Micromoths from Last Week's Mothing Session

Yesterday I showed some of the larger moths that I observed and photographed during last week's mothing session. This morning I would like share some of the micromoths. As the name implies, micromoths are small, sometimes tiny. There are numerous species, and many species are both highly variable and similar in appearance to other related species. In some cases, the taxonomy is still being worked out. Moth and insect field guides tend to focus on macromoths, so the best sources for identifying micromoths are online, and these may have incomplete coverage. All these things make identification difficult, and some individuals are best left unidentified.

Despite the difficulties I try to identify as many of them as I can, anyway, and sometimes I even find the correct identification. Here are a few micromoths that I found and identified. Above is an Oak Leafroller (Argyrotaenia quercifoliana).

I do not yet know the identity of this reddish moth, but it may be in the genus Acleris.

Pseudexentera costomaculana.

Tinea apicimaculella.