Counting down the Top Twenty Moths of 2019
My very good friend Ladybird Farmer, she of the multiple smallholding emoji, was impressed with the last moth blog post and suggested I do a count down of the Top Ten for the year. Well, while I’m holding out for a Merveille du Jour in September and perhaps a December Moth in November, I could have a go at picking out my favourites so far that perhaps highlight the incredible diversity of the 2600 or so Lepidoptera that we see across the British Isles.
Of course, all the ones that I’ve photographed were in our small back garden in a rural, but urbanised village north of Cambridge, so it’s quite a limited range. Nevertheless, there are some stunning moths to see here that highlight very well the fact that the leps really aren’t all drab brown and grey flittery things.
Number 20: The micro moth Lozotaeniodes formosana, known unofficially as the Orange Pine Twist
Number 19: The shield-like Herald, Scoliopteryx libatrix
Number 18: The Peppered Moth, Biston betularia, started an industrial evolution
Number 17: It is impossible to determine whether this a Grey or a Dark Dagger without examining the moth’s genitalia or running its DNA
Number 16: The Chinese Character, Cilix glaucata, is one of several moths that have evolved to camouflage themselves as a glistening dollop of bird muck
Number 15: The Spectacle, Abrostola tripartita, always seems to have its eye on you
Number 14: Angles Shades, Phlogophora meticulosa, of the most delicately marked of moth...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
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