IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Highview Gardens, POTTERS BAR, EN6 5PQ

The street is View Road in Potters Bar, the picture was taken from offices overlooking it.

This fluffy little fellow had entered our building and was snoozing on the ceiling at first, he then fluttered to near my desk where I took this shot. He is an example of a group of moths called Prominents, because (I believe) of the little ridges and bumps on their backs where the wings meet. The closest match that I can find for him (or her) is a Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina) ( Cf http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=2011 ) though all examples that I have found on the web lack both the dark diagonal band (which was actually more noticeable than this photo suggests) and the tiny white "eyes" on black lozenges towards the rear. Perhaps it is a subspecies or simply a variant.

Continuing the occasional series dedicated to moths that find their way into our office, we have here the Buff Tip (Phalera bucephala) The circular cream tips to its forewings from which it gets its name, combined with the mottled streaky brown colouration of the rest of its wings make it accurately resemble a broken twig when viewed from the side. The illusion is not quite so convincing in this top view, possibly because I think this specimen may have gone a little bald and lost some of the little hairs from its head, which is now showing up brown rather than cream. Regardless of this however, if this moth was resting on a twig, I think it would certainly be very well camouflaged even so. Many moths rest with their wings folded along the length of their bodies in a "tent" or "roof" as seen in this example. See also Image] where the underwings are partly revealed.

When at rest the Buff Tip (Phalera bucephala) holds its wings together to form a little "roof" and its underwings are entirely obscured (see Image]). Here however the moth has just been fluttering and its underwings are still partly visible. The binomial for this moth, Phalera bucephala, seems to refer to an ornamental metal disk worn on military horses (phalera) and the bucephala may refer to Alexander the Great's horse Bucephalus - or possibly from where that horse got its name, "ox head". This disc is presumably a reference to the cream (buff) circles at the tips of its wings from which it gets its English name.

Today's moth visitor to our offices in Potters Bar is quite a little celebrity, for the reasons given in the shared description below. This particular specimen is the "original" non-melanistic variant known as "typica" which dipped hugely in numbers during the sootiest days of our industrial past, but are now back to being common. This is a top view showing the speckled markings - for a front view, see Image]

A front view of a Peppered Moth - Biston betularia f. typica, looking to me like a little aeroplane ready for take-off. See Image] for a top view and the shared description below to read about this little moth's place in scientific history.

This fine specimen found its way into our offices, so I took a few photos of him before finding a shady spot for him outside. For a view of his "face" see Image] I have referred to this moth as "him" but not only may it be "her" it could even be "him and her" as apparently "Gynandromorphs" (half male, half female) are common in this species. Photo of its caterpillar here Image] (by Mick Lobb) See shared description below.

A frontal view of a Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) that had found its way into our offices. See also Image] for a top view. See also the shared description below for more information on this species. Photo of its caterpillar here Image] (by Mick Lobb)

Shops and offices on the east side of the High Street adjacent to the junction with The Walk.