Nothing to fear from hornet moth

My colleague Lee Malbon came across an insect on the side of some Sallow bushes at Dungeness, which he showed me a picture of on his phone. It was a lunar hornet moth.

They are quite impressive insects, and are actually a moth that mimics a hornet in size and colour and jizz.

They have a big fat yellow and black body, and the wings are transparent with a lovely orange wash to the edges.

They are in a group of moths called clearwings.

Their eggs are laid on willow trunks, and the pupae feed on the wood within the trunk over two seasons and then burst out of the trunk of the sallow or willow, leaving the pupae casing behind during the early to mid summer months.

They are quite a difficult moth to find and are attracted to pheromones that are used for clearwing species by attracting the males, but the evidence of the caterpillars and the pupa cases sticking out of the trunks are easier to find.

For more information contact Owen Leyshon, Romney Marsh Countryside Partnership, telephone 01797 367934 or log on to www.rmcp.co.uk