A cold night of moths

With the temperature down to six degrees overnight and a keen northerly breeze I wasn't expecting many moths this morning. So I was pleased to find 11 of seven species this morning.

These included an Elephant Hawk-moth in the trap, a Peppered Moth on the wall, and a Dark Arches on the fence, all new for the year.

Elephant Hawk-moth

Peppered Moth

Dark Arches

The full list was:

Elephant Hawk-moth 1 (nfy)
Common Marbled Carpet 1
Peppered Moth 1 (nfy)
Pale Tussock 1
Buff Ermine 1
Dark Arches 1 (nfy)
Heart and Dart 5

The one thing these moths have in common is their size. They're all big ones (with the possible exception of Common Marbled Carpet). Not a single micro moth was caught, and not even a single species of other insect.

Clearly only big insects can handle the chill of a cool night.