A Dwarf Discovered.

Last week I tried to teach my beloved camera to swim, however, it couldn't!! I am now waiting and hoping for the insurance company to sort it out. Due to this I thought I would look back over a few of the events over the year.

Back in April I was looking for Wall Brown larvae on the scarp of High and Over when a very tiny moth flew from under my feet. It landed on the top of a blade of grass where I could just about see it. It was one of the smallest moths I had ever come across and it was a bit of a struggle to get a picture in focus of such a tiny beast whilst trying not to slide down the steep scarp. Once home I tried to identify the moth in my micro moth book, but, as usual it was a bit of a struggle. As it was I had to contact Colin Pratt, the Sussex moth recorder about something else, so I added a picture of this moth to the e mail for him to identify for me. It was therefore a massive surprise when he came back to me informing me it was Brown-barred Dwarf (Elachista subocellea), a very rare moth that had only been seen in 2 locations in Sussex on the edge of Eastbourne since Victorian times!!

Brown-barred Dwarf.

I came across the moth again on a couple of occasions over the next 2 or 3 weeks where I managed another photo of it. As it is so tiny I dare say it is in other sites as well but just hasn't been seen. It just goes to show that it is worth getting a photograph wherever possible of these tiny micro moths.

Brown-barred Dwarf.