Male Emperor Moth
A male Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia). On Fenns and Whixall Moss NNR.
Some information on how the photos was taken. It was attracted in using a pheromone lure. However, I've found the males very rarely settle, fly around for a minute or so and move on. This one settled about 12m (40 feet) away, but underneath a Bramble leaf. I put the 35mm macro on, to be able to photograph it from underneath, which wasn't ideal. I then managed to nip the Bramble leaf off with my thumbnail, and then tried to photograph it against the sky using fill in flash. But the leaf was fresh and weak, and the breeze was blowing it everywhere.
So I managed to get it to walk on to the tip of a Bracken crozier for this photo. At no time was the moth caught or directly handled. To get an insect to walk on to something else, you lightly push what you want the insect to walk on to it's front feet, from the front, and it will then climb onto it.
Male Emperor Moth
A male Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia). On Fenns and Whixall Moss NNR.
Some information on how the photos was taken. It was attracted in using a pheromone lure. However, I've found the males very rarely settle, fly around for a minute or so and move on. This one settled about 12m (40 feet) away, but underneath a Bramble leaf. I put the 35mm macro on, to be able to photograph it from underneath, which wasn't ideal. I then managed to nip the Bramble leaf off with my thumbnail, and then tried to photograph it against the sky using fill in flash. But the leaf was fresh and weak, and the breeze was blowing it everywhere.
So I managed to get it to walk on to the tip of a Bracken crozier for this photo. At no time was the moth caught or directly handled. To get an insect to walk on to something else, you lightly push what you want the insect to walk on to it's front feet, from the front, and it will then climb onto it.