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

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.

Heart & Dart (Agrotis exclamationis)

– Post by Jane Wu