I am happy to report that my missing moth that I had planned to photograph last Friday reappeared safe and well late last night. Somehow it had managed to travel from upstairs to downstairs and from the front to the back of the house without either of us seeing it. With it back under our watchful gaze I was able to reconfirm my original identification that this was a male Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba), the biggest moth yet to grace my fledgling list. The windowsill provided a perfect backdrop for photography, especially when dealing with what is on the outside at least a somewhat dark species.

24813 - Large Yellow Underwing

As with many butterflies and moths, the rather drab exterior seen above conceals something far more exciting within. The Large Yellow Underwing gets its name from the brightly coloured hindwings that become visible once in flight, or as seen below when a human lifts up one of the forewings with a finger.

24814 - Large Yellow Underwing

Over the weekend I picked up my first moth guide to aid in identification as I was finding trawling through photographs on the internet less than productive. I’ve gone with the “Concise Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland” by Martin Townsend, Paul Waring and Richard Lewington, and let me tell you that it has been a revelation. The quality of the drawings, the brief but informative descriptions, the layout, the ring binding, heck even the thickness of the pages are all absolutely perfect. Not only is this the best moth guide I have seen but I think it has to be up there as one of, if not the best wildlife guide I have ever used. If you are interested in moths then this has to be a must buy.


5 Comments

TexWisGirl · August 16, 2011 at 12:02 am

just like most folks, he's hiding his inner beauty. 🙂

holdingmoments · August 16, 2011 at 6:52 am

Something I'd like to get into more Adam.
That book sounds good, I'll look out for that. Amazon are pretty good.

Bob Bushell · August 16, 2011 at 9:33 am

A beautiful Large Yellow Underwing, like Keith, I never tried to get out to them.

theconstantwalker · August 16, 2011 at 9:44 pm

A beauty Adam and thanks for the heads up on the book.

Adam Tilt · August 18, 2011 at 11:43 pm

TexWisGirl – 🙂

Keith – it's definitely a book worth getting even if just to browse through.

Bob – thank you.

Andrew – thanks and no problem.

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