Lilac Lovely

You need to be careful in scattering superlatives about moths, because something even lovelier has a habit of coming along next. A couple of posts ago, I was extolling the glories of the Beautiful Hook-tip. Now the Lilac Beauty has paid a call and I think it wins the crown.

By coincidence, it's a moth with a similar odd habit of resting with part of its forewing furled, like a larger version of the Barred Straw which featured in my last post. Coincidence strikes too in the fact that the last time I featured this moth, in early July 2013, it followed an earlier post in which I described the Beautiful Hook-tip. Then as now, I mentioned that ten UK moths are accorded the title 'beautiful' in their names; and then as now, I hastily added that many more have the word 'beauty'.  Moths, like history, repeat themselves.

There were lots of other overnighters in the trap including three Elephant Hawks, Two Eyed Hawks and a Privet Hawk. And also the Clay, above, with its pointy white eye and the Figure of 80 below and to the left. This is very much the high season, helped by delicious sunshine albeit not enough rain.

After recording my first-ever Lackey last week, I now have another in a darker colourway. And the scene in the eggboxes was enlivened by the 'looper' caterpillar below which travelled around the various labels at impressive speed.