22 July 2013 - New Sightings - the Micros.

With so many moths coming in each day we've been getting many new species - we may yet reach our goal of three hundred before I leave! I've divided the new micros and new macros into two different blog posts. Today is the micro post with four new species, bringing us to a total of 287 for now!

(Trachycera advenella)

Trachycera advenella is one of a few similar looking species. However, its counterparts, the T. suavella and T. marmorea are hardly to be found in Great Britain. An old classification puts them all under the Numonia genus. Advena means 'a stranger.' Johann Leopold Theodor Friedrich Zincken, who had given the moth its name (with a long name himself), lived in Brunswick, Germany. He was only able to find the moth there. 'A stranger' is meant to reference the moth's rarity - not as coming from abroad. This moth is, however, quite common in Britain.

Bud Moth (Spilonota ocellana)

For anyone who knows about micro-moths, they do not have common names very often. The Bud Moth (Spilonota ocellana) is one of a few exceptions. This is yet another bird dropping micro-moth - the fourth variety I believe I have identified here so far. This one flew straight at the wall in the arcade and I guess was trying to be one with the stone. Spilos 'a spot' and noton 'the back' have no relevance to this particular moth. These describe the original members of the genus which had a blotch on the backs of their wings. The Bud Moth was added only later to the genus and since then most of the other members have been removed. Ocellus 'a small eye' is given for the eye-shaped marking on the forewing.

Helcystogramma rufescens

This next micro-moth is one not particularly stunning, though it definitely has one of the longest moth names I've ever seen - Helcystogramma rufescens. This moth was also classified under a different genus once called Brachmia, after a German entomologist and lawyer from Mainz. Rufescens 'reddish' is supposed to describe the ground color of the wings, though examples I've seen of this micro-moth are only faintly tinged with color.

Aethes rubigana

Aethes rubigana is the last of the new micro-moths that we've identified. We had two of these. I really like their attractive yellow color. Aethes 'unusual, strange' possibly refers to this because yellow is not a usual color to see. Rubigo or rubiginis 'rust' comes from the rusty-looking markings on the wings.

- Post by Jane Wu