Monday 1 September 2008

Thin red line

Moths' names are often inspired but difficult to fathom. I've got a whole stack of winter evenings lined up to research some of the ones I've described since May. No problem here, however. This is the Bloodvein and it's easy to see why. I'm sorry the picture is a bit blurred but the moth led me a merry dance. I was all lined up to photograph it in the trap, but when I moved its eggbox, it fluttered off. I followed it to this honeysuckle but had to stand on tiptoes to get the camera close enough. Result, blurr. But I hope the vein is clear enough. There are plenty of other 'bodypart' moths, including an impressive range of Ears.

3 comments:

Jax Westmoreland said...

Nice Blood vein Martin. rather ironically, I saw my first specimen in the grounds of Scarborough Hospital!
Cheers.
Jax

Anonymous said...

Just found your moth blog Martin. Excellent stuff. Any harlequin ladybirds though? I've had one in Kirkstall. Always enjoyed your writing, keep up the good work. Ponytail Dave

MartinWainwright said...

Hi both - thanks v much for comments. Maybe hospitals could include medical moths among the artwork which they are encouraging. Or would everyone be worried that a moth might creep into the ward and then, as legend persistently has it, their ears?

It's great to hear from Kirkstall, Dave. I shall look out for harlequin ladybirds. We have a lot of ordinary ones here but I've noticed that their patterns vary. I shall do some research and let you know. btw I love the 'lost' island down in Kirkstall and all that unused land in the valley bottom. It'll be interesting to see how the Forge development goes. At least the architects involved, Fielden Clegg Bradley, are very good. All best to you both M