Nemophora degeerella (Linnaeus, 1758)

'Micromoths' are often dismissed as being small, dully coloured and uninteresting.

This one is certainly small:

Photographed June 2012 near Wimborne, Dorset, UK, using Olypus E-420 DLSR, with Zuiko 40-150mm lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.

This picture doesn't do it full justice - in addition to the metallic colouring across its head and wings, the broad yellow stripe across its wings is accompanied by two narrow purple stripes which - for the purposes of a more interesting angle, aren't visible here.

Sorry, and all that.

Anyhow, this lovely little creature, perhaps better known as a (DeGeer's) Fairy Longhorn Moth belongs to:

- Adelinae     

- Adelidae        

- Incurvarioidea 

- Incurvariina       

- Monotrysia          

- Heteroneura          

See Also Crambus pascuella, Zebronia phenice, Laelia robusta, Metisella willemi, Acada biseriata, Anthocharis cardamines and Sphinx ligustri.

- Neolepidoptera         

- Glossata                      

- Lepidoptera                  

- Amphiesmenoptera        

- Panorpida                         

See also Megistocera filipes, Dolichotachina caudata, Diasemopsis meigenii, Metadon inermis, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Chloromyia formosa and Panorpa germanica.

- Endopterygota                      

See also Andrena nigroaenea, Astata tropicalis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Anthia fornasiini, Demetrias atricapillus, Neojulodis vittipennis, Melolontha melolontha, Cheilomenes lunata, Oedemera noobilis, Malachius bipustulatus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Phyllobius pomaceus and Hagenomyia tristis.

- Eumetabola                               

See also Pephricus, Grypocoris stysi, Ranatra and Anoplocnemis curvipes.

- Neoptera                                      

See also Humbe tenuicornis, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Cyathosternum prehensile, Heteropternis thoracica, Stictogryllacris punctata, Tettigonia viridissima and Sibylla.

- Metapterygota                                

See also Enallagma cyathigerum, Pseudagrion hageni, Lestinogomphus angustus and Rhyothemis semihyalina.

- Pterygota                                           

- Dicondylia                                           

- Insecta                                                   

- Hexapoda                                                

- Arthropoda                                                

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Alopecosa barbipes, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and  Pardosa amentata.

 - Ecdysozoa                                                    

- Protostomia                                                    

- Nephrozoa                                                        

See also Syncerus caffer, Hipposideros vittatus, Synchiropus splendidus, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Zootoca vivipara, Lygodactylus capensis, Troglodytes troglodytes, Chalcophaps indica, Ardea goliath, Sterna hirundo, Burhinus vermiculatus, Tockus alboterminatus, Rana temporaria and Chiromantis xerampelina.

- Bilateralia                                                             

- Eumetazoa                                                              

- Animalia                                                                    

- Eukaryota                                                                    

And that's all, folks.



As always, the place to go for British Moths is UKMoths. Enjoy.

Sphinx ligustri (Linnaeus, 1758)

Time for a moth.

Photographed July 2013 in Bosham, West Sussex, UK, Using Olympus E-420 DSLR with 40-150mm lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.

This moth, with a twelve centimetre wingspan, holds the honour of being the largest fully native moth in the UK, the Privet Hawkmoth:

Sphinx ligustri

(Linnaeus, 1758)

I would formerly have assumed that everyone knew that moths were nothing to be afraid of, a co-worker's over-response to a moth (and later, an equally harmless beetle) has given me pause. 

With the exception of a handful of Asian owlet moths in the genus Calyptra, which will bite and feed upon humans on occasion, but do not seem to be vectors of diseases, moths don't - and generally can't - bite. Nor can they sting. Their hairs and scales - particularly in some of the more colourful species - can be an irritant, but outside of serious infestations of specific pest species in food storage, this rarely builds up to a concern. 

This particular species is completely harmless, and feeds on privet, lilac and ash. In addition to flashing a colourful abdomen when disturbed, males can also hiss; again, in response to alarm. The rather conspicuously pink abdomen suggests that eating them isn't entirely without risk. 

Anyway, with that, on with the taxonomy: 

- Sphingini 

- Sphinginae 

- Sphingidae   

- Sphingoidea   

- Bombycina       

See also Metisella willemi, Acada biseriata, Anthocharis cardamines and Laelia robusta.

- Cossina               

- Ditrysia                  

See also Zebronia phenice and Crambus pascuella.

