Welcoming Clif back again – Moth of the Moment

Clif is so big they won’t fit in the frame… This is the enormous Clifden Nonpareil moth, Catocala fraxini, wingspan is about 75-95mm, this one was probably 85-90mm. The species was extinct in the UK by the middle of the 20th Century, having been resident in Kent and Norfolk until then. But, it has made a comeback in the southern counties in recent years as migrants settle and breed here. Incidentally, even though it’s called C. fraxini, that’s something of a misnomer, as it’s larval foodplant is generally aspen rather than ash. Closeup of the face of a Clifden Nonpareil This is only the second one I’ve recorded in Cambridgeshire, and here it is in a phone snap after it was released back into the wild immediately after the official photoshoot. Clifden Nonpareil showing a little blue The Catocala moths are a group of large erebid “underwing” moths, so there’s a Red, a Light Crimson, a Dark Crimson, and various others. This one impressed the early naturalists so much that they didn’t…