Tag: Moth

Little Brown Moth

moth

This little brown moth must have flown in one summer night and expired, or been the victim of a spider, in a corner of the studio.

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Moth

moth

Prominent moths have tufts emerging from between the wings and there’s also a tail tuft, just visible in my drawing. This moth, caught in the moth trap a couple of nights ago (and released the next day) didn’t have feathery antennae so it’s most likely to be a female.

moth

So far I haven’t narrowed it down to a particular species. To me it’s closest to the iron prominent.

It’s about 1.5 cm long.

Manic Moth

clothes moth

We all know that moths are the unsung nightshift of ecosystem services, busy pollinating and recycling while we sleep, so these days it’s not often that one of them, in this case the humble clothes moth, gets to play the pantomime villain.

Another illustration for the PG-rated children’s storybook Yes it is, or OH NO IT ISN’T! in this case. Manic Moth: “Oh! Yes it IS!!!!“

I thought that I’d nailed it and created a moth that looked as scary as Nosferatu the Vampire but coming back to it he’s more closely related to Peter Firmin’s Nogbad the Bad. I think it’s to do with the way he walks, which would work well as a cut-out animation.

The Common-Clay

obscure moth

As you can see from this photograph taken in the bug box, this is a small moth, just 16 or 17 millimetres long.
As you can see from this photograph taken in the bug box, this is a small moth, just 16 or 17 millimetres long.

I’VE FOUND some striking looking moths in the light trap in recent weeks but I thought that it was time to turn my attention to the commoner but obscure species that I generally ignore.

obscure mothI’ve been thinking of this moth as a ‘clay’, as it resembles a variable little moth called the ingrailed clay but there are probably a dozen other noctuid moths in the field guide that are possibilities.

Drawing it from one of the photographs I took is my attempt to take in its markings; most prominent of which, or should I say the least obscure, are the kidney-shaped marking and the adjacent oval on each of its forewings but most noctuid moths have these.

As usual, any suggestions as to its identity would be very welcome.

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Mother of Pearl

mother of pearl

The photograph that I made my pencil and watercolour sketch from. This was easier than squinting into the bug box, which is how I drew the pen and watercolour sketches.
The photograph that I made my pencil and watercolour sketch from. This was easier than squinting into the bug box, which is how I drew the smaller sketches.

I KEPT THINKING of the patterns on sea-shells as I drew this moth, the mother of pearl, Pleuroptya ruralis. At 15-17 mm, three-quarters of an inch, it’s no midget but it’s classified as a micro-moth, one of the Crambidae, a group which also includes grass-moths, china-marks and the small magpie.

mother of pearl

You might disturb the mother of pearl in daylight in a nettle patch. Its green larva rolls a nettle leaf for protection. Its larvae will also feed on elms.

Caught in the moth trap 21-22 July.