Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other families of the Noctuoidea. It was considered the largest family in Lepidoptera for a long time, but after regrouping Lymantriinae, Catocalinae and Calpinae within the family Erebidae, the latter holds this title now. Currently, Noctuidae is the second largest family in Noctuoidea, with about 1,089 genera and 11,772 species. This classification is still contingent, as more changes continue to appear between Noctuidae and Erebidae.
Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy places the family in the superfamily Papilionoidea, the butterflies. They are named for their quick, darting flight habits. Most have their antenna tips modified into narrow, hook-like projections. Moreover, skippers mostly have an absence of wing-coupling structure available in most moths. More than 3500 species of skippers are recognized, and they occur worldwide, but with the greatest diversity in the Neotropical regions of Central and South America.
Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, and the Pacific Northwest and New England regions of the United States.
The name death's-head hawkmoth refers to any of three moth species of the genus Acherontia. The former species is found in Europe and throughout Africa, the latter two are Asian; most uses of the common name refer to the European species. These moths are easily distinguishable by the vaguely human skull-shaped pattern of markings on the thorax. They are large nocturnal moths with brown and yellow or orange coloring, and all three species are fairly similar in size, coloration and life cycle.
Saturnia pavonia, the small emperor moth, is a moth of the family Saturniidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Sometimes, the incorrect genus name Pavonia is still used for this species. This moth occurs throughout the Palearctic region and is the only member of its family to be found in the British Isles, where it is usually called simply the emperor moth.
The small dusty wave is a moth of the family Geometridae first described by Franz von Paula Schrank in 1802. It is found throughout Western, Central and Northern Europe. In the north, its range extends as far as Denmark and southern Scandinavia. In the east its range extends as far as Russia. Idaea seriata is replaced by the subspecies Idaea seriata canteneraria, from the north-east of Spain and the central and eastern Mediterranean to the Crimean peninsula, while the western Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands are inhabited by the sister species Idaea minuscularia. Outside Europe it is found in eastern Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Cyprus, the Caucasus and the northwest of Transcaucasia. In Morocco and western Algeria, it is replaced by the sister species Idaea minuscularia. In the British Isles it is common in England and Wales but is only found in the eastern half of Scotland and it is rare in Ireland.
Mimas tiliae, the lime hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East, and has also been identified in Canada's east and western provinces and in northern Spain (Europe). The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
The Lasiocampidae are a family of moths also known as eggars, tent caterpillars, snout moths, or lappet moths. Over 2,000 species occur worldwide, and probably not all have been named or studied. It is the sole family in superfamily Lasiocampoidea.
The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat is a small Eurasian insectivorous bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold. It is extremely similar to the much rarer grey long-eared bat which was only validated as a distinct species in the 1960s. An adult brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5–4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1–4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4–4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3–3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species. They are relatively slow flyers compared to other bat species.
The dot moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761. It is a very distinctive species with very dark brown, almost black, forewings marked with a large white stigma from which the species gets its common name. The hindwings are grey with a dark band at the termen. The wingspan is 38–50 mm. It flies at night in July and August and is attracted to light, sugar and flowers.
Pterophorus pentadactyla, commonly known as the white plume moth, is a moth in the family Pterophoridae. It is found in the West Palearctic including North Africa and Europe. The wingspan is 26–34 mm (1.0–1.3 in). It is uniformly white, with the hind wing pair divided in three feathery plumes and the front pair in another two. The moths fly from June to August. The larvae feed on bindweed.
Oligia versicolor, the rufous minor, is a species of moth belonging to the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen in 1792. It is distributed throughout Europe from Bulgaria up to the Caucasus in the south. In the north, it is found in southern Scotland, southern Sweden and Estonia through Europe to central Spain, southern Italy.
The Canary long-eared bat, also known as the Canary big-eared bat or Tenerife long-eared bat, is a species of vesper bat endemic to the Canary Islands. According to the IUCN, it is vulnerable to the risk of extinction. The species is primarily found in woodland habitat at elevations between 100 and 2300 m. It feeds mainly on moths. Roosting sites include caves, lava tubes and abandoned buildings.
Eupithecia innotata, the angle-barred pug, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767. It ranges from Spain in the west to western Siberia and Central Asia in the east.
Agriphila geniculea, the elbow-striped grass-veneer, is a species of moth of the family Crambidae. It was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1811.
Esperia oliviella is a species of gelechioid moth.
Sclerocona is a genus of moths of the family Crambidae which contains only one species, Sclerocona acutella. It was first described by the Prussian biologist Eduard Friedrich Eversmann in 1842.
Micropterix mansuetella is a species of moth belonging to the family Micropterigidae and can be found in Europe, in very wet woodlands, fens and carrs. The imago was described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1844, but the larva and pupa are poorly described.
Quercus pyrenaica, commonly known as Pyrenean oak, is a tree native to southwestern Europe and northwestern North Africa. Despite its common name, it is rarely found in the Pyrenees Mountains and is more abundant in northern Portugal and north and northwestern Spain.
