First Moths of 2015

Pale Brindled Beauty,  Phigalia pilosana.  Hayes, 14 February 2015

Moths are stating to appear in my garden trap at last.  I actually had one in mid-February, the Pale Brindled Beauty shown above, which flies from January to March.  It was good to see one of the winter-flying species.  There are several, but last year I saw none of them.  This species was a first for my garden, unlike the other three below:

Hebrew Character, Orthosia gothica. Hayes,19 March 2015

This is the easily recognisable Hebrew Character, a spring flier with strongly marked wings.  The Common Quaker also has well marked wings, but I like taking these front views.

Common Quaker, Orthosia cerasi.  Hayes,19 March 2015

The antennae are curved backwards in this shot, and look rather like eyebrows. 

And I have seen one micromoth, not in my trap but fluttering on the inside of my window.  You can never be sure of the provenance of moths found doing this because they might have had an unusual life cycle in the warmth of the house.

Mompha subbistrigella.  Hayes, 15 March 2015

This 5mm long creature with the strongly upcurved palps is Mompha subbistrigella.  Most micros don't have proper common names, though they all have vernacular names which have recently been made up for them, which are really not worth memorising as they make no more sense than the proper scientific names.