Monday 16 May 2016

Yum yum


One of the loveliest-patterned of UK moths flew in last night - this Coronet with its subtly beautiful dress of purple, olive and a dozen other subtle shades. If this hasn't influenced a dress designer or wallpaper artist, I will eat my hat (a Tam O'Shanter in Black Watch tartan made of flimsy tourist wool and so probably easy to digest).

Thinking of which, is Gary Lineker going to honour his promise of last December to present Match of the Day in his pants if Leicester City won the League? It still seems to be an open question. Update: it sounded from an interview with him yesterday on Radio 4 as though he is.   

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Back to the moths, and here is the Coronet from the side. It was a fairly sparse night in the trap but this arrival was more than enough to satisfy me. Oh, and I can never resist putting up a picture of that blaze of sulphurous yellow, the Brimstone moth. Its eponymous butterfly counterparts are here in force during the day, one of many reasons - along with hawthorn blossom, cow parsley, forget-me-nots et al for rejoicing in this wonderful month.  And the day after tomorrow is my birthday!


What is this, finally?  I shall settle down in front of the News at Ten and try to work it out. Update: after I completely failed to come up with any candidate apart from a moth only seen in the UK once in the last 100 years, the expert Dave Wilton on the Upper Thames Moths blog (there is none finer) suggests Scrobipalpa acuminatella which I'd never have recognised from the Micro Bible. So, very many thanks yet again.


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