The very first moth...

A speck of microdust can be quite special. Hard to believe I know but when one delves deep into the murky world of microlepidoptera small can be pleasing, and smallest can be best of all. What is he blabbering on about? Well, the moth above, which is tiny I can tell you - less than 4mm long - has the distinction of being number one on the Hodges Checklist of the Lepidoptera of North America. It also has the distinction of being the very last moth in the Covell Guide to Eastern Moths. Try to work that one out!

It is of course 00001 Epimartyria auricrinella, or the Goldcap Moss-eater Moth. It is very tiny, has pointy wings and gets its name from the buffy-orange hair-scales on the top of the head. The forewing is dusky-purplish and speckled with golden scales that glitter in the light.


Another view of this impressive sprite. I don't know too much about this moth. From Covell I gleaned that the larvae feed on liverworts. In fact he states that the adult moth is best sought by sweeping a net over beds of liverworts. The adults are on the wing in May - well, that figures.

This moth was a real devil to photograph so I apologize for the poor quality of these shots. It looks dead in the top photo, but it isn't. When tipped from the jar onto the leaf it would run around in tiny circles and it took great patience on my part to obtain even these mediocre photos. And, of course, it is very tiny - true microdust...


I also caught this nice tortrix - Cydia pomonella, the Codling Moth. I catch lots of these in my garden since there is an apple tree next door, one of the larval foodplants of this species. The adults are on the wing most of the summer in two broods. It is another of those Euro imports that has taken off over here. Is common in UK.