I spent most of the afternoon in the garden today. I planted out some squash plants from some friends and picked some strawberries, but mostly took it easy and watched the wildlife. Yesterday at dusk I spotted a scarlet tiger moth (Callimorpha dominula) that landed in some flowers. I was pretty excited because I had seen its caterpillars in the garden earlier in the year. It was still in the garden this morning and was docile enough to pick up carefully. Later in the afternoon I saw it again close to where I first saw the caterpillars of the same species back in April. Shortly after I saw three of them flying together in a dance around each other. They are striking when inflight with their red wings, looking very different from the dark blue wings that are visible when they land.
Scarlet tiger moth with wings folded
Scarlet tiger moth showing some of its red wings
As if having three brightly coloured day moths in the garden wasn't enough I also spotted a small tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae) on one of the flowers.
Small tortoiseshell butterfly
I also spotted a new caterpillar on the hawthorn tree. It was quite colourful and I think it is a Knotgrass moth (Acronicta rumicis).
Knotgrass moth caterpillar
On a smaller scale I found a small cricket-like bug with stripey legs and antennae crawling about on a leaf. Not sure what it is - anyone know?
Stripey bug
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