# Water logged moth pics, drying out its wings



## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

I found a small moth in my garden the other week(Im not sure what type of moth?!)...We had had some serious heavy rainful, and the moth was not looking too good, so i offered it a small twig to climb onto, were it then set about drying out its shrivelled up wings...

The pics tell the story...cheers.


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## Skorps (Nov 23, 2009)

WOW!
Those are FANTASTIC photos!!

xXx


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## vawn (Jul 1, 2008)

kind alooks like they do when they come out of their pupa and they have to pump the blood round the wings to get em going


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## laurencea (Aug 28, 2009)

lovely shots there, mister.


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

Very interesting shots of an emerging Square-spot Rustic.


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Skorps said:


> WOW!
> Those are FANTASTIC photos!!
> 
> xXx


Cheers...



vawn said:


> kind alooks like they do when they come out of their pupa and they have to pump the blood round the wings to get em going


It appears you may have been right about that, I just thought the moth was waterlogged:blush:



laurencea said:


> lovely shots there, mister.


Thanks mate, I didnt have to travel far, just my back garden for these shots: victory: i did take quite a few pics though:blush:...My wife scorned at me- "Just how many photos do you need to take of one little moth"...

She just dont understand!!!



Woodsman said:


> Very interesting shots of an emerging Square-spot Rustic.


Thanks very much for that, i had a feeling you would come along and enlighten me on this type of moth(Ive seen some of your other posts on here: victory...So it wasnt actually due to the heavy rainfall then, just the fact that it was emerging?...

I have some rather interesting other shots of this moth too, but they show it in a somewhat different light, i will just go upload them for you to see.



EDIT- a couple of more pics then...


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## fergie (Oct 27, 2007)

Cracking pics, mate :no1:


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

How long does it generally take for them to pump the blood through to thier wings?


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

Congrats.on getting such an amazing sequence of photos.
Yes it's a freshly emerging moth rather than waterlogged.A rarely seen or photographed event.:2thumb:
Rainfall doesn't usually bother moths too much.


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

brittone05 said:


> How long does it generally take for them to pump the blood through to thier wings?


 An interesting question,I doubt you would find the answer to this from the text books.No doubt the time varies not only between species but also individuals within a species.Possibly temperatures would have a bearing too.
A good subject for some zoology/ecology student research!.


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## vawn (Jul 1, 2008)

as far as i know it can take anywhere from a few hours to most of a day


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

fergie said:


> Cracking pics, mate :no1:


Thanks mate...



Woodsman said:


> Congrats.on getting such an amazing sequence of photos.
> Yes it's a freshly emerging moth rather than waterlogged.A rarely seen or photographed event.:2thumb:
> Rainfall doesn't usually bother moths too much.


Thanks, I guess i didnt really know what i was witnessing:blush: I did take heaps of pics though, and because of the heavy rain we had, I just presumed it was waterlogged.



Woodsman said:


> An interesting question,I doubt you would find the answer to this from the text books.No doubt the time varies not only between species but also individuals within a species.Possibly temperatures would have a bearing too.
> A good subject for some zoology/ecology student research!.


Ive checked the time scale from when i found the moth(each photo shows the time the pic was taken)...I started taking shots just after 1.00pm, and took the last pic just before 2.00pm...The weather was cool that day too...Incidently, I placed the twig on a wooden table and the moth crawled to the edge of the table, stayed there for a short time, then crawled underneath the table and out of sight...It was probably waiting for the evening, to take its 1st flight then?


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

Testudo Man said:


> Thanks mate...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Thanks for telling me that.I'll use the info for future reference.
Good that it hid under the table,moths are amazing at hiding away in daylight hours.
To digress a bit,Quite a number of unusual migrant moths have been recorded over the past few weeks,mainly in the south of the country.
My friend had a Silver-striped Hawkmoth in her trap at Harlech last week,the first one seen in N Wales for over 100 years.


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

I once found a hawk moth caterpillar ( elephant hawk moth? ).... decided to watch the process and this is how he/she came out....


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## vogelport (Feb 4, 2008)

*hi*

Its a square spot rustic,you usually seem them aug/sep time! : victory:


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## Freakinfreak (May 13, 2009)

The last picture of the moth on the stick.. looks like a gangsta moth, "whatcha lookin' at?! 8)"


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Woodsman said:


> Thanks for telling me that.I'll use the info for future reference.
> Good that it hid under the table,moths are amazing at hiding away in daylight hours.
> To digress a bit,Quite a number of unusual migrant moths have been recorded over the past few weeks,mainly in the south of the country.
> My friend had a Silver-striped Hawkmoth in her trap at Harlech last week,the first one seen in N Wales for over 100 years.


