Out Come the Tiny Ones

Moths in my garden light trap, 25 August 2016.

The hot weather brings with it some really tiny moths, making identification of a night's catch very tricky.  This photo is from my garden trap.  Bottom right are a couple of big, showy Jersey Tigers.  Above them, left to right, are a Tree-lichen Beauty, a Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix, a female Light Brown Apple Moth (on the diagonal strut), and an Elbow-striped Grass-veneer.

 

Those last two are quite small, but very distinctively marked, so I can identify them at a glance.  But the tiny dark thing at top right is also a moth.  It's one of a large family of tiny moths whose caterpillars live inside leaves, between the upper and lower skins, eating out their juicy centres and leaving a passage behind, so that they are known as leaf miners.  It is (I think) in the genus Stigmella.   These can not be identified to species without dissection.

Many of the tiny moths can only be taken to genus.

Parornix and Ectoedemia.  West Wickham Common light trap, 24 August 2016.

The larger of these two is itself so small that it just looks like a dark fleck to the eye.  The little one, which I think is an Ectodoemia, is something I only see as a moth when I enlarge photos and examine all the tiny imperfections close up.   It belongs to the same family as the Stigmella, the Nepticulidae.

Amateur trappers mostly used to ignore these smaller moths completely until 2012, when a decent field guide to them came out.  (*)  Another guide is also now available (**) which includes photos of all the British moths, and if you know roughly what you are looking at, you can get a lot of help from the UK Moths site.

(*) Field Guide to the Micro Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, by Phil Sterling and Mark Parsons, illustrated by Richard Lewington.  This relies on paintings and includes a key to genera, which is useful if you have a specimen and a low-powered microscope.  Otherwise, go through the pictures!

(**) British Moths, second edition, by Chris Manley.  This is a photographic guide and is enough better than the first edition that I use it a lot. 

So I like Thorns.

Dusky Thorn, Ennomos fuscantaria.  Hayes, 8 August 2016.

Yes, I like Thorns.  They are photogenic from any angle.  So here is a set of photographs of a single specimen, a Dusky Thorn in my garden light trap.

That's all!

Windy Woods

Oak tree by the railway path West Wickham to Hayes, 29 July 2016.

Oak trees are known for dropping branches unpredictably.  Where they grow near footpaths, site managers usually make sure that any overhanging branches are cut back, and you can see in this photo where that has been done.  But even though it has not been especially windy, a large branch has still torn itself away.

Fallen Oak branch by the railway path West Wickham to Hayes, 29 July 2016.

This is it, just behind the fence.  It might have fallen on or over the fence, or onto the railway just beyond the tree, or onto a train.  Oaks are unpredictable.

Scots Pine blown over by storm Katie at the edge of Woodland Way in Spring Park.  28 March 2016.

Of course, when there are high winds, all trees are susceptible.  This Scots Pine looked strong, but came down across a footpath during Storm Katie. 

Scots Pine blown over by storm Katie at the edge of Woodland Way in Spring Park.  28 March 2016.

The trunk has split.  Close examination showed signs of internal decay, a fungus infection that probably weakened it.

Scots Pine blown over by storm Katie at the edge of Woodland Way in Spring Park.  28 March 2016.

This is the inner face of a piece of one of the splinters, and that whitish substance is fungal mycelium.  Either it has taken advantage of an existing weakness, probably making it worse, or it has caused the weakness in the first place.

Danger during high winds is the reason why woodland walks are cancelled if it is too windy.

Later, I also saw this:

Fallen tree on Hayes Common, 28 April 2016.

Clearly something big has come down on top of the fence, probably also a victim of Storm Katie, and has been partly tidied up. 

Thorns.

Purple Thorn, Selenia tetralunaria.  Hayes, 30 July 2016.

I think that Thorns are the most photogenic of British moths, and the Purple Thorn probably the most lovely of them.   Here are some Thorns.  Some of them have probably been posted before, but it's worth seeing them together.

Early Thorn, Selenia dentaria.  Hayes, 4 August 2016.

The Early Thorn comes twice a year, in April and May, and again in August and September.  This is because it can go through its complete life cycle twice a year.  Unlike other Thorns, it typically poses with its wings tight together above its back, like a butterfly.

Canary-shouldered Thorn, Ennomos alniaria.  Hayes, 20 July 2017.

The Canary-shouldered Thorn is named for the bright yellow furry appearance of its head and thorax.

Feathered Thorn, Colotois pennaria.  Hayes, 14 November 2015.

The Feathered Thorn, a later arrival than most, likes to lie flat.

Little Thorn, Cepphis advenaria.  Oldbury Hill, 10 June 2012.

I saw this Little Thorn on a mothing trip to an old wood at Oldbury Hill.

August Thorn, Ennomos quercinaria.  Hayes, 25 July 2016.

The August Thorn sometimes also lies flat like the Feathered Thorn.

Dusky Thorn, Ennomos fuscantaria.  Hayes, 3 September 2014.

But the Dusky Thorn, like the pettiest Thorns, holds its wings cocked at an angle.  In fact I'll show that more clearly:

Dusky Thorn, Ennomos fuscantaria.  Hayes, 3 September 2014.

Like so!

But I will finish with another shot of my favourite.

Purple Thorn, Selenia tetralunaria.  Hayes, 30 July 2016.

In photography, it's easy for surrounding objects to reflect their colours onto the subject of the photo and distort subtle shades.  That's why I try to use neutral grey egg boxes in my traps.  Moths photographed inside my wooden trap or on pieces of bark suffer from this.  This last photo does not have a pretty background, but the clear plastic allows the true colours of the moth's wings to show up.  It's easy to lose that light mauve shade that gives this Purple Thorn its name.