Little and VERY Large

Last night was ridiculous. Including moths which I caught outside the trap, 107 individuals of 50-ish species was by far the biggest tally so far. And 19 were new! The majority of those 19 were species I had never seen before, anywhere, ever. Including this juggernaut...

Privet Hawk-moth

As I type, this beast is resting up on an old piece of feather-edge fence board, so I just popped out to measure it. Exactly 6cm from nose to wing tip. That equates to a wing-span of 12cm+, about five inches! It is massive. I heard it before I saw it, a sound like a small drone entering the garden air-space. Slow and ponderous, and quite easily caught by hand. All my nearby pots were woefully inadequate and I had to hurry and get an old Tupperware container!

At the other end of the scale, this...

Apparently this micro is common, so I've probably seen loads. But, at 8mm long, who ever notices them? Not me. And yet, even my limited photographic gear is capable of hinting at the tiny stunner hiding there in plain sight. A classy camera set-up really does bring out what little jewels these micros often are.

As with birds, there is incredible variety in moths, incredible beauty too. A few of last night's treasures illustrate that fact rather nicely...

The so-called Dingy Footman - pleasingly smooth and silky-textured - is worlds apart from the scratchily-marked Scorched Wing, or the pinky-purply tones of the butterfly-like Early Thorn. And so many of these pretty things are much smaller than a photo would suggest. The Scorched Wing not much larger than a Common Blue for example, and the lovely Mocha which featured in yesterday's post, a touch smaller...

Mocha on Field Scabious stem. Not a Common Blue.

Possibly the 'best' moth last night was this one...

A pug sp.

Pugs are hard. One or two I can do okay now, but worn individuals are a nightmare. This one looks like it may be a Shaded Pug, but that would be rather a good local record. Unfortunately I only managed a couple of shots like this one; when I tried to get something clearer by opening its pot, away it went, rather pronto.

Any moth enthusiasts reading this post are likely chuckling at all this. Been there, done that. Hopefully it is nice to be reminded of those far-off days of newbie-ness. On the other hand, perhaps you are in the same camp as me until recently. Moths? No thanks. Life's too short. Too much to learn. And you are right. Life is too short, and there is wa-a-a-a-ay too much to learn.

But it's fun trying.