moths moths moths

Small Brindled Beauty, Apocheima hispidaria.  In my light trap in Crowborough on 4 March 2018.

The moths are back!  Here are a few that have turned up in my garden light trap in Crowborough.  Some of these are moths I haven't seen before - they may well be common around here, but I haven't trapped in Crowborough at this time of year before.

This first one is a Small Brindled Beauty, one of those which are new to me.  Here's another new one:

Grey Shoulder-knot, Lithophane ornitopus.  In my light trap in Crowborough on 11 March 2018.

A Grey Shoulder-knot.  Moths with stripes on their shoulders like this one were called shoulder-knots.  There are three others in this country, though one of them has only been seen once.

Hebrew Character, Orthosia gothica.  In my light trap in Crowborough on 11 March 2018.

Unlike this Hebrew Character, which is extremely common.  It gets its common name from the resemblance of its marking to the Hebrew letter Nun.

Here's another common one:

Common Quaker, Orthosia cerasi.  In my light trap in Crowborough on 11 March 2018.

A Common Quaker.  This shows in its simplest form the typical wing markings of the family Noctuidae, usually called the oval and the kidney-mark, though I often see the kidney-mark referred to as the reniform stigma, which means exactly the same but in language which says "I am an expert, so you have to believe what I say."

The Hebrew Character above has exactly the same markings, but they are disguised by the rest of its wing pattern.  You can also see them on the Grey Shoulder-knot, but again they are mixed in with the rest of the pattern.

Small Quaker, Orthosia cruda.  In my light trap in Crowborough on 11 March 2018.

On this Small Quaker, you can see the kidney-mark clearly, but the oval is almost completely invisible.

These last three moths are not only in the same family, Noctuidae, but belong to the same genus, Orthosia.