Marbled White Moth

I forgot to mention yesterday, thankyou for all the concerned comments about the Indonesian earthquake two days ago. The epicenter was 2000Km NNW of my location and I didn't even feel the quake, also Bandung is way up in the mountains, so the tsunami was never a concern. Indonesia had a lucky escape this time, no tsunami.

Today, I returned to the same bush to try and find yesterday's hairstreak butterfly, in the hope of capturing the metallic blue top surface of it's wings. No sign of the hairstreak though unfortunately.

There were lots of what I thought were sailor butterflies, I have already blipped on 28th October, so I didn't bother with them until one landed very close by. To my surprise, it was sat on the leaf in a flat triangular form, more like a moth than a butterfly. It had a distinctive orange head with black spots. My attitude changed completely and I went into stealth mode, excited to have found a fresh species which is becoming rather a rarity after around 120 insect blips.

The question remains, is it a butterfly or a moth. Skinny antennae, photographed in the mid morning and a distinctly bald thorax, pointed to butterfly, but it looks so moth like with it's flat wing, triangular stance. Research required. Yesterday's research came up with nothing, so I invite you all to have a go.

I have learned so much about insects and how to photograph them over the last six months, not all of it can be written down as an instruction or I would have, as I like to share. The important lessons are how to move and how to use your eyes. Lessons are learned very quickly in tropical locations, as you rarely have to wait more than a couple of minutes for another opportunity to practice.

It is going to be very interesting returning home to England with my new set of skills and applying them to British insect life, as all I remember seeing in the past are lots of cabbage whites, ants and earwigs. This time my eyes will be open, but expect a few cabbage white blips though.

Good news, My son, John, is sponsoring me for the ticket home and I will be crashing on his sofa while I sort the passport and look for a job. Plan B was living rough in Singapore for a couple of months while I saved up the money, not very pleasant but would have made a hell of a journal!

Update - Marbled White Moth Nyctemera coleta. Thanks Mollyblobs!

Dave