Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Mothosaurus

Got back home to the UK, adapting back to life in the real (?) world. This morning I had to return some gear to James, and before heading over made sure he kept for me any interesting moths from last night's trap, to continue my journey towards interest in organisms other than birds. This morning selection included two photogenic moths. First is the peculiar Mullein (Cuclia verbasci). It really reminded me of a triceratops or stegosaurus with these curious structures on the back. Lovely, subtle moth, and apparently uncommon in this part of the UK.



The second moth that was on show is the pretty Peppered Moth (Biston betularia). It is a species that features in evolution and ecology textbooks; studies of its evolution were one of the first to demonstrate natural selection processes in real time.


As always, thanks to James for the moths, gear, coffee and company.

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