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White-barred Gold Micropterix aruncella (Scopoli, 1763)

Family: Micropterigidae (Checklist: 1.004) Barnwell East LNR,Cambridge TL478581: 10 Jun 2021 One of the Micropterigoidea, the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths". The adults feed especially on pollen in hawthorn flowers but also on creeping buttercup and other species. NBN Atlas

Orange Swift Triodia sylvina (Linnaeus, 1761)

Family: Hepialidae (Checklist: 3.001) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 12 Aug 2003 The males (as here) are smaller and more brightly coloured than the females. The larvae of this species also feed underground on roots. This species was until recently included in genus Hepialus, some lists still place it there. NBN Atlas Enlarged image

Ghost Moth Hepialus humuli (Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Hepialidae (Checklist: 3.005) (l) Female: (Adams Road sanctuary TL434586) 26 Jun 2012 (r) Male: (Barnwell East LNR TL479582) 5 Jul 2016 The common name refers to the pure white males. The larvae feed underground on roots. Hepialidae are considered to be very primitive moths. They have very short antennae and lack a functional proboscis. NBN Atlas Enlarged image

Stigmella aurella (Fabricius, 1775)

Family: Nepticulidae (Checklist: 4.045) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 27 Sep 2014 A tiny moth little more than 3mm long, with a distinctive orange top-knot. The larvae are leaf miners on brambles. NBN Atlas

Nemophora degeerella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Adelidae (Checklist: 7.001) Cambridge (Coldham's Common TL474583) 25 May 2015 Notable for the extraordinarily long antennae of the males, as seen here, and for their behaviour of "dancing" in groups beneath a tree. The larvae feed on leaf litter. NBN Atlas

Nemophora cupriacella (Hübner, 1819)

Family: Adelidae (Checklist: 7.003) Cambridge (Mill Road Cemetery, TL461581) 16 Jul 2015 The larvae feed on scabious (Knautia, Succisa or Scabiosa), initially on the seeds, later building a case and feeding on fallen and lower leaves. NBN Atlas

Cauchas rufimitrella (Scopoli, 1763)

Family: Adelidae (Checklist: 7.010) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 30 May 2015 Distinguished by its brassy green forewings and yellow top-knot. Larvae feed on cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratense) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata); adults visit the same flowers. Previously listed as Adela rufimitrella. NBN Atlas

Gracillaria syringella (Fabricius, 1794)

Family: Gracillariidae (Checklist: 15.014) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 25 May 2015 Very distinctively marked little moth. Larvae are leaf-miners on privet (Ligustrum) and lilac (Syringa), and can be a pest by causing leaves to turn brown and curl up. NBN Atlas

Garden Apple Slender Callisto denticulella (Thunberg, 1794)

Family: Gracillariidae (Checklist: 15.022) Gwydir Street: 6 Jun 2023 The young larvae mine the leaves of apple (Malus), causing a gallery followed by a semi-translucent blotch on the upper surface of the leaf. It then vacates this and folds the edge of a leaf down to feed within, usually twice, before pupating externally among detritus. NBN Atlas

Garden Midget Phyllonorycter messaniella (Zeller, 1846)

Family: Gracillariidae (Checklist: 15.040) Gwydir Street: 22 Oct 2015 The larvae mine the leaves of oak (Quercus), beech (Fagus) or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa). The adult moths occur in a number of generations, any time between April and November. NBN Atlas

Apple Ermine Yponomeuta malinellus Zeller, 1838

Family: Yponomeutidae (Checklist: 16.003) Gwydir Street: 24 Jun 2023 Larvae at first mine apple leaves; later they feed gregariously in a silken web. NBN Atlas

Spindle ermine Yponomeuta cagnagella (Hübner, 1813)

Family: Yponomeutidae (Checklist: 16.004) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 21 Jul 2001 Length (head to wing tips): 10mm. Very similar to Y. padella and Y. malinella (above), this species has pure white ground to the forewings, including the wingtip cilia Larvae feed on Spindle tree (Euonymus) NBN Atlas

Diamondback Moth Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Yponomeutidae (Checklist: 18.001) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 17 Jul 2001 Length (head to wing tips): 8mm. Also known as Cabbage Moth, larvae can be a pest on cultivated brassica crops. A noted migrant species which arrives in Britain in considerable numbers each spring to breed in the summer NBN Atlas

Plutella porrectella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Yponomeutidae (Checklist: 18.003) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 12 Jul 2002 Larave feed on dame's violet (Hesperis matronalis). Photograph rotated for convenience of presentation NBN Atlas

Cocksfoot Moth Glyphipterix simpliciella (Stephens, 1834)

Family: Glyphipterigidae (Checklist: 19.007) Cambridge, Coldhams Common TL473585; 25 May 2015 Tiny moth little more than 3mm long, visits buttercup flowers often in numbers. Larvae eat the seeds of Cock's Foot grass (Dactylis glomerata) NBN Atlas

Golden Argent Argyresthia goedartella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Argyresthiidae (Checklist: 20.012) Gwydir Street: 15 Jul 2022 The larva overwinters in a shoot or hard male catkin of birch (Betula) or alder (Alnus glutinosa). In spring it feeds in a catkin. NBN Atlas

Cherry Fruit Moth Argyresthia pruniella (Fabricius, 1777)

Family: Argyresthiidae (Checklist: 20.021) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 12 Jun 2002 Larvae live in cherry fruit, can be a pest. One of several Argyresthia spp. which adopt this head-down resting posture NBN Atlas

Apple Leaf Miner Lyonetia clerkella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Lyonetiidae (Checklist: 21.001) Cambridge, Gwydir Street 13 Jul 2018 Larvae form winding mines on the leaves of apple trees; also cherry, hawthorn and birch. NBN Atlas

Ash Bud Moth Prays fraxinella (Bjerkander, 1784)

Family: Praydidae (Checklist: 22.002). Before 2013, placed in either Plutellidae or Yponomeutidae. Wetlands Nature Reserve, Ickleton TL496440: 22 Jun 2023 There is also a dark, plainer colour form. The larvae of this species, as the English name suggests, feed on the buds of Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) in its later stages. As a smaller larva, it mines the leaf. NBN Atlas

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