pink butterfly??

[helen253]

neither of those i'm afraid, although after my fruitless searching and looking at hundreds of moth and butterfly images, i have to say i wish i could see a live elephant hawk moth, they're beautiful! it isn't a cinnebar moth either, although the pink colouring is more accurate.

[colinaj]

Five or six spot Burnet moth?

[helen253]

i'm afraid not...no spots, a broad horizontal pink stripe...jet black otherwise.

i promise i'm not insane...perhaps someone locally has an exotic collection and an escapee?

[helen253]

Thhttp://www.ntseducation.org.uk/teach...nment-moth.jpg

ok, forgetting that i just said it had no spots...could it have been this? i live in sunderland, so about 80 miles from the scottish border....

if it wasn't the scotch burnet, it's definitely the closest i have seen so far...

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by helen253

i'm afraid not...no spots, a broad horizontal pink stripe...jet black otherwise.

i promise i'm not insane...perhaps someone locally has an exotic collection and an escapee?

maybe im miss understanding yoy description but cinnebar moth?

[helen253]

definitely not the cinnebar moth...wings are too big in relation to body and the abdomen (if that is the correct term) was really thick and meaty looking on the one i saw...

the link i posted to the scotch burnet moth was absolutely the closest match so far.

i've been reading that they're rare even in scotland...and are only found on mull....

[Dan Salter]

I just wish someone who has sighted it would get a pic?...im betting still its a cinnebar or burnet but always open to something new.

Both these moths are very beautiful and un mothlike ( well at least in the sense most people think moths are brown and boring which couldnt be further from the truth) when i saw my first cinnebars and burnets a few years back i too thought i had spotted some rare exotic pink butterfly?..

Dan

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

I just wish someone who has sighted it would get a pic?...im betting still its a cinnebar or burnet but always open to something new.

Both these moths are very beautiful and un mothlike ( well at least in the sense most people think moths are brown and boring which couldnt be further from the truth) when i saw my first cinnebars and burnets a few years back i too thought i had spotted some rare exotic pink butterfly?..

Dan

Oh there you are I was wondering where you'd got to!!

I'm betting on those moth species too btw

[sb003]

Thanks. i'm glad you said that. Whilst I thought I had seen a new exotic pink butterfly, I now know from the still pics I took that on both occasions it was a cinnebar. The thing is, it is VERY butterfly-like in flight, and EXTREMELY pink when in flight.

I do think that cinnebars must be doing very well at the moment, probably because their food source (what is it?) is prospering in this damp 'summer'

[Dan Salter]

I saw several today !