www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Although I was unable to take a photo. I saw a pale aqua butterfly / moth today. I would like ID but don't know the protocol for posting images. Could someone point me in the right direction please.

Hi Caveman!

If you go to the "How To" videos page here: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/howtovideos.php

... then you can watch the "How to post on the forums" video, which should explain everything.

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks Pete.

Sorry to pester you Pete, I found the video re. posting photo's etc. thank you. But when I continued with the videos I found that the home page you refer to appears to be different now to what is on the videos. In particular to scroll through all the butterflies you show the "What's that Butterfly" button on the upper RHS of the home page. I cannot see it. Has the Home page changed since the videos were made and if so how do you find that button now and/or how can you scroll?

There have been changes to the layout of this site. I would start from 'Species' on the selection bar that runs across, near the top of the page, and then choose 'Identification' in the drop-down list that appears.

There are around 2500 moth species as opposed to only 58 regular butterfly species in the UK. Thus, an 'unknown unknown' is far more likely to be a moth than a butterfly!

I usually start by searching in Google Images. When searching, it is important not to be too specific at the first pass. Simple search terms such as "pale moth uk" will probably find something like what you are looking for. If you need to go further, then stick to simple words. "Aqua" can lead to all sorts of false paths, such as water, sea, etc. For colours, just use green blue, etc.

If you don't find what you want at first, then look at the descriptions of what you do find, since they can suggest appropriate terms to take you in the right direction - there are plenty of winged insects, other than moths or butterflies, and it could be one of those.

If it looks as though it's a moth, then https://ukmoths.org.uk/ has various search boxes, to help you home-in and find more details of your suspect. Don't forget to check aspects such as flight times, to make sure your identification is plausible.

Remember too that 'mimicry' is frequently found in the insect world (and elsewhere). Lots of harmless species 'pretend' to be something less desirable as prey - there are moths that look like hornets for example.

It's not easy, so never be afraid to ask for help in the forums on this site

Mike

caveman38 wrote:Sorry to pester you Pete, I found the video re. posting photo's etc. thank you. But when I continued with the videos I found that the home page you refer to appears to be different now to what is on the videos. In particular to scroll through all the butterflies you show the "What's that Butterfly" button on the upper RHS of the home page. I cannot see it. Has the Home page changed since the videos were made and if so how do you find that button now and/or how can you scroll?

Yes, the layout has changed and creating new videos in on my list of things to do. As Mike says, it might be best just to browse around the site a bit since we have a lot of content on a lot of subjects!

Cheers,

- Pete