Not Everyone's Cuppa

Moth Quiz 21
A very large cousin of the Hyrax 
Elephant Hawkmoth

Moth Quiz 22
If Rudolph had some at Christmas, he was wrongly named. 

Saturday June 6

Another day of sunshine and showers. Good for the garden, it's really needed. The heavy overnight rain kept the moths from flying, we had the grand total of 5 - in number and species. It was an exercise in the removal and re-arranging of egg boxes.

All moth-ers start by identifying Macro moths and then graduate to attempting the more difficult Micro moths - mainly because most of them are so small. Many of them have wingspans measuring less than 20 millimetres.

Enteucha acetosae is the smallest moth species in Britain, with a wingspan of just 3 millimetres.
I'll gloss over the fact that one often has to dissect micro-moths and examine their genitalia in order to identify them. I draw the line at this now, maybe ten years ago? Although Jim Wheeler, County Moth Recorder, has given all the Norfolk micro moths an English name, they are generally known by their scientific name.

Crambus lathioniellus -.Hook-streak Grass-veneer (20mm)

There are about 1,850 species of micro-moth recorded in the UK,

Traditionally, lepidoptera have been split into three broad groups: micro-moths, macro-moths, and butterflies.

Acleris literana - Lichen button.

The micro-moths category includes all the species that evolved early - from about 250 to 200 million years ago.

Macro-moths are the moths that evolved more recently - from about 125 million years ago - as flowering plants also evolved.

Because the above categories are linked to evolutionary time rather than insect size, it creates confusion.  Some micros are actually quite big, some macros can be petite.

For example, the Bentwing ghost moth from Australia measures a huge 25 centimetres in wingspan, but is still technically a micro.

Butterflies are (in the evolutionary scheme of things) just big, flamboyant, day-flying micro-moths.

Thanks to Richard, I have been able to identify more micros this year, during lockdown, than ever before. This has resulted in several more 'lifers' as well as many garden ticks.

For light relief.....a nailed on Meadow Pipit for my year folder.Perched on a creek boat mooring at Thornham.