On 23/7/07 17:05, in article
, "Sacha"
wrote:

On 23/7/07 14:22, in article , "Malcolm"
wrote:


In article , Sacha
writes
I've just seen a beautiful butterfly or moth on the Japanese anemone leaves.
I fear it's taking a hammering in this constant rain but don't know what it
is or what if anything, I should do for it. It's wings are folded flat, not
spread and it has very distinctive black and white stripes on each wing with
a scarlet line down the middle of its 'back'. Anyone know what it is or if
I should put it in a jar with some of whatever it eats?

It's one of the tiger moths, probably Garden Tiger, which has bright
orange hindwings, which hardly show when the upper pair are closed.
There are one or two other tigers, including Wood, which have
black-and-white striped upper wings.

Have a look at:

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=2229
http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1352
http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=4451
http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=4500

They're not quite it. With the wings folded, there is a white stripe right
down the back with a touch of the scarlet showing.
snip

Sorry to answer myself but I think this is it, though I haven't seen the
wings open: http://tinyurl.com/2onb4q
This site says it's a protected species and is found in southern Europe,
Asia Minor and the Middle East, so I'm not quite sure what it's doing in
Devon!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'