Friday 18 April 2014

Easter chocolate




Moth or shrimp? Forelegs to the left
and note antenna peeping out
I'm writing this with my little granddaughter on my knee while her Mum and Dad have a brief, well-deserved lie-in. Appropriately, an excellent moth for children arrived this morning, the Easter-sounding Chocolate-tip.  I met these for the first time last year after moving from Leeds, which they have not yet discovered, and they are lovely and distinctly-shaped creatures.



Even better was this Coxcomb Prominent, the first of the year for me, which appears to be pole-dancing on one of the struts of the very simple but extraordinarily effective rainshield which Mr and Mrs Robinson designed for their trap. You can see the reason for its name; part of a camouflage suit which is very effective against a background of old leaves or a tree trunk.


Other new arrivals were a Nut-tree Tussock, above, and the smart-looking male Muslin moth below, albeit with a curious bit of damage to one of his wings. The female is a white or creamy version but has a dislike of coming to light at night although she quite often flies by day.  I have yet to see one.


Otherwise, the usual crew included six Hebrew Characters, two Clouded Drabs, three Common Quakers and this rather handsome caddis fly.

2 comments:

sarah meredith said...

Blogging and babysitting at the same time, eh? Multi-tasking at its best! Hope everyone is well. xxs

Martin Wainwright said...

Hi there - and thanks for Facebook message too - sorry I'm not very Facebook literate; it's just that my Tweets get posted there automatically. I must go over and have a good read this weekend.

Yes, Emily is seriously challenging the moths as my main absorption at the mo, though I managed to get a nice pic of her with the Coxcomb Prominent which combined both interests. Her Mum's not so keen on moths but she and Tom have bought E a very fine cuddly creature called Freddy Firefly who gets a lot of very serious, long looks.

Hope you're all well and have a lovely Easter. We've got a big gathering of clans this weekend so I must go and help wash up.

xx to all M