Thursday 1 September 2011

Little pretty

Righto, here we go on my holiday treasures. I've been trailing the fact that most are butterflies, but let's start with a moth. It's a real bobbydazzler and one which I never expected to live to see.


Welcome to the Crimson Speckled, which has the status of rare immigrant in the UK and has only been seen here about 100 times since 1900, with two anni mirabili in 1961 and 1990 when over 30 and 25 were recorded respectively.



Mine caught my eye in the big, unhedged field of a sort of clover which lay on the slope below our rented French cottage and which was my happy hunting ground for butterflies and a handful of day-flying moths, including this one. Every day, our neighbouring farmer Armand Bortolin harvested a strip to feed his goats which make prize-winning cheese, but there was enough to keep me occupied during our week's stay. Isn't French weather nice, btw?

The Crimson Speckled's botanical name is Utatheisa pulchella, the second name meaning 'pretty little one'. I cannot rest fully content, however, until I encounter the Beautiful Utatheisa, an even rarer relative with pink hindwings and orange blotches on its forewings. This is highly unlikely. Only one has ever been seen in the UK, on Skokholm island off Pembrokeshire in 1948. The experts think it got there somewhow from its native North America where the species is well known, feeds on a plant with the excellent name of Rattlebox and has been the subject of some fascinating research - see here. But let's have another peep at pulchella, looking rather as I imagine Caiaphas the high priest did at his ministrations in the Temple...



5 comments:

worm said...

wowsers! very pretty moth - apart from the antennae I think it's body looks quite butterfly like

Cyren said...

Don't butterflies almost always hold their wings verticle to their backs? But I agree!!! It's such a beautiful moth it is! I love how the patterns on moths wings can be so geometric sometimes. It's such a stark contrast to the wings of many butterflies which seem to be more... decorated with 'abandon' somehow. If you know what I mean.

worm said...

It's the eyes, body and legs rather than the wings that I think are 'butterfly-ish' - if you look at the first pic and imagine a curled up proboscis....

Nick Tanner said...

very envious, I'd trade my ten English Hawkmoth species for this beauty

Nick

MartinWainwright said...

Hi all - glad you like the lovely little beast. I initially wondered if it was a butterfly when it fluttered into view, but the folded wings put me straight.

Ten English hawk moths - that's pretty amazing. The Death's Head and Oleander are ones I much want to see.

Stand by for one Holiday Hawk meanwhile...

Warm wishes to all

M