- Heteroneura              

- Neolepidoptera            

- Glossata                         

- Lepidoptera                      

- Amphiesmenoptera             

- Panorpida                              

See also Chloromyia formosa, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Diasemopsis meigenii, Metadon inermis,Dolichotachina caudata Megistocera filipes and Panorpa germanica.

- Endopterygota                            

See also Phyllobius pomaceus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Oedemera noobilis, Cheilomenes lunata, Melolontha melolontha, Neojulodis vittipennis, Demetrias atricapillus, Anthia fornasiini, Synagris proserpina, Vespula germanica, Astata tropicalis, Andrena nigroaenea and Hagenomyia tristis.

- Eumetabola                                   

See also Grypocoris stysi, Ranatra, Anoplocnemis curvipes and Pephricus. 

- Neoptera                                          

See also Heteropternis thoracica, Cyathosternum prehensile, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Stictogryllacris punctata, Sibylla and Humbe tenuicornis

- Manopterygota                                    

See also Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni, Enallagma cyathigerum and Lestinogomphus angustus.

- Pterygota                                               

- Dicondylia                                               

- Insecta                                                       

- Hexapoda                                                    

- Arthropoda                                                    

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Alopecosa barbipes, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and Pardosa amentata.

- Ecdysozoa                                                        

 - Protostomia                                                        

- Nephrozoa                                                                                                        

See also Synchiropus splendidus, Rana temporaria, Chiromantis xerampelina, Hipposideros vittatus, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Zootoca vivipara, Lygodactylus capensis, Troglodytes troglodytes, Chalcophaps indica, Ardea goliath, Sterna hirundo, Burhinus vermiculatus and Tockus alboterminatus. 

- Bilateralia                                                                 

- Eumetazoa                                                                  

- Animalia                                                                        

- Eukaryota                                                                         

I leave you with one more photograph to show the insect in context, not as well camouflaged if it might be if it hadn't mistaken a lamppost for a tree; 

Same date, place, and time; same camera with one less magnifier.

 And that is all, folks. 

Crambus pascuella (Linnaeus, 1758)

We've been having a photo-tour of Lusaka lately, so here's one from the UK to keep things from getting biased:

This lovely little grass-moth is called

Crambus pascuella 

(Linnaeus, 1758)

It's one of quite a few very similar species, so I would advise you to take this identification with caution.

Anyhow, on with the show:

 -Crambini
 -Crambinae  
- Crambidae     

See also Zebronia phenice

- Pyraloidea        

- Tineina                

- Tineina                   

- Ditrysia                     

See also Laelia robusta, Anthocharis cardamines and Acada biseriata

- Heteroneura                 

- Neolepidoptera               

- Glossata                             

- Lepidoptera                          

- Amphiesmenoptera                 

- Panorpida                                   

See also Panorpa germanica, Megistocera filipes, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, Diasemopsis meigenii and Dolichotachina caudata

- Endopterygota                               

See also Hagenomyia tristis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Astata tropicalis, Melolontha melolontha, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Demetrias atricapillus and Anthia fornasiini.

- Eumetabola                                       

See also Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes and Ranatra

- Neoptera                                              

See also  Sibylla, Stictogryllacris punctata, Lobosceliana loboscelis and Cyathosternum prehensile

- Manopterygota                                        

See also Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni and Enallagma cyathigerum

- Pterygota                                                    

- Dicondylia                                                     

- Insecta                                                               

- Hexapoda                                                             

- Arthropoda                                                              

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and Hyllus argyrotoxus.

- Ecdysozoa                                                                  

- Protostomia                                                                   

- Nephrozoa                                                                        

See also Chiromantis xerampelina, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Lygodactylus capensis, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Sterna hirundo, Synchiropus splendidus and Hipposideros vittatus.

- Bilateralia                                                                             

- Eumetazoa                                                                               

- Animalia                                                                                       

- Eukaryota                                                                                         

To give an explanation of the common name of 'Grass moth', applied to numerous related species: most Crambus and their relatives are usually seen in grassland, they sleep head down on grass, and as caterpillars they feed primarily on... yes, grassland. They can be quite lovely to behold in uncultured meadows, where a walk through the grass will send clouds of quite literally hundreds of these beautiful little moths spinning into the air and settling a few feet further on.


And that's all, folks!






