My word, you have just educated me so much on this.
Every day is a school day! 😉
Remember 2500 species of moth is just in the UK, thers is an estimated 200,000 species of moth in the whole world. The mind boggles at the amount of diversity in just one group of insects!
Caterpillars are a lot harder. Some are distinctive and easy, but most are small and brown (or small and green). The easiest way is often to rear through a caterpillar (catch it and feed it until the adult eventually emerges)
I have a new appreciation for moths.
Good to hear it, my work here is done! 😁
Large Emerald
Dusky Thorn
Hi Dan
Thank you so much, that is a huge number of species and to know even a fraction is admirable. I LOVE the big eyes on the Emerald and Dusky Thorn, they look like such funky little characters.
Makes sense to raise the caterpillars through to emerging as adults if they are hard to identify.
Definitely going to be more inclined to see what moths I can find now. They really are underappreciated and butterflies tend to get the spotlight. I like moths better 😄
Have a great day, thank you for being so informative!