View Full Version : Magnificent Looking Creature
Emdiesse
21-11-2005, 23:07
Me and my friend found this great looking moth by a light on his house wall, what is it?
http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/2742/moth0014ad.jpg
http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/4599/moth0022jh.jpg
Thanks, Emdiesse.
redcollective
21-11-2005, 23:50
Try the UKMoths Database. (http://ukmoths.org.uk/)
Could it be this one? (http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=243) - Eyed Hawk-moth
When did you see this moth?
aquanaut
22-11-2005, 12:17
Think eyed hawk moth is the right call - Smerinthus ocellata - which woukd be about 75-95mm normally found in england and wales in early summer although a second generation may occur in late summer. Larval food includes willow, aspen, sallow and apple. does that fit?
Nice one........Looks very similar to my popular hawk moth http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=9333&page=2
....................Jon
Emdiesse
22-11-2005, 17:45
Yeah. It must be that one, we saw it about mid-late summer? I just thought of showing on here yesturday :D.
I was going to say, i had sworn i had seen some blue on it, that confirms it more because the ukmoths website says it shows an intense blue and pink if prevoked.
innocent bystander
22-11-2005, 18:38
Slightly on/off topic, but a couple of years ago i walked into our front room, and i thought my ma had hung a new souvenir on the wall. On closer inspection it was, either a moth or a butterfly, but i kid you not - it was the size of a large sourcer, and a dark blue colour, resting on the wall. Unfortunately i never had a camera handy at the time, but i do wonder what it might have been. It was the largest i have seen outside of a butterfly house. Any thoughts to it's identity ?
redcollective
22-11-2005, 20:15
Were the wings predominantly a deep sky blue? Try a Morpho (http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=morpho&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi).
Here's a bloody good list of Butterfly and Moth links from Iowa State Uni.
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/list/directory/90/vid/5 Morpho (http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=morpho&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi)
innocent bystander
22-11-2005, 23:02
Nice links Red.
I wouldn't like to say ney or yey to a particular one. It was a fairly uniform, darkish blue - at tad darker on the edges, but the sheer size of the thing !!!
It's a pity that a lot of the pics dont give you a true idea of scale, as there can't be too many in the english country side that big....