Wednesday 23 February 2011

Slight heat

Last night was slightly warmer than it had been recently, so I had a quick check at the porch lights just in case moths were active. 

This male Pale Brindled Beauty had tried to get as close to the *light as it possibly could:
Male Pale Brindled Beauty - Phigalia pilosaria
Again, these have flightless females, and they appear in two main colour forms: in rural areas they tend to be as shown above, and in industrial areas or cities, they are often much darker.

The Chestnut is a bit atypical of the winter moths, since it is patterned and coloured like many of the moths from much later in the season (it also belongs to a different family - the Noctuids):

Chestnut moth - Conistra vaccinii

Both of these moths can be found during the coldest months, so they aren't really a sign of the forthcoming spring, but they do bring a smile nevertheless.

* this is a very interesting lightbulb, as it attracts many night-flying moths; it's one of the newer energy-saving bulbs that's shaped to look very much like the old incandescent bulbs.

3 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

Moths out already Stuart? I did notice a few midgies yesterday dancing about.

Gill said...

I wonder if that light has a substantial UV component - I believe moth traps use UV bulbs....

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