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Old Lady (Mormo maura)
This was my first ever Old Lady moth, a species noted as 'local' and for its habit of hiding out in old buildings, sheds, garages and the like.
So far, so normal.
What I didn't expect was what followed:
I first noticed her perched on the inside of my garden gate/doorway on the evening of 25th June and took this photo the same day.
It's a fairly dark space and protected from the elements.
I thought it had flown away that same evening and I thought nothing more of it.
However, it was there again, in a different place on the door, the next morning.
I assumed I'd made a mistake and that it must have been there the whole time?
Not so!
For the last 10 days and possibly even longer, given it might have been there a while before I noticed it, the Old Lady has flown away every evening, only to reappear on the same doorway the next morning.
It was back again this morning - July 6th.
It might be my ignorance, but I've never witnessed anything like it.
I've submitted adoption papers....
"Mormo maura", the old lady or black underwing, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm, from north-western Africa through all over southern Europe. It reaches its northern border in the west in northern Ireland and central Scotland, in central Europe, in northern Germany and Poland.
comments (4)
Oh, and congrats on the adoption. ;) Posted one month ago
SIX days later, despite not returning to base on July 7th. our dear Old Lady is STILL with us, having maintained her routine of flying away at night and returning to spend daylight hours on our garden gate, making a total of (at least) 17 days.
Each time I see her back on the door (surrounded by spiders, btw) I just gaze in admiration. Posted one month ago
In Greek mythology, Mormo was a spirit who bit bad children, and was said to have been a companion of the goddess Hecate. The name was also used to signify a female vampire-like creature in stories told to Greek children by their nurses to keep them from misbehaving. Posted one month ago