A Coy Lover's Camouflage

"The Moth a coy lover now ventures to creep
Out at night to steal kisses from flowers when asleep
But the Butterflye bold as the Bee for a plot
Kisses the flowers all the day whether willing or not"

John Clare

It was a good day for bug togging, nice and mild and not too windy. I got micro moths, hawthorn and green shieldbugs, a big black beetle, various spiders and a strange prickly thing the size of a tomato seed which I think is a pupa of a diminutive member of the ladybird family. I got my 5x Canon MP-E 65mm lens out to capture it. It looked too disgusting to present to Blippers. :)

As I was crouching to tog the beetle I spotted this moth on the wall. Its camouflage was designed by Nature to blend in with oak bark but works very well on mortar. I have discovered that if I sketch the pattern on a moth's wings it makes it much easier to identify from online photographs rather than comparing photo with photo. The defining characteristic is the 'antler mark' on the base of the forewing.

I have broken my own rule and included the complete moth in extras.