GHOST!!!!

Identification - Lymantria monacha - nun moth.

Massive response to yesterday's caterpillar blip, so many hearts and stars for which I am very grateful. The humble caterpillar even made front favorites page which is a great honor, sitting there amongst some splendid images. You have put a spring in my step today and I cannot wait to get out there.

My first spotting of the day was this rather boring looking moth, that is, until I got closer and spotted the remarkable markings. Nothing boring about this moth at all with that ghostly likeness on the top of its thorax.

My immediate thought was of acherontia from the celebrated film, 'silence of the lambs' which featured the skull image on the back of that remarkable moth, so that was my first approach in the research.

Acherontia came up dry, so next I searched ghost moth, but there is already a UK 'ghost moth' and this wasn't it. Looked like an interesting site though, so I stayed and had a look. As I was browsing, there it was, the nun moth, a European moth found in the UK, also found in east Asia - that was fortunate.

It does seem strange to adopt such a 'look' as a defense. But, I have read a document recently that explained why many bugs actually imitate creatures much larger than themselves. Moths and caterpillars mimicing snakes, even a butterfly that mimics a fox. Apparently birds cannot process scale, so even though the fox is only two inches across, it doesn't take any chances.

Dave