In the light of the moon...

Inevitably, this blog tends to show pictures of adult moths which are only one stage of the four-part process of an insect's life. By chance this morning, when I was photographing a couple of hawk moths on the garden table beside the trap, I came across the first part of the journey: eggs.

Who they belong to, I have no idea and they may not even be a moth's. Among other candidates, when I Googled 'bright green insect eggs', are the Green Shield Bug and other creatures of that ilk.  I have popped them in a box with an assortment of leaves and will keep an eye on what happens and let you know. Rearing caterpillars can be a bit time-consuming but I have always got the grandchildren in London to fall back on.

They have already taken charge of the caterpillar below, having prudently and responsibly checked in advance what food it would require to survive. Unlike Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar, most moth larvae have a preference and it is one of the minor wonders of Nature that their mother will lay her eggs on or near the favoured plant.

This fussiness can apply to  caterpillars described as omnivorous (a useful addition to the grandchildren's vocabulary this weekend) because once they have got used to a particular leaf, they can be reluctant to change. My problem with this caterpillar, which I found curled up in the moth trap, most unusually, was that I didn't know what it was.

Enter, as usual, the inestimable Upper Thames Moths blog where John Thacker identified it as a Satellite moth's, a common species here. This was handy because they are omnivores and the children will be able to find plenty to keep it happy. Omnivore in the Satellite's case means what it says; when they are close to maturity, their diet includes other, smaller caterpillars of their own or other species. That's the sort of fact which excites a child's interest. 

Meanwhile the moths' High Season continues apace, with the warm nights bringing more and more lovely things to the eggboxes.  Here are some of them, with more to follow in my next post:

The Alder moth - a garden first here although I had them in Leeds prior to 2013

A cuddly male Pale Tussock with its habit of resting with forepaws outstretched

Ditto, but on the move. Taken just prior to take-off

A Buff-tip actually on the lamp which I had only just turned off. A rare event and it seemed quite happy, though very sleepy. Another one in an eggbox, below

A Scorched Wing with its eye-defocussing camouflage, on the rain shield. There were two more in the trap and one on a nearby wall

Pebble Prominent, another paw stretcher

Common but pretty - a Marbled Minor

And finally, the finely-named and strikingly-coiffed Coxcomb Prominent