A rather beautiful moth

Did you find any interesting moths during the recent Moth Night?

I have been going back over some of my photos and came across this one, taken beside the mill stream in Flatford in May. The moth is, I believe, a female Muslin Moth (Diaphora mendica or Cycnia mendica), although there seem to be similarities with the Water Ermine. Isn't she magnificent? You can see one laying eggs here. The male Muslin Moth is brown.You can see the caterpillar here.

A range of day-flying moths have been posted here. I was surprised to see how many there were, and the linked webpage only shows a selection.  

Drinker Moth at NT Wicken Fen

I seem to be working backwards through my photos at the moment. We noticed this beautiful female Drinker Moth (Euthrix potatoria, aka Philudoria potatoria) on 25 July at the approach to the NT Wicken Fen Butterfly Trail. The moth is one of 9,175 species recorded at this nature reserve. Adult males are darker orange-brown in colour.   

The Drinker is a night-flying moth. It is usually found in damp places. I believe the species is named after its hairy caterpillars which (supposedly) seek out dew drops on reeds or stalks of grass. A Cuckoo will eat these caterpillars, but other birds apparently leave them alone.

And before I complete this post with a photo of the Wicken windpump, I just want to draw your attention to Moth Night (see Twitter: #‎MothNight‬), which lasts for three nights in some strange way, and begins on 10 September 2015. This year's Moth Night theme is 'Migration'. 

The iconic Wicken Fen wind pump