Sunday 27 June 2010

In the buff


We've got persistent internet problems at the mo, which Virgin seems unable to sort out quickly, but I've made my way online now, and accompanying me is this Buff Arches. It's the kind of moth I like; you can't go wrong with its identification. Having said that, and having known it all my life since I first caught one on rum-and-treacle as a small boy, along with a Peach Blossom and a Burnished Brass which have stuck in my mind as its best friends (seasonally, they arrive together, so that makes sense), I'd never noticed one thing. It has the letter W written in beautiful scroll-like script on its forewings. That makes me like it even more. Look there, in the picture below where the wings are spread (through alarm at my photography). Rum and treacling, btw, is a very enjoyable way to spend an evening. You mix the ingredients, tasting regularly, and then smear on trees near scented flowers. When the moths arrive, they get drunk and/or stuck. It can be disappointing, mind. A light trap is about 100 times more efficient.

2 comments:

Bennyboymothman said...

Yes i've never had much luck sugaring myself, it smells delicious though :)

MartinWainwright said...

Hi Ben - sugaring, that's the other word, thanks. It can be very disappointing, specially if you're with kids and they're all fired up (a bit like having National Moth Night way back earlier this year when there wasn't much about). But when you do find something interesting quaffing away, it's magic.