Recent walks around local lanes have provided me with sightings of some day flying moths and butterflies galore. Also encountered were the caterpillars of two moth species.
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| Life cycle of a moth (from Lewington's Butterfly guide) |
First up is a Drinker moth caterpillar. The adult moth is a rather drab looking brown affair, while the large caterpillar is a stunning beastie. Drinker moths are so named because of the caterpillar's habit of drinking dew drops.
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| Drinker moth caterpillar |
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| Close up |
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| Lesser yellow underwing Caterpillar |
Cinnabar moths are very distinctive with the gaudy red and black colouring providing a warning to potential predators that they are poisonous.
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| Cinnarbar moth |
The first Wall brown butterfly of the year for me was a welcome sight. A common butterfly in my youth, sadly rare these days.
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| Wall brown |
In recent days I've been delighting in several large gatherings of the green longhorn moth. Watching them dancing in the sunlight has been a real pleasure, the metallic greens and burnished bronzes only visible close up. The females have extremely long antennae (often as long as the rest of the body).
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| Green longhorn moth |
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| Look at those antennae |
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