Moth with teeth

Another busy day, most of it spent in Brampton Wood finishing off my woodland survey quadrats. For a change it was warm, but the sky was predominantly grey and I only just got back to the car before the rain arrived. Once again most of my photographs were purely functional, but I took a ten minute break to photograph the rather magnificent caterpillar of a Drinker moth. This species gets its English (and Latin) name from the habits of the caterpillar, which is supposed to have a liking for drops of dew. The caterpillar feeds on various grasses and the species is relatively common in southern Britain.

While I was doing this I noticed a set of tiny moths, gathering on a bramble leaf. Each one was about 4mm long and had iridescent dark bronze-coloured forewings with distinctive purple bases. They were clearly gathering to find and select mates, and I managed to get a photograph of a mating pair, not easy when they were so small and the ground was too muddy to kneel on! This micro-moth is considered to be evolutionarily primitive. Most moths and butterflies have a coiled proboscis used to suck nectar from flowers. This species has functional jaws (which can just be seen on the right-hand moth) and it feeds as an adult on pollen grains from a wide variety of plants such as bugle, cuckoo flower, dog's mercury and buttercup. It inhabits shaded woodland rides and the tiny larvae feed on grasses and sedges.

I met up with some other botanists in the wood, and was shown a patch of narrow-leaved everlasting-pea, a rather local species of wood edges and rides, which has proliferated as a result of the Wildlife Trust's management. Unfortunately I wasn't able to spend much time with them as I had to complete my survey work and get back home in time to go to town with Ben. We had a moderately successful visit, sorting out money and having an enjoyable cup of peppermint tea in Cafe Nero - a welcome treat after all my hard work!