Tuesday 8 October 2013

Special mystery moth supplement



Hello again! This is a rare supplementary post to help Richard with his heroic work of identifying this morning's mystery moth - see immediately preceding post.


Here's the insect again, closer-up and in a different light (top picture) which shows the stigmata plus the anetnnae which Richard wanted.


The hindwing is another matter... In spite of much coaxing and gentle prodding, the moth refused to show it except for the occasional nano-second. From those, it looked to me paleish grey. I finally thought of the camera's film mode and took this tiny classic of the art. Does it show enough hindwing-in-action for you, Richard? I fear not, unless the film can somehow be slowed...


Oh, and a bonus for this post. On my special pink eggbox, I discovered this Dark Chestnut, a species new to me both here in Oxfordshire and in Leeds although it is coassified as 'common'.  It's ever so slightly sinister, like the Darth Vader-imitating Black Rustics which are around at the moment; don't you think that in the first picture, it looks as though it might be sneaking off after light sabre-ing that fly?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Martin,
The 2nd photo shows off the distinctive stigmata and dark markings on the costa much better so it looks pretty good for Beaded Chestnut. Have you tried popping the moths in the fridge for 10 minutes before you manhandle them? They're usually much more docile for about 20 seconds anyway.
Cheers,
Richard

MartinWainwright said...

Thanks again Richard. I've heard of this but haven't dared try it - yet. I think I'll have a go one of these days, Penny permitting (the house is already rather more moth-infested than most).

all warm wishes

M