25 June 2013
24 June 2013 – Cupid’s Moth.
Smiling then He took his Dart,
And drew her Picture in my Heart.
– John Hughes, The Picture, 1714
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| Heart & Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) |
While the Heart & Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) moth probably isn’t what people think of when it comes to symbols of love, it does get its common name from the heart- and dart-shaped markings on its wings. We get a large number of these in the garden every year, and they are a relatively active bunch, each usually wiggling around or flying a short bit to readjust when I move them from the trap to the cage. Agrotes in Greek can be ‘of the field’ or ‘a countryman,’ depending on the pronunciation, referring to the Heart & Dart’s grassland habitat. Exclamatio ‘an exclamation’ originally described the wing markings, rather than Heart & Dart.
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| Heart & Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) |
– Post by Jane Wu
Recent Moths
- 25 July 2023 – Collective Noun for Hawkmoths
- MOTH LIST to August 2023 with links
- 28 July 2023 – TRIPLE New Species Alert!
- 18 July 2023 – A Golden…Plusia!
- 13 July 2023 – Arts and Sciences
- 10 July 2023 – Rise of the Yellow Underwings
- 4 July 2023 – Cold-weather Catch
- 4 July 2023 – Mother of Pearl, an Inspiration to Science
- 28 June 2023 – Buff-tipped Marble
- 23 June 2023 – Moth or Butterfly?
- 20 June 2023 – Bee, Straw, Emerald and a Ghost
- 17 June 2023 – Old and New
