Clifden Nonpareil, Catocala fraxini (Linnaeus, 1758)

Clifden Nonpareil – For the incomparable moth from Clivedon House, blue is the colour!
Blue is not a common colour in British moths
The UK Moths website described Catocala fraxini as the Victorian collector’s classic all-time favourite”. It also goes by the name of the Blue Underwing because of the shock of blue on the hindwings, which are usually covered by the forewings when the moth is at rest and are exposed when it reacts to a threat.
C fraxini feeds on aspen rather than ash (the frax of its name)
The moth was well known in the British Isles in Kent and Norfolk until the middle part of the the 20th century, the site explains, but it ultimately became extinct in terms of being a breeding resident on these shores and was seen only occasionally by lepidopterists as a vagrant immigrant from the continental mainland.

Thankfully, the species has been gaining new traction in the South of England and in East Anglia. It is now known to be recolonising and is almost certainly breeding in the south. As an amateur moth-er, I hoped to draw this species beyond compare to the actinic lure I light up some nights in our Cambridgeshire garden. I didn’t hold out much hope until I heard on the mothing grapevine that there had been one or two sighted in neighbouring counties.
Then, in the middle of August, a fellow moth-er at the other end of our village here, reported a sighting of a Clifden in his garden. At the time, the closest I came to the fabled Blue, wa...

Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - September 29, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs