Monday 6 August 2012

In the pink

The eagle-eyed may have noticed a sliver of pink, like a leaf, at the bottom of yesterday's photo of the Olympic Chairman, aka Poplar Hawk. It caught my eye too, because the Barred Red - which is what it was - is an intriguing moth.


It is entirely pink for a start, which is unique. But it also has a rare pale green version which looks extremely like the much more common Light Emerald. The standard pink Barred Red also has many of the features of the LE, although the little triangular point at the bottom of the hindwing is less pronounced. I'm sure that, like those pairs of photographs in Private Eye, they must be related.


Here they both are, the Barred Red closer-up with some of its sleepy companions, and below that, a Light Emerald which came to the trap last week. This is the high season for these gentle, fluttery moths with slender bodies and large wings. I plan a Laura Ashley fashion parade tomorrow of some of the others, the various dainty, white- and cream-coloured Waves.

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