Cheers, no problems...Ive taken a few moth pics this year, so i should post them up for Identification purposes(one of them had clear wings too) and i would imagine your friend was pleased with her rare find...I must admit to seeing quite a few moths at the windows at night(light attraction) certainly more than i can remember in recent years...



brittone05 said:


> I once found a hawk moth caterpillar ( elephant hawk moth? ).... decided to watch the process and this is how he/she came out....
> 
> image
> 
> image


Nice looking moth there: victory: i havent seen one of those in the flesh before.



Freakinfreak said:


> The last picture of the moth on the stick.. looks like a gangsta moth, "whatcha lookin' at?! 8)"


I think different people have all come up with different ideas on those pics, its all good.


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Thanks TT  It was the oddest caterpillar I had ever seen hence why I deided to house it and watch it change.

The butterfly/moth guy we contacted said they are very common but I got to 28 and had never seen one!


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

brittone05 said:


> Thanks TT  It was the oddest caterpillar I had ever seen hence why I deided to house it and watch it change.
> 
> The butterfly/moth guy we contacted said they are very common but I got to 28 and had never seen one!


 Considering there are around 2600 species of moth in uk,many of them quite common it's amazing how few are seen.Both in the larval and adult stage.Having so many predators they have evolved to be masters of camouflage.
For instance take your Elephant Hawkmoth,one would be forgiven for thinking that such a brightly coloured animal would stick out like a sore thumb,but you try finding one by day!
A visit to one of the many light trapping events which are held round the country proves an eye opener, with the numbers and species of moth that frequently turn up.


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

brittone05 said:


> Thanks TT  It was the oddest caterpillar I had ever seen hence why I deided to house it and watch it change.
> 
> The butterfly/moth guy we contacted said they are very common but I got to 28 and had never seen one!


It must have been cool to watch it hatch out...And your pics just reminded me of what i saw and photographed over a year ago: victory:...I found this pair of moths mating on my sons playhouse, they are Lime Hawk moths, and they were at it for hours...





















Woodsman said:


> Considering there are around 2600 species of moth in uk,many of them quite common it's amazing how few are seen.Both in the larval and adult stage.Having so many predators they have evolved to be masters of camouflage.
> For instance take your Elephant Hawkmoth,one would be forgiven for thinking that such a brightly coloured animal would stick out like a sore thumb,but you try finding one by day!
> A visit to one of the many light trapping events which are held round the country proves an eye opener, with the numbers and species of moth that frequently turn up.


Thats a lot of moths there:gasp: (2600)


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

The actual number of species according to my textbook is 2500 species of which 900 are macro moths and the rest micro moths.More have been recorded in uk since the publication of this book (2003)
Great photos of the Lime Hawks:2thumb:I'm jealous,it's a moth that somehow eludes me.


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Woodsman said:


> The actual number of species according to my textbook is 2500 species of which 900 are macro moths and the rest micro moths.More have been recorded in uk since the publication of this book (2003)
> Great photos of the Lime Hawks:2thumb:I'm jealous,it's a moth that somehow eludes me.


Cheers, this was the 1st(and only)time i saw these Lime Hawks, and i did take at least 12 to 15 pics of them, both while they were mating, and when they seperated...But all those pics are somewhere on a disc, because my PC crashed, and i lost some pretty good photos as a result:bash:...Also, the pics were taken on my other camera too...



Heres a nice little Clear winged moth i saw this summer, it visited my famous blackberry bush...I didnt know what it was at the time, but i set about taking some nice shots of it.


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

Wow! That's either a Red-belted or Large Red-belted Clearwing.I think some reddish spots can just be seen at base of the forewing which suggests large RBC.Neither of these have been recorded in North Wales and both are given nationally scarce status.
It may be that they are relatively common in your area.Your county recorder of moths would be very interested.: victory:


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Woodsman said:


> Wow! That's either a Red-belted or Large Red-belted Clearwing.I think some reddish spots can just be seen at base of the forewing which suggests large RBC.Neither of these have been recorded in North Wales and both are given nationally scarce status.
> It may be that they are relatively common in your area.Your county recorder of moths would be very interested.: victory:


I will upload the other pics of it for you(I even got an out of focus in-flight shot too:blush it didnt stay around for too long, i only saw it the once, and its quite a small moth...wont be long:whistling2:.


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Some more pics then...




























