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Blue underwing moth.

 

August nights are the best time for watching or catching night moths. One of the most beautiful of the night-time guests is the blue underwing or Clifton non-pareil (Catocala fraxini). It is splendid to meet it in daytime too. Those encounters are rare, mostly because of its extraordinary camouflage ability. The one in the picture above I found on the wall of a shed in Saaremaa. When I had a little talk with it, and it showed me the blue and white stripes on the undersides of its wings something unexpected happened. All of a sudden my eyes were full of spurted matter and it was gone … so probably I had annoyed it.