Moths of the month

As always - some moths are hard to spot but if you're eagle eyed, here are the ones you can expect to see at the moment in our area.

Burnished brass moths are hard to mistake for anything else, with their metallic wings. You’ll spot them feeding at dusk.

Check out this video to see just how beautiful their wings are (Credit to AstrogeoJay) as photos don't eve do them justice!

Coxcomb prominents are very well camouflaged and will actually ‘play dead’ if you handle them (BUT please don't handle them - you don't want to risk hurting them) - you’ll see them around woodlands, parks and gardens as they’re fairly common.

Burnished brass moth and coxcomb prominent (Credit to Martin Rogers)

It’ll come as no shock that you can identify a gold spot by it’s gold spots - again, they’re quite common and you’ll see them around woodland rides and grassland and in wetter areas like marshland and river banks. 

The v pug isn’t always green - sometimes they’re a lot darker than the one pictured, and so they camouflage amazingly well with wood and stone. If you’re lucky enough to actually spot one, you’ll find them in woodlands, parks and gardens.

Gold spot and v pug (Credit to Martin Rogers)

Iron prominents live mainly on birch trees - they’re pretty small but if you get close to one you’ll see it has humps on it’s back (like other prominents).

The sallow kitten is a fluffy moth and the most common of the British ‘kitten’ species. Their name comes from their caterpillars feeding on sallow - nothing to do with their facial expression!

Iron prominent and sallow kitten (Credit to Martin Rogers)

Some rare finds

The southern wainscot is a pretty rare moth but we have a good number in the roadbeds of the Wetlands right now, which is excellent news. If you’re lucky enough to spot one you might find it hard to differentiate from the common wainscot as they’re very similar, with slightly different dots. 

It's not a moth, but - we spotted a pink field grasshopper earlier in the year but sadly didn’t get a photo until now. It’s a genetic mutation (similar to what causes albinism) which means that they’re, sadly, very badly camouflaged and rarely make it to adulthood. If you ever see either of these when you're out and about, please send us any photos you take as we'dlove to see them!

Southern wainscot (Credit to Adrian Day) and Pink field grasshopper (Credit to Martin Rogers)

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