And the out of focus in-flight one:whistling2::2thumb:


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

You're fortunate to get such great pics.thanks for showing them.
It's a Red-belted Clearwing.I've looked at the NBN distribution map and it seems Kent is the stronghold of the species.
Normally,clearwings are only seen when attracted to pheremone lures.
The caterpillars live under the bark on apple trees.If you have any in your garden the exit holes shold be visible.:2thumb:


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Woodsman said:


> You're fortunate to get such great pics.thanks for showing them.
> It's a Red-belted Clearwing.I've looked at the NBN distribution map and it seems Kent is the stronghold of the species.
> Normally,clearwings are only seen when attracted to pheremone lures.
> The caterpillars live under the bark on apple trees.If you have any in your garden the exit holes shold be visible.:2thumb:


I was lucky to get those shots:whistling2: I think it was on the same day, i missed the chance to photograph a big yellow and black weird looking wasp:bash:...

Your gonna laugh, i had 2 apple trees in my back garden, and i cut the bloody things down 8 years ago, that was the worst thing i could have done...on the upside of that, i left the stumps/roots in situ. and i get loads of Stag beetles in my garden every year.:no1:


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

I do have one more moth pic(or is it a tiny butterfly?:blush Woodsman:whistling2::2thumb:...

This was very very small in size, and on a windy day, it was getting blown around the place...any ideas what it is?...cheers in advance.


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

Testudo Man said:


> I do have one more moth pic(or is it a tiny butterfly?:blush Woodsman:whistling2::2thumb:...
> 
> This was very very small in size, and on a windy day, it was getting blown around the place...any ideas what it is?...cheers in advance.
> 
> ...


Another great pic.:2thumb:It's a micro moth _Pyrausta purpuralis_ I don't think it has a common name.This one is rather faded,when fresh they are bright purple really striking.The larvae live in spun leaves of mint or thyme.
I can't decide on the plant yours is on-is it Borage or Salvia?


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Woodsman said:


> Another great pic.:2thumb:It's a micro moth _Pyrausta purpuralis_ I don't think it has a common name.This one is rather faded,when fresh they are bright purple really striking.The larvae live in spun leaves of mint or thyme.
> I can't decide on the plant yours is on-is it Borage or Salvia?


Thanks for that: victory:...All I know was, that it was very small, and really struggling in the wind...And i dont know what the flower is, the pic wasnt taken at home, it was in someone elses garden...

Ive found you another moth too, took this pic approx 3 weeks ago?(field)...

Hope you dont mind id'ing all these pics for me?


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

Testudo Man said:


> Thanks for that: victory:...All I know was, that it was very small, and really struggling in the wind...And i dont know what the flower is, the pic wasnt taken at home, it was in someone elses garden...
> 
> Ive found you another moth too, took this pic approx 3 weeks ago?(field)...
> 
> ...


Had to consult the books for this one!It looks like a Treble-bar,was it close to damp woodland or Alder.A new one for me.
I don't mind identifying at all,in fact it's quite good seeing other peoples moths.
I'm hopeless with a camera,gave it up years ago.So all these insect photos make me jealous:blush:


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Woodsman said:


> Had to consult the books for this one!It looks like a Treble-bar,was it close to damp woodland or Alder.A new one for me.
> I don't mind identifying at all,in fact it's quite good seeing other peoples moths.
> I'm hopeless with a camera,gave it up years ago.So all these insect photos make me jealous:blush:


It was in a relatively open area at the time, but there are large trees and lakes close by...Funny enough, it thrashed down with rain soon after this pic was taken:bash:, we had to sit the rain out for 20 minutes under apple tree...

TBH, I think anyone can take pretty good photos, you dont need really expensive kit and its just down to practice, and getting out there in the field(or even in your garden) just take as many pics as you can, get to know your camera, so when you see something of interest, you just point and shoot...
Ive took 1000's of photographs this year, and i think my pics have improved as a result of this...In the past Ive gone months without taking a single shot, im just glad Im out there again snapping away...

You should do the same: victory:


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## vawn (Jul 1, 2008)

i was thinking the flowering plant is hedge woundwort


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## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

vawn said:


> i was thinking the flowering plant is hedge woundwort


 I think you are on the right lines.I thought the flowers look more blue rather than woundworts purple.Seeing as TT man says it was in a garden,I was thinking possibly Bog Sage-Salvia uliginosa,but may well be wrong.


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## vawn (Jul 1, 2008)

dunno if it is worth me botherin as it usually don't work but...


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## vawn (Jul 1, 2008)

much pinker  un less there was a little adjustin? like the brightness...? could do with seein the leaves :whistling2:


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

There you go, another cool pic...

But you can see the leaves better in this shot...i dont know what the flowers are, but the owner of the house planted quite a few flowers around her house...


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## vawn (Jul 1, 2008)

betony? errr stachys officionalis?


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