Doorstepper

We had one of those eccentric pre-Christmas evenings yesterday when we slipped out of a seasonal show because we were falling asleep, went to a Chinese where we got two identical fake moustaches in our crackers and then came home to find a very pretty moth on the doorstep.

It's a Mottled Umber, a species whose disgraceful discrimination between the sexes formed the basis of my recent rallying call to feminists on the blog - click to remind yourselves here. This moth is around all winter and the males come to light regularly, as this one did. He's at the top end of the decorative scale. The wing pattern and colour varies and some are an almost uniform beige.

The trap itself was empty this morning and I may rely on the porch light for a while. But the extraordinarily mild nights are a temptation for putting out the full works, and there are reports of Saharan winds blowing unusual moths this way, so watch this space.