Careful roamer

You might expect a Gypsy moth to lead the carefree, random life of a roamer on the roads, but things don't work like that. Last year on 19 August, my first examples of this rapidly spreading immigrant appeared in the trap, two of them.  This year on the same date, there was one in the eggboxes and this one perching demurely on a leaf nearby. Clockwork!

As I mentioned last year, Gypsy moth caterpillars are of some concern to farmers, gardeners and foresters so we'll keep our fingers crossed on that account. It is a downside of the success of some new moth arrivals in Britain. Every time I see a beautiful box hedge, as at the lovely Waterperry Gardens near here this week, I keep my fingers crossed that the equally fast-spreading little Box Moth will keep away. An infestation can be devastating.

Meanwhile a second and even more predictable arrival: the lovely Red Underwing above. I am looking at these big visitors with more than usual care because the much rarer Dark Crimson Underwing is also on the march. Its hindwing patterns are slightly different from the Red Underwing's and both moths are famously reluctant to show these glamorous petticoats except when flying off.  They normally rest as in the picture below; if you are lucky, as here, a tiny speck of red peeps through.

The other way of spotting the colour is to check out their underwings, something Penny famously did a dozen years ago when she spotted a Red Underwing snoozing on the underneath of an almost exactly colour-matching pub umbrella by the Thames.  Here's what you see, below, followed by the moth on a toning tablecloth after release from initial imprisonment in my Bug Bottle.

I mentioned Waterperry and we were lucky to take a friend there on a sunny day which brought the season's lovely Vanessid butterflies to the many strongly-scented flowers. How lucky we are to have such strikingly beautiful creatures among our common UK species as the Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Painted Lady below.