Emperor Moth

 

It being that time of the year again, the Emperor Moth lures were taken out of the freezers and Dave and I headed off to Iping Common to see if we could get any pictures.  At first it all seemed a bit disappointing, with no interest being shown in the pheromones, but after about half an hour the first moth appeared and proceeded to search in vain for the female it was expecting.

The moths soon learn that they have been duped and after fluttering around the lure for a couple of minutes and searching the adjacent grass tufts they loose interest and drift away.  Disappointing for the moth and disappointing for us as there is little chance of getting a decent picture when they don't settle.

What you are waiting for is the moth that is exhausted from the search and lands on an adjacent tree or bush for a refreshing nap. Give them a couple of minutes to settle and they are then very amenable to close approach and if you are gentle to moving them to a better perch.

The picture above showing Dave moving one of the later finds on the end of his finger to a more convenient location for photographing it.

It was also nice to get a view of the underside of the moth and to be able to record the eye spots on the underwing as well.

The Emperor Moth, Saturnia pavonia, is the only member of the Saturniidae family of moths found in the British Isles. The male flies during the day with the female flying at night. A strange strategy for the survival of the species but then the male is supposed to be able to detect the female at a range of a couple of kilometers so will probably find her whilst she is roosting.

We saw about a dozen Emperor moths on the day, with a maximum of three flying at any one time. They were in different parts of the common but it is possible that some followed us around or were attracted for a second time.

Talk to it nicely and the moth may even flash the orange underwing at you but you need to be quick with the camera as the opportunity will not be there for long.

All we have to do know is find a female to photograph. A slightly larger and to my mind more impressive moth. Also a much harder challenge.

And the lure goes back in the freezer for another year.