Spotted and Dotted

I was saying only on Tuesday that completely new moths here are a rare occurrence, after 20 years of light-trapping. Now I have had my second in three nights. It's one which I have coveted for a while; the Four-spotted Footman which has long been a rarity but now - like many other such moths - seems to be finding our warmer climate agreeable.

Previously, I would have been much more likely to find one in France, as one of my great-nieces did in Brittany ten days ago. It was dead - her Mum's pic is below - and in a corner of their room with equally dead flies, so she naturally came to the conclusion that they were its favourite food. But like the overwhelming majority of moths, the adult Four-spotted Footman sips only at nectar; its caterpillars do the eating, interestingly of lichen.

 

Why 'Four-spotted' when it seems to be spot-free, though very smart in the manner of all Footman moths, a neat appearance which gave them their name in the 18th century? The answer is in Richard Levington's exquisite paintings from the Moth Bible; it is only the female who has the spots, two on each forewing, one of which is hidden in the wing-furling when the moth is at rest.  The moth is much bigger than the other UK Footmans, or should that be -men? Altogether, a very satisfying catch.

There is also a Four-DOTTED Footman which has the same gender difference in its wing patterns and is slightly commoner although I have never seen one. Here's hoping.

Here below are a couple more pics of my Four-spotted; as with almost all moth species, the male is likelier to come to light thane the female, being out and about more in search of a mate, but again I live in hope.

Elsewhere in the eggbox, snoozing visitors included a Common Plume, Emmelina monodactyla, which is almost as faithful as the Poplar Hawk in its Summer-long visits, a Small Bloodvein and a Six-striped Rustic.