My random act of wildness was made easy today when this moth decided to sit on the outside of the window and pose for a photo!
While butterflies have the colour to make them stand out, moths are surprisingly pretty in their own way – I hadn’t expected this moth to have such delicate fringes on the edges of its wings!
The lighting wasn’t ideal for the photo, but I think it’s a Mother of Pearl moth. According to UK Moths, in certain light the wings seem to have a pearl-like shine.
I don’t know what the appeal is for a moth to sit in a plant pot or plant tray during daylight hours, but they seem to be popular! Thankfully it was better light than the previous occasion, so I could get a nice clear photo.
It’s possible that this is the same moth (or at least one of the same type) as we found in the plant pot, but with the clearer photos, I can at least try and identify this one. Looking at several different moth ID sites, I’m pretty sure this is a Large Yellow Underwing.
They are truly nocturnal moths, so that might explain why it wanted to shelter in a plant tray during the day. Apparently both the Yellow and the Red Underwing moths flash their brightly coloured underwings when disturbed, to try and surprise any birds that might attack them. This particular moth seemed happy to just sit and pose for a while, but when it did fly off it moved so quickly we had no chance of seeing what colour the wings were!
Before I start, I will apologise for the slightly blurry photos – they were taken in poor light in the garden, and I didn’t want to use the flash in case it disturbed the moth! It’d chosen an unusual place to rest for the day; inside a large unused plant pot.
The moth is a particularly dark colour, with what looks like white spots on the wings. I’m not 100% certain what type of moth this actually is as each time I try researching moths, I spot a picture that looks similar, but the next picture of the same moth looks nothing like it!