Sunday 19 August 2012

A non-flaming moth

Moths are supposedly attracted to flames, but here's a moth which should itself have been flaming and wasn't! The Flame Carpet is shown in the books with a rose-red band of colour across the middle of its wings between the two blackish stripes and with a further patch behind the head. This one seems not to have bothered with all those pigment cells, with just a faint indication of the rose-red showing. The pattern of black stripes identifies the moth even without the colour, and the ever-helpful Danny Arnold confirmed that this washed-out form does occur occasionally. If I catch a fully coloured one, I'll post a photo here.
Malcolm

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