Cappuccino

Here's a nice moth - the sort that keeps me trapping as the nights draw in, the dawn comes later and the wasps abound. I'm 99 percent sure that it's a Green-brindled Crescent of the form capucina, an endemic British creature, only found here, hooray, tarantara. (The capucina, that is; the standard GBC is continental too).

So of course are the cappuccino and Capucin monks after which it is named. Both share the name because of their combination of dark brown and cream, in the monks' habits and the nice drink, and the moth variety has that look too, with its greyish 'head' and brownish body - although as you can see, 'brown' is a simplification. It's a terrific example of the rich but subtle variety of colouring which is one of the great attractions of moths.

I put the trap in a new and very shady area by our pond, btw, with brambles close by. The devil has just about got into the blackberries now and that figures; my moth Bible tells me that the GBC enjoys feeding on over-ripe ones. More of the trap's inhabitants soon... Meanwhile, can anyone confirm to me why cappucino has two ps and Capucin one? Penny thinks it's to do with the former being Italian and the latter Latin. Erudite soul.