Bright and Shiny...

The above Coleophora trifolii is quite a common little moth in these parts. It is a member of a group of micros that are generally hard to identify though, thankfully, there are not too many of them in Ontario. The species closest to this one, which I also catch in the yard trap, is C. mayrella - which has thickened bases to the antennae. Both are very small, pencil slim and glossy metallic green, bronze and purple in coloration.


The night before last I caught this geometer called Ectropis crepuscularia, The Small Engrailed. Although a common moth throughout our region I rarely catch it in the yard, in fact I think this is only my second. It is rather similar to several other medium-sized "gray" geometers but can usually be told apart by the two blackish outward-pointing wedges in the mid part of the forewing, though this can be hard to see on the occasional melanics that one encounters. The larvae feed on a wide variety of trees, whilst the adults are on the wing between April and September in two or more generations.