Biggest moth eludes the eye

13th June 2021

St. Ann Street, Chepstow

A wander through the town of Chepstow this morning looking for moths, brought about about a situation where an interior light was left on, on a toilet block. Despite house lights and street lamps, it still attracted some moths overnight. It's quite conceivable that more moths were here previous and they had drifted off, but I did find 8 moths of 8 species when I arrived. Many species I often find in the town but a Barred Yellow moth (below) was one I have rarely registered anywhere despite being common, let alone in the town. 

Oddly and it may sound incredible, I completely missed the largest of them all, a Poplar Hawk-moth (pictured below) which was positioned on the end of a door! I'd completely brushed past it twice, only to see it when I took a second look back from a distance. Suffice to say I moved it into the foliage in case somebody decided to shut the door.