Six-belted clearwing

We were on our railside site by 7.30 a.m., when it was pleasantly warm - by 10 a.m. the heat was really building and we finally gave in at about 1.30 p.m. when the thermometer hit 30C. Fieldwork in hot conditions is always unpleasant - even more so when you have to wear bright orange trousers and a high-viz jacket (all made of sweaty synthetic material), a hard hat and hefty safety boots!

There were plenty of butterflies and dragonflies on the wing, but I was particularly pleased to spot this Six-belted Clearwing moth, nectaring on Perforate St.Johns'-wort. The males have six yellow bands but the females have only five, both with orange scales on the tip and along the central bar of the forewings.The caterpillar feeds on Bird's-foot-trefoil and other members of the Fabaceae and the moth can be found in chalk and coastal grassland with grassy swards, rough upland fields, embankments, quarries and cliffs except where there is heavy grazing. Although it's widespread in southern Britain, it's considered to be Nationally Scarce.