An excellent (f)re(e)source for identifying British moths is UKMoths, with almost complete coverage of resident species, both native and introduced, and fair coverage of occasional migrants as well. 

Laelia cf. robusta, Janse, 1915

I'm not dead, honest! Just working for minimum wage... so taking as many hours as possible to earn enough to pay rent.

Hopefully you've noticed the cf. (confer, click for wiki to tell you more, Latin, common abbreviation typically meaning that it's similar to the names species, but may not in fact be it). This is largely because the genus Laelia is huge, and I don't have the time just currently to search for an rule out every species. 

However, on the basis that the Laelia moths I have looked at all look quite variable, and in most moths external appearance is quite an important identifying feature, I'm going to venture reasonable confidence that this is in fact Laelia robusta.

So, without further ado, on with the show: 

Eukaryota
  Animalia
    Eumetazoa
      Bilateralia
        Nephrozoa
          Protostomia
            Ecdysozoa
              Arthropoda
                Hexapoda
                  Insecta
                    Dicondylia
                      Pterygota
                        Manopterygota
                          Neoptera
                            Eumetabola
                              Endopterygota
                                Panorpida
                                  Amphiesmenoptera
                                    Lepidoptera
                                      Glossata
                                        Neolepidoptera
                                          Heteroneura
                                            Ditrysia
                                              Cossina
                                                Bombycina
                                                  Noctuoidea
                                                    Erebidae
                                                      Lymantriinae
                                                        Orgyiini

Laelia robusta

Janse, 1915

and here it is:   

 I apologise for the rather characterless portrait - it had a special talent for hiding its face with those spindly forelegs and a vast amount of facial hair. Photographed in Leopard's Hill, Lusaka, Zambia, in March 2013.

NOTES: Species is suggested based on comparison to images of alleged L. robusta, here (a flickr image, captured and presumably identified by Geologist Nigel Voaden), and, by its being featured on the apparently reputable Afromoths page for this species, reliably identified). 

Zebronia phenice (Cramer 1780)

If you've been paying attention, you may have noticed that thus far, we've missed a rather massive insect order. It's not as big as the beetles, or the flies (both, at the time of writing, represented by one species each on this blog...), but it's around the same size as the wasps (including bees), and much bigger than the bugs...

I'll give you a taxonomically ordered string of hints: 

Eukaryota

  Animalia

    Eumetazoa

      Bilateralia

        Nephrozoa

          Protostomia

            Ecdysozoa

              Arthropoda

                Hexapoda

                  Insecta

                    Dicondylia

                      Pterygota

                        Manopterygota

                          Neoptera

                            Eumetabola

                              Endopterygota

                                Panorpida

                                  Amphiesmenoptera

                                    Lepidoptera

Have you got it yet? Extra hint - in Greek, Lepidos (Λεπίδως) means scaly, Ptera (φτερό) means wing... Scaly wing...

No?

The Lepidoptera are the moths (including butterflies). Just so that you're aware, Lepidopterists (people who study moths, partially for money but mostly because they just like them) are a little bit like ornithologists in terms of taxonomy, in that they've got such a rich and varied history of being wrong that they have a lot of trouble sorting out quite where everything belongs, and so finding out precisely where various moths belong in relationship to one another is more than a bit iffy.

So, as we continue onwards, bear in mind that the phylogeny here is largely subjective.
                                       Glossata
                                         Neolepidoptera
                                           Heteroneura
                                             Ditrysia
                                               Tineina
                                                 Tineina (unranked clades don't always follow naming patterns like the rest of taxonomy does, which is why we there's a clade here with its parent's name)
                                                   Pyraloidea (an awful lot of the so-called 'Micromoths' belong to this superfamily, including:
                                                     Crambidae (snout moths)
                                                       Spilomelinae (Pearls. The moths, not the nacreous result of an irritated bivalve...)

Zebronia phenice

(Cramer, 1780)

                                                       
As you may guess from the Generic name (Zebronia), this one's a bit stripy...

This is a fairly average-sized moth, probably a little under an inch across its wings, and because of its habit of landing upside down beneath leaves that are larger than it, it really shouldn't be very conspicious. However, it is at least partially active during the day, and it's very difficult not to be noticed fluttering around when you look like this: 

As you may imagine, its common name also refers to its stripes - Zebra Pearl Moth, or Zebra pyrale, or, probably most widely used, just plain old Zebra Moth.