7 August 2026

Three Majestic New Micromoths

Micromoths aren’t usually the first thing to catch my eye when opening up the moth trap. Even when brightly colored, they are overshadowed by their larger and flashier kin, and it’s often hard to get a proper look at them before they dart away.

I thought this Catoptria pinella was just another specimen of the all-too-common Chrysoteuchia culmella at first glance, but after a second look I noticed two bright, white spots on its wings. Unlike C. culmella, Catoptria pinella has a more solidly etched pattern, with black lines and a darker gold. Though commonest in the South of England, C pinella isn’t an infrequent visitor to Yorkshire, preferring damp, boggy habitats and feeding on a variety of grasses. Despite its tiny size, it feels almost majestic for a micromoth, especially when its wings catch the light!

I’m not usually a fan of saying scientific names out loud, but this little silvery–brown moth has a fun one: Acrobasis advenella. Its genus name means ‘a point or step,’ referring to the shape of the basal segment of the antennae. Advenella comes from advena, ‘a stranger,’ even though this is a fairly common species in the UK. The light-green larvae feed mainly on hawthorn, where they also pupate in tiny spun-silk tubes.

The last new micromoth, Roeslerstammia erxlebella, is named after two eighteenth century German scientists, and doesn’t roll off the tongue easily. It’s a subdued bronzey–brown color, and stands out more for its unique silhouette and the elegant fringe on the ends of its wings. The adults are day-fliers, and lay their eggs at the edges of birch and lime tree leaves. The larvae begin as leaf-miners, then build small webs on their chosen foodplants, before finally building tiny cocoons tucked into the folded-over edges of the leaves.

Apart from the micros, we also had some stunning Prominent specimens. Known for their furriness, stocky bodies and long wings, the moths of the Notodontidae family also have some of the most exceptional side profiles in the insect world.

The Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina) looks like a creature out of a dystopian movie about trees that come to life. At some angles it’s so thin it almost disappears, but the combination of its tufts and jagged wings make it unmistakable from the side. It’s a species with exceptionally large labial palps, the mouth parts that project from its head, that help it sense chemical and other environmental cues in its surroundings.

Swallows seem to lend their names only to the most elegant of Lepidoptera, and the Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula) and Lesser Swallow Prominent (Pheosia gnoma) are no exception. Both are the kind of moths that manage to be uncommonly striking with a neutral color palette of blacks, whites and browns. Like the Pale Prominent, the Swallow Prominent prefers poplars and willows for its larvae, while the Lesser Swallow Prominent feeds on birches. Though I’m learning to appreciate more the intricacies of the Micro-Lepidoptera, I think I’ll always prefer the big, furry, bear-ish moths like these!