If you have a tendency, as I do, to wander through grassy meadows, you may have noticed small pale-looking flying creatures that are disturbed by your passing. They flit up and disappear again so quickly – their wings gathered tightly to their sides and often perched head-down on a grass stem – that they can be very hard to spot, and you may not, as I initially didn’t, realise that they’re moths. There are 39 species of Crambinae (the Grass moth family) in Britain – so far I’ve only managed to photograph these five.

Agriphila straminella Straw Grass-veneer (left) and Agriphila tristella Common grass-veneer (right)

Chrysoteuchia culmella Garden Grass-veneer

Crambus lathoniellus Hook-streak Grass-veneer

Crambus pascuella Inlaid grass-veneer

I am extremely grateful to my friends from the South Wales Butterfly Conservation Group on Facebook for their help in identifying these moths.