Dave Hall

I was watching the badgers last night and saw some beautiful little moths.
They often settled on the window. They were about 25mm across the wing and
a very pale, dusky blue colour. The edge of the wings had a pale grey line
that followed the scalloped shape. I have bee trying to find something
similar in the thumbnails at:- http://cgi.ukmoths.force9.co.uk/thumbnail.php
but don't really know where to start.

Any ideas, please?

--
Dave Hall, Llangwm, Pembrokeshire.
Web:- www.daviv.com Videos of badgers and foxes on our patio
and birds inside a nestbox.

Andy Mabbett

In message <B_uMa.15353$sh4.1178564@newsfep2-win.server.ntli.net>, Dave
Hall <dave@removesoxdaviv.com> writes
>They were about 25mm across the wing and a very pale, dusky blue
>colour. The edge of the wings had a pale grey line that followed the
>scalloped shape.

Are you sure they weren't Butterflies -Common Blue, perhaps:

<http://www.britishbutterflies.co.uk/lyceanidae/common-blue.html>

or one of its relatives?
--
Andy Mabbett
USA imprisons children without trial, at Guantanamo Bay:
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2970279.stm>
<http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510582003?open&of=ENG-USA>

Dave Hall

"David Jones" <david.jones23@net.ntl.com> wrote in message
news:dCIMa.1351$ju6.14750@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...
>
> "Dave Hall" <dave@removesoxdaviv.com> wrote in message
> news:brDMa.1332$ht1.1151@newsfep3-gui.server.ntli.net...
> > Do they fly at 11 o'clock at night? I thought butterflies were diurnal.
> It
> > certainly looked a little like the male basking but, as it was flat on
our
> > patio window, I was looking at the underside of the wing so I don't know
> > what colour the top was! Also, there was nothing on the link that gave
> any
> > scale. Perhaps they should have used a coin ;-)
> >
>
> Dave, were the wings folded back or were they spread out to the sides?
Were
> the front edges of the fore-wings angled forward or backwards, delta
style?
> Does the 25mm measurement refer to just one wing or the complete wingspan?
>
>
> Your description sort of describes one of the Emerald moths. While the
name
> suggests that they are green, a couple of them are blue-green and the
colour
> sometimes fades as they age. The trailing edges of the hind wings are
> slightly scalloped and there is a thin band along those edges that look
> somewhat grey in one of my books.
>
>
> --
> David Jones
> Garden Wildlife Diaries at
> www.mybitoftheplanet.com

Thanks, David. It didn't look like this:-

http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/P160898.HTM

More like:-

http://members.tripod.com/chinfahshi...s/moth012.html

but no spots. I was so keen to note the colour and pattern at the rear of
the wing that I didn't notice the shape of the leading edge. The wingspan;
from tip to tip; was around 25mm. The colour was very pale, dusky blue.
I'll take more notice tonight. It's the badgers that I am really interested
in. I know there are at least seven but we have still only seen 5 at once.
Last night there were 4 adults and no cubs.

It certainly was like the ones you describe from your book. There were a
few around the badger light again last night. Although I had a camera
ready, not one landed on the window :-(

I'll try putting some syrup on the glass and see if they like that!!

--
Dave Hall, Llangwm, Pembrokeshire.
Web:- www.daviv.com Videos of badgers and foxes on our patio
and birds inside a nestbox.