'Tis the season!! Here we explore the secret lives of 12 moths with suitably festive names... introducing THE 12 MOTHS OF CHRISTMAS. A thread @savebutterflies

The DECEMBER MOTH's on the wing with Santa & his reindeer. Whereas Rudolph's nose is bright, December moth's is bushy. Moths smell with their antennae! He's looking for love with those frost-proof bushy antlers! Curiously, he has no mouth: no point - too cold for nectar now!!

Underneath the Mistletoe Marble caterpillar, kiss by candlelight! These old orchard specialists thrive on mistletoe parasitising apple! They're rare Biodiversity Action Plan species. The adults (16-18mm wingspan) are thought to deliberately resemble bird poop for camouflage!

The ANTLER moth is named after the cream patterns on its wingsIt's an egg at Christmas. The caterpillars are nocturnal, eating Sheep’s-fescue and Purple Moor-grass. The adults are day-flying, lapping up nectar from thistles and ragwort (which is NOT the source of all evil...)

If there's a famous SETACEOUS HEBREW CHARACTER it's Jesus! Although the jury is still out 2020 years later whether Jesus spoke Hebrew or Aramaic, we can't not include this beauty, named after the bristly wings featuring a black mark shaped like the Hebrew letter Nun (נ)

Setaceous is an excellent Scrabble word and Jesus was bristly wasn't he?! But there's also a moth just called the HEBREW CHARACTER, and with plenty of other Hebrew characters in the Christmas story I'm calling this moth our No. 5... @naturalistdara @gillians_voice @BBCSpringwatch

Introducing 6. the NUTMEG! Not as exotic as the festive spice, it haunts UK gardens & waste-ground May to Sept. It has two broods in the South, one oop North. The easiest way to distinguish this moth from similar is its hairy eyes but you will need a magnifying glass to see them.

Whereas the nutmeg flies in Spring and Summer, these are winter wanderers. CHESTNUTS fly Sept-May, DARK CHESTNUTS are on the wing Oct-Feb. So, careful with those outdoor advent candles or you may have Chestnuts roasting on an open fire ... @Kate_Bradbury

9. Let's raise a festive glass to the DRINKER MOTH. They're caterpillars just now & should be hibernating... but on mild days they quench their thirst on dewdrops, hence their thirsty name... Feeding and hiding in grass it shows we really should leave unmown grass to overwinter!

Yes CURRANT CLEARWING *is* a MOTH! There are more UK day flying moths than UK butterflies! The caterpillar burrows inside stems of Black and Red currant bushes to eat pith inside. They're dormant inside stems in winter before pupating & burrowing out as frankly kick-ass adults.

PS. You can rest assured Currant Clearwing has no impact on the availability of Christmas cake as the sweet dried fruits used for baking are not currants but actually a variety of grape ....

... and finally ... let's finish with a selection of CHOCOLATES. These two are the CHOCOLATE-TIP and SCARCE CHOCOLATE-TIP. I don't know about you but chocolates get pretty scarce around here... @amongstwits @Greengrumbler

... and that's it! HAPPY CHRISTMAS LEPIDOPTERA LOVERS! ... and remember a little bit of wild helps moths! so put the ho, ho, ho to one side ...