Really common micros #1

At this time of year it's really useful to learn 3 very common species of micro that you are likely to disturb regularly during the day.  Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana) has a very distinctive wing shape; Pseudargyrotoza conwagana is beautifully coloured with a big yellow dot (there are several recent photos on the blog, including a super one from Steve); Celypha lacunana is perhaps the least distinctive, but its wing pattern is diagnostic.  Please learn these three to save yourselves (and me!) a lot of questions.

 

This photo (copied from entomart.be as I don't have my own) shows the diagnostic features

of Celypha lacunana: the dark band across the wing (highlighted here with 2 blue lines)

is split by a pale bar (ringed in yellow).  That bar across the dark band is really distinctive, so please learn it!!

Actually, it's worth learning Bactra lancealana too, as it's abundant in rushy areas and often comes to MV.

This photo (from montgomeryshiremoths.org.uk) highlights the diagnostic

dark V of Bactra lancealana.  There are other, rarer Bactra with that V, but they are rare and habitat-specific.

The relatively long wings is also classic of B lancealana.

and if you're walking anywhere rushy, you'll probably see Glyphipterix thrasonella, so it's worth a search for images of that one...