Some June Hayes Moths

White Ermine, Spilosoma lubricipeda, and The Miller,  Acronicta lepirona.  Hayes,  June 2014.

Here are some moths with similarities from my garden light trap in Hayes.  First, two from different families. The White Ermine is from family Arctiidae, and The Miller is from the Noctuidae.  Although they have some superficial similarities, they are immediately very different to mothers.  The White Ermine is creamy white, holds its wings rather tented, and has comb-like antennae.  Also, notice the two small round empty circles on The Miller's wings; a typical Noctuid feature.

This is the first Miller I have seen, and it was very pleasing to find one near my own trap.  On my garage door, actually.  Here it is posed on a piece of tree bark.

Marbled Minor agg., Oligia strigilis agg.   Noctuidae.   Hayes, June 2014.

These belong to one or more of three closely related species, all of which can look just like any of these moths.  You need to dissect their genitalia to be sure which one you have, and I prefer not to do that.  So they are usually classified by mothers as belonging to an aggregate; a group of species that for some purposes can be dealt with as a unit.   The species are: Marbled Minor, Oligia strigilis; Rufous Minor, Oligia versicolor; and Tawny Marbled Minor, Oligia latruncula.

Clouded Silver, Lomographa temerata, and Treble Brown Spot, Idaea trigeminata.  Hayes, June 2014.

Again, although they have superficial similarities, you are not going to mistake these for each other.  The Clouded Silver really is silvery, with black markings, and the Treble Brown Spot is a light cream and dark brown.

One is encouraged not to be confused by the way that the Treble Brown Spot often does not look as though it has three brown spots.  If you squint a bit, you can see three on each wing.