The forewing can measure between 41 to 48 mm – too big for my largest collecting pot and only just fitting in a whisky tumbler.
This shows the first Clifden Nonpareil to be recorded from my garden. Not a stunning photo but it does help to show the size of this handsome moth – the mothe in the bottom righthand corner is a Setaceous Hebrew Character and looks tiny.
The moth was close by my trap and is the third one in my garden this year. It was not as fresh as the other two, a little ragged and the blue was faded, but was much more obliging and hung around while I fiddled with the macro camera. It flies from late August through to October – so I may be lucky to see a specimen sporting the violet-blue curved band on the underwing that makes it unmistakable.
A female will lay eggs on aspen or poplar. The scientific name ‘fraxinini’ also suggests ash andf this refers to its first recorded sighting in the UK at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire in 1749 where it was seen ‘sticking against the body of an Ash Tree … taken in the month of July’ by Mr Davenport, ‘English Moths and Butterflies’ by Benjamin Wilkes.
Here is a head-on view as it came to rest on a flower pot, showing impressive patterning on the underwings.
The field guides state that it is attracted to sugar at dusk, so this is something that I need to investigate as I haven’t tried this as a lure.
Natural history of the Bailiwick of Guernsey 