Longhorn moth

Meadow Long-horn (Cauchas rufimitrella)

While poking around in the garden yesterday afternoon, I spotted several small insects with huge long antennae flitting around above one of the flowerbeds. It took a while before I finally found one that settled long enough for me to get a look, let alone a photograph. Eventually, though, I found a few on some Field Forget-me-not. Unfortunately, they never really sat still, which is why the photo above is ever-so-slightly blurry. It turns out they're tiny day-flying moths, known as Meadow Long-horns (Cauchas rufimitrella). Measuring less than 6 mm (i.e. topping out at less than 1/4-inch), they'd be easy to overlook if it wasn't for those eye-catching antennae. Those are more than twice the length of the moth's forewing! The forewing itself is a flashy, metallic greenish-gold, and the moth's fuzzy black head often (as above) shows a patch of red or purple on the nape. Adults fly in May and June, particularly on sunny days, in areas of damp grassland (like our garden after all the recent rains) and moss. According to the Field Guide to the Micromoths of Great Britain and Ireland, they're local across much of England and Wales, and even scarcer in Scotland and Ireland. The larval food plants are Garlic Mustard and Cuckooflower, both of which we have in the garden, so it's a little surprising we haven't seen these moths before. It's another new one for the list!