Busy & Moanings

I'm very busy at the moment, had no spare time to do any birding of any sorts (except of course hearing the migrant thrushes over head, and watching flocks of starlings about. So yeah, until about mid-December I will have nothing proper to write about, so yeah..

Now for the moanings part..

It's about names.. English names that is, of moths & butterflies.

Firstly, the Admirals and Emperors? Is this because they are impressive? Or emit authority?? I don't know, but wouldn't mind someone telling me. At least Blues and Coppers do what they say on the tin, though the majority of Speckled Woods I have seen have been in gardens or hedgerows, woods, I think not.

Now, moths, some have logical names - Snout, Red Underwing & Red-belted Clearwing, all make perfect sense, but there are some, sneaking in, with mucked up names..

Horse Chestnut - Hmm. Both English and Latin name are mucked up on this one.. Does this moth feed on the plant? Nope. The best I can think of is that it's mildly spikey appearance looks like a Horse Chestnut pod/coney thing.. (It's a long shot, I know)

Common Fan-foot - One of the rarer British moths, this species was probably much more common than it is now, so can except this one..

Another name which no longer works - Kentish Glory.. No longer in Kent I'm afraid..
To be honest, I don't like moths named after places, especially immigrants, like Lydd Beauty, or Dorset Cream Wave, seems like a rapid attempt to make a name, which doesn't work if the moth is never seen there again, I think the name should be describing it's looks/habitat/habits or after the person who discovered it (except Latin, which should be describing)

One I have no idea what the name is based on - the Vestal, what is a (non-moth) Vestal, I do not know..

Things with scarce which are scarce : Scarce Footman, Scarce Prominent ect (though I haven't seen the latter)

And on the latin name bit, the French Red Underwing is named after a prostitute :D