Talking of pests...

My note about immigrant moths which are sadly also pests on crops coincided with a request from a friend on holiday in France for the ID of a very fine-looking arrival at her cottage. Her photo above showed it resting like a venerable sentinel or distinguished alderman; a very big moth with the sleek physique of, say, a Pine Hawk.

I had no idea what it was but Google soon turned up its dramatic persona, an 'adventist' or moth transferred to a new home by human agency, the Palm Moth, native to South America and imported to Europe in consignments of ornamental palms.  It is already a serious threat on the continent and the Government pest regulators here (who supplied the second photo showing its splendid underwings which must terrify birds when flashed) are very much on the watch for it.

Curiously, in spite of the size and dramatic content of Richard Lewington's typically excellent painting in the Moth Bible, I hadn't notice the illustration above. I suppose I have always concentrated on the section of the book where more likely arrivals are to be found. Anyway, there it is, with very precise details of the few arrivals in Britain, all of which were killed before they could spread. I do wonder though, the way things are going with Continental arrivals, whether examples of this impressive creature are going to be picked up in moth traps here, one of these days.

Meanwhile we must content ourselves with the more modest but very lovely Red Underwing which has just started arriving here. I managed to tempt this one to show a fraction of its own bird-scaring underwings, above, and then had a peek at them from underneath, below.

The good old faithful Poplar Hawk moth keeps turning up and the freshness of the example on the vine below suggests that a new generation, perhaps the third of the year, is emerging from its pupae. 

In contrast to their youthfulness, this old and battered Pine Hawk spent a night here too. Although its wing-scales have grown thin, the distinctive jetplane shape of the moth, which makes it one of my favourites, is intact.

A couple of other nice things before I go: a Scorched Carpet moth and a pretty male Ringed China-mark micro, whose Linneaean name of Parapoynx stratiotata has a distinguished ring. The females, sadly, are a contrasting mix of pale browns.