The Vapourer Moth

This little day flying moth caught my eye fluttering around a tree. It is small and brightly coloured with distinctive eye spots.

When it landed, I took a photo and noticed it was beside another insect on a cocoon. On researching this moth, I found that the colourful moth was the male and the other insect was, in fact, the female which does not grow wings and never flies. It spends most of its life by the cocoon from which it emerges.

I went back the next day and found that she had laid lots of eggs on top of the cocoon.

You will see more detail if you click on the thumbnails to see larger images.