INSECTS

LEPIDOPTERA / MICRO MOTHS

Micro-moths are generally smaller than macro-moths although this is not always the case.  They are also thought to be more primitive than Macros. There are around 1600 native micro-moths.

49.004 Red-barred Tortrix is a small species that appears from June until August. Females are normally slightly larger than the males. Males are very active in sunshine. The larvae feed on various trees and shrubs.

49.014 Brown Oak Tortrix The caterpillar of this species feeds on a range of deciduous trees from inside a tightly-rolled leaf. Its pupa is attached to a leaf by webbing from which an adult will emerge. This moth is widespread across Britain but is not very common. It frequents mainly wooded habitats and flies from June to August. Adult females are larger with a darker ground colour than males and have a much more protruding apex on the forewing.

49.018 Great Tortrix is found from late May until July in open spaces and along woodland rides. The larvae of this uncommon moth feed on various deciduous trees.

49.022 Brindled Tortrix is found in May and June in woodland and orchards.  This species flies in afternoon and evening wildly over trees and bushes. The larvae feed on a variety of trees and shrubs.

49.039 Light Brown Apple Moth This species was accidentally introduced into Cornwall from Australia in the 1930s and has since spread across the country. It is extremely variable with numerous forms. Females are larger than the males. Males can usually be identified by an abrupt colour division on the forewing.

49.060 Yellow Oak Tortrix, a woodland micro-moth that flies from June until August. Its larvae feed on oak. It was originally known as 'Yellow oak button'.

49.062 Netted Tortrix is found in gardens and woodland. It flies from July until September. Its larvae feed on Field Maple and Sycamore. It was originally known as the 'Maple Button'.

49.069 Lead-coloured Tortrix flies from August until October. Its larvae feed on Beech and Sycamore. It was originally known as the 'Ashy Button'.

49.077 Garden Rose Tortrix flies from June until October. Its larvae feed on plants in the Rose Family. This is an extremely variable species with several forms.

49.080 Varied Tortrix is found in a large range of different forms.. It flies from April until September in two generations. Its larvae feed on small-leaved willows. It was originally known as the 'Sallow Button'.

49.109 Garden Straw is a small bright-yellow moth seen from June until August. It foodplant is thistle. Previously known as the Common Yellow Conch.

49.120 Common Marbled Straw is found on rough grassland and scrub from May until August. Yarrow and Knapweed are its foodplants. This moth has recently undergone a name change and was formerly known as 'Yarrow Conch'.

49.138 Tawny-fronted Straw is on the wing from June until August. It was previously known as the 'Ox-tongue Conch' Cochylis molliculana and first recorded in Britain during 1993. Bristly oxtongue is its larval foodplant.

49.144 Oak Marble flies during July and August in oak woodland and scrub. It is a variable species with broad, rounded forewings and general marbled appearance to the wing pattern. There is often a characteristic orange tuft on the thorax. Oak is its foodplant. Previously known as the Diamond-back Marble.

49.155 White-backed Tortrix occurs on banks near inland water where Willow trees grow. Its caterpillars nourish themselves in spun leaves of Sallow and Poplar.

49.166 Common Marble is a common species that flies during the day and evening from May to September. Its larvae feed on a range of herbaceous plants.

49.203 Aspen Hook-wing flies in May and June, it is a locally common in south-east England. The larvae feed on Aspen and Poplar trees, spinning the leaves of the foodplant together and living beneath in a white silken web. Until recently this species was known as the Aspen Roller.

49.294 Bramble Shoot Moth flies in June and July, common in woodland and on hedgerows where bramble exists. Bramble is the larval foodplant. The large red-brown or chocolate-brown marking on the wings makes this a fairly easy species to identify.

49.332 Pine Bark Moth This species is listed as nationally scarce and there are not many records in Essex. It flies around conifers during afternoon sunshine and at dusk from May until August. The larvae live in a silk-lined tunnel under pine bark. Previously known as the 'Pine-bark piercer'.

49.338 Codling Moth Common species found in woodland, gardens and orchards, especially where fruit trees are present. It is seen on the wing from June until September.

49.341 Marbled Piercer Common species found in woodland, heathland, scrub and other locations where the larval foodplants oak and sweet chestnut grow. The adults fly in July and August.

49.343 Rusty Acorn Piercer An uncommon migrant first recorded in Devon in 1990. Adults are usually seen in Britain during August. Its caterpillars are believed to feed on acorns and nuts, including Hazel, Walnut, Sweet Chestnut and Beech. Formerly known as 'Vagrant Piercer'.

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