A new visitor to my little garden. Help please!
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:13 pm
Hello there, firstly I would like to say I am both completely new to this site and also that I'm pretty ignorant about both butterflies and moths, apart from the ones that are very common around my garden.
However I do take an interest in all the beasties that inhabit my patch, and so when I saw something new today I thought I'd pop online to see if I could find out what it was. It's tough when you know so little and there are so many types out there, so I thought I'd come to a forum that seems to be full of enthusiasts and hope that just maybe, someone out there can shed a little light on the situation for me.
So I'll get on with it.
As I said, I'm pretty ignorant about moths and butterflies, so it's only fair to say from the outset that, not knowing the definition of the difference, I'm not sure if my gardens new visitor was a butterfly or a moth, which probably makes it twice as many things to search!!
Bit of background to start off with, as I'm not sure which parts of this will be relevant. Firstly this was sometime today (5th July) between 5-6pm in Newcastle. Somewhere between 15-20 celsius but overcast, humid and just spitting on with rain.
I was in the greenhouse when this beastie flew in the open window and landed on one of my chilli plants.
"So what did it look like?!" I hear you shouting. Well I'll tell you. It was about an inch and a half to two inches long at rest. It had a very hairy back from what I could see. I'd say only the top third of its back, as the wings covered the rest. The hair was a sandy colour. It didn't seem to have one of those long curly mouthparts that I see on so many butterfly photos. The wings were a plain colour on top, a reddish brown I'd say, with only 2-3 slightly darker marks to break up the colour. Normally I wouldn't have looked twice, as it was pretty plain that far. But when it flew, its under wings, I'm sorry to say I don't know any technical terms, but I mean the 2nd set of wings, that you can't see when the animal is at rest, were an extremely bright, vibrant orange, with a single (that I could see) clear, strong, distinct black stripe going across them. Also I don't know whether it's relevant, but at rest, the wings were more flat on its back, like a tabletop, rather than some photos, that seem to show some species wings in a vertical position at rest, almost like side panels. Again I don't know if these things have a technical term, so apologies for any weird descriptions when I'm sure there's a one word answer for them!
Hope this is detailed enough and that someone knows what I had, as I'm curious. If there's anything else that I can tell people to help, then just ask, I got a very good look at it, as it was a brave bugger and no matter how close I looked it never so much as flinched. (I never touched him/her by the way, in case anyone was wondering).
Thanks in advance butterfly guys!
Scott
However I do take an interest in all the beasties that inhabit my patch, and so when I saw something new today I thought I'd pop online to see if I could find out what it was. It's tough when you know so little and there are so many types out there, so I thought I'd come to a forum that seems to be full of enthusiasts and hope that just maybe, someone out there can shed a little light on the situation for me.
So I'll get on with it.
As I said, I'm pretty ignorant about moths and butterflies, so it's only fair to say from the outset that, not knowing the definition of the difference, I'm not sure if my gardens new visitor was a butterfly or a moth, which probably makes it twice as many things to search!!
Bit of background to start off with, as I'm not sure which parts of this will be relevant. Firstly this was sometime today (5th July) between 5-6pm in Newcastle. Somewhere between 15-20 celsius but overcast, humid and just spitting on with rain.
I was in the greenhouse when this beastie flew in the open window and landed on one of my chilli plants.
"So what did it look like?!" I hear you shouting. Well I'll tell you. It was about an inch and a half to two inches long at rest. It had a very hairy back from what I could see. I'd say only the top third of its back, as the wings covered the rest. The hair was a sandy colour. It didn't seem to have one of those long curly mouthparts that I see on so many butterfly photos. The wings were a plain colour on top, a reddish brown I'd say, with only 2-3 slightly darker marks to break up the colour. Normally I wouldn't have looked twice, as it was pretty plain that far. But when it flew, its under wings, I'm sorry to say I don't know any technical terms, but I mean the 2nd set of wings, that you can't see when the animal is at rest, were an extremely bright, vibrant orange, with a single (that I could see) clear, strong, distinct black stripe going across them. Also I don't know whether it's relevant, but at rest, the wings were more flat on its back, like a tabletop, rather than some photos, that seem to show some species wings in a vertical position at rest, almost like side panels. Again I don't know if these things have a technical term, so apologies for any weird descriptions when I'm sure there's a one word answer for them!
Hope this is detailed enough and that someone knows what I had, as I'm curious. If there's anything else that I can tell people to help, then just ask, I got a very good look at it, as it was a brave bugger and no matter how close I looked it never so much as flinched. (I never touched him/her by the way, in case anyone was wondering).
Thanks in advance butterfly guys!
Scott