost missed it, notwithstanding the care I now take when entering the bathroom in the evening when the light has been left on. It is sitting on the edge of the beam across the roof, and really it just looked like a flaw.

A regular visitor that was actually scuttling about on the (cork tile) bathroom floor a couple of evenings ago.

I didn't see this one fly in. I think it is the Large Yellow Underwing, though I didn't get a glimpse of the underwing, which would have gone some way to confirming the identification or ruled it out absolutely.

This bizarre moth which I've seen numerous times doesn't have a common name and I'm struggling to find its Latin name right now. I've seen it flying in the garden during the day and watched it land and roll up its wings into this resting position. Extraordinary.

A very small moth that was in the bathroom last night.

And so forth

I read somewhere during the week that we're suffering here in England a plague of slugs. I can well believe it. I stepped outside this evening to wake up his Lordship who had fallen asleep outside while having a last fag ... and stepped on THREE of the damn things having a conflab just out side the kitchen door - and that after coming down stairs this morning all bleary eyed and finding a tell-tale slug trail INSIDE the house, across the lounge carpet.

Phut! in a big way. Where are the hedgehogs? Probably rolling around in a corner of the garden clutching their over filled bellies and doing imitations of Mr Creosote. One more wafer thin slug, MrsTiggywinkle?

In the mean time this was on the outside bathroom door tonight and I am VERY cross about it. I recognise it but can't for the life of me find it in any ref. book and so I can't give you the name. Sorry.

Actually it turned out to be quite a hectic evening in the bathroom, and not a Brimstone in sight. Yes, one warm day and the bathroom is again like Oxford Circus. Here the rest of the gang all are, in no particular order...

This next one is slightly smaller than the above.

This one, on the other hand was about the same size and probably a wing span of nearer 4cm than 3cm


This one again of similar size, but different markings.

Then there were these next two, of similar size and the smallest two. The first of them has a very coppery sheen and is slightly larger than the second (possibly about 1.5cm - 2cm wing span, I'd guess). Both have been regular visitors this summer. I think the second might be some kind of Apple Moth.

Another one identified

Been rather busy over the last few days, chiefly getting rid of the offspring for a week, but also learning some new stuff at work.

But. I've also made the time to browse the UK Moths and Back Garden Moths sites in an effort to name more of the lepidoptera that have made their way into my bathroom (and more generally the house).

It is slow work, but I've made some progress including putting a name to this moth. It is phlyctaenia coronata. I took this photo a couple of nights ago, but it a moth I have previously seen during the day resting on the tomato plants, so perhaps we'll have more of them next year?

Billy Idol, Halloween Mask, Death

The common (as opposed to scientific) names bestowed upon moths could only have been dreamed up by the sort of men who wear their trousers hitched up under their armpits; things like Oak Beauty, Clouded Border, Flounced Chestnut, etc. Of course some aren't bad, but I although it isn't I still believe that the white freak on the bathroom door earlier this week should be called the Billy Idol (circa White Wedding). And the moth below should be called Hallowen Mask whatever the Men wearing Stupid Trousers might think to the contrary.

Death visited the bathroom too. This little moth expired.

And this spider and mosquito are locked in mortal combat.

Differentiation: specialisation and adaptation. But why the hairdo?

It was a case of six and out, last night. Some new, some old hat. One extraordinary.

For example, these have been in before. I haven't acutally attempted to find a name.

This one looks like it should be some sort of carpet moth. Perhaps 1.5cm wingspan but up in a high corner in the bathroom and out of reach of anything with which I might have measured it more accurately.

This is either the same moth as was in the previous night or by remarkable chance a second example. Both nights was by the light fitting.

This, the largest of the group was on the window frame.

This one was a long way from the rest of the group, on the inside wall.

Finally this one. My favourite of all last night's visitors. It was on the outside of the bathroom door, very low down. It was the last one I saw and as usual was very nearly overlooked. How many extraordinary things have I overlooked over the years?

[When I have time I trawl through the books and the web sites listed in the side bar in the hope of establishing an ID. I now, in early August, think I might have found this one. If I'm right it is an example of the White Ermine spilosoma lubricipeda.]

More of the same and something very different

Yesterday evening, warmer and drier, the air was suddenly full of things too small and fast on the wing for me to identify. No adequate field guide to small moths is to hand so even when they will let me get close for a long look, there's very little point.

Three moths were in the bathroom last night. As well as this large moth which disliked being photographed and reacted angrily to the flash each time it went off and finally decamped to the upper hallway in a strop there was yet another example of this smaller, paler waved moth which we've had in most days over the past week.

The piece de resistance of last night's mini gathering though is this one: a relatively extraordinary and lovely little moth that was on the light fitting of the bathroom.

All I need now is a name for it.

Oxford Circus type night.

What a busy night. What a difference a rise towards summer-like temperatures makes. First I found a couple of very small moths that have been in and out over the past few days at different places on the external wall side of the room. They're so small I probably don't stand a chance of identifying them and struggled to get reasonably representative photographs.



While doing that I noticed a brilliant green insect on the window. In fact there were two of them, the other one was lurking on the underside of the frame of the open window.










Then this moth about the size of the Garden Carpet which was so prevelent about a week ago, but distincly differently marked.

Next up this moth (also very small), which I've only previously seen downstairs. I'm as certain as I can be this is an example of the White-shouldered House-moth Endrosis sarcitrella

It was now about 2 in the morning, and a couple of larger moths were buzzing at the window from the outside, bouncing up and down but never quite managing to bounce through the opening. I glanced back and up and saw this moth resting against the light fitting, a bit tattered around the edges and I'm sure I should be able to nail an ID for it.

Finally one of the larger moths found the opening, buzzed about for a while angrily. When the moth settled the orange markings on the wings were highly visible and I could see the distinctive white line along the edge of the wings with the W that enabled me to identify this as Bright-line Brown-eye. This is a notorious tomato pest so the ID makes sense, just for a change.

The other big moth that came in was this one, which initially settled too close to the light for me to get a shot of the markings, then settled on the underside of the basin which gave me a chance at what I think was my best shot of the night.