We just happened to look in the right direction to spot this pair of mating Esperia sulphurella, which we thought blended into this old deadwood branch amazingly, especially in terms of the colouration.
We regularly see this species, but rarely male and female together. The female will lay her eggs just beneath a loose piece of bark or within a rotten cavity from which the caterpillar will feast on the deadwood itself.
Deadwood is a valuable resource for many invertebrates and generally lacking from urban gardens due to ‘human garden tidy syndrome’ or unsuitable. Unsuitable deadwood can be treated timber, which may contain preservatives that are not invertebrate safe. Indeed are designed to eliminate wood-boring insects and other invertebrates. If you do happen to have any natural/untreated deadwood, try keeping some in the garden somewhere, ideally scattered in different locations offering different conditions (sun, shade, damp, dry, ground level or elevated etc).
DC: 16.04.2024
Wildlife Garden 