#MothOfTheDay
Little #moth activity recently. Summer visitors dying off and autumnals yet to get going. It is only the 1st day of autumn today, so a little patience needed.
Just 3 visitors overnight, including this autumn species:
LUNAR UNDERWING
Anchoscelis lunosa
Named after dark crescent on (not visible here) hindwings.
Northern Gannets
Northern Gannet with catch
Blue tit
In winter, family groups join with other small birds, such as great tits, to form foraging flocks
A new report has unveiled for the first time the vast environmental damage caused by UK pig and bird farming. 
#wildlife #farming #environment #conservation #britishwildlife
Huge Impacts of UK Pig and Bir...
Brown tail moth caterpillar - merrily eating honeysuckle and blackberry at the bottom of my garden which has scrambled over my compost bin - probably hatched in August and will spin thick silk webs to overwinter in before getting back to munching in the spring 
#nature #wildlife #biodiversity #entomology #britishwildlife
#MothOfTheDay is a drab, sombre-looking thing, but one of our larger moths
OLD LADY
Mormo maura
So named because of a shawl-like appearance on its wings. Not a looker, but they can't all be bobby-dazzlers!
#MothOfTheDay today can be seen as much during the day near damp ditches and hedgerows, as it can by night. Last night, two popped by to say hello.
YELLOW SHELL
Camptogramma bilineata
Larvae feed on chickweed and sorrel ... and surprise surprise we grow delicious sorrel in a trough.
Today's #MothOfTheDay is the comical:
THE SNOUT
Hypena proboscidalis
A rather plain moth in colour, but with stupidly elongated labial palps that give it its proboscial name.
Today's #MothOfTheDay is another that crosses the English Channel to our shores around this time of year. The ethereal (but in my view, quite visually ugly)
Palpita Vitrealis
aka Olive-tree pearl or Jasmine moth
Today's #MothOfTheDay is two for the price of one. A female (left) and male (right)
FOUR-SPOTTED FOOTMAN
Lithosia quadra
Larvae feed on lichen. Only the females have spots which only show three as the fourth is hidden by overlapping wings.
Not a great mothing night last night despite the favourable conditions.
Today's #MothOfTheDay is yet another from the 'Prominent' family. This time
COXCOMB PROMINENT
Ptilodon capucina
Another wood mimic that temporarily feigns death when handled.
Today's #MothOfTheDay signals to me the beginning of the end of summer and acknowledges those sepia mornings of autumn are not far round the corner:
ROSY RUSTIC
Hydraecia micacea
Larvae feed on dock roots. Common and widespread moth
#MothOfTheDay is quite a nice visitor for me ... new for my garden, and a rare immigrant from mainland Europe. Only really found on south coast. Possible colonies in Kent.
DUSKY HOOK-TIP
Drepana curvatula
#MothOfTheDay is not a visual stunner but has points of interest; an old and fading
STRAW UNDERWING
Thalpophila matura
This one is showing the hindwings that give it its name ... and also notice its left antennae seems to be broken which could hamper its ability to avoid predation or orient itself.
#MothOfTheDay isn't a bold, colourful one. It's a monochromatic carpet of dark grey and white. But quite a nice example of its type:
KNOT GRASS
Acronicta rumicis
Larvae feed on pretty much anything. One of the 'dagger' moths, so closely related to Grey/Dark Dagger, one of my favourites
Today's #MothOfTheDay might be a bit déja-vu. I showcased this a while back from a first brood but it was a fading specimen, and this second brood specimen is much brighter, and needed showing to the world!
CAMPION
Sideridis rivularis
Larvae feed on, yes, you guessed it, Campion
