Lots of moths arrived last night to mark the end of a soaking wet spell which has made trapping impossible for most of the last week. I always feel sorry for people who risk events in June such as weddings or shows. The supposedly 'flaming' month has a treacherous reputation which it deserves so far this year.
Having said that, I am full of good cheer this sunny morning after photographing the trio of Privet Hawks above. This is the most of Britain's third largest moth to have paid me a visit in one go. The lower photograph shows them snoozing in their classic jet-plane pose; the top one reveals their underwings and fine white antennae after I gave their eggboxes a gentle shake. Here they are again below. I am a sucker for pictures of our big and colourful species.
Having said that, here is a beauty from absolutely the other end of the scale, the tiny but lovely White Plume. This is one of the relatively few moths which you have a good chance of seeing; brush through long grass (when it's dryer!) at this time of the year, and a flutter of fragile white wings will probably be one of these.
Size may matter, but for simple, modest beauty, few UK moths come better than this delicious Marbled Coronet below. And the Gold Spot in the second picture also takes some beating, common though it is.
I am always pleased to see Peppered moths in the trap too, and to study the slight differences in the light and shade of their famously variable pattersn which range from pale salt-and-pepper to completely dark, browny-black in the melanic type.
This Buff Ermine meanwhile got me thinking politically - without any enthusiasm, I have to add:
Finally, it was a pleasure to welcome a Reddish Light Arches, an infrequent visitor, and the season's first Yellow Underwing - Lesser - relatively early in the year.
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