2007 Magazine Version 05.indd - Butterfly Conservation Warwickshire

A Tale of a Pale Mottled Willow
(or the case of the thwarted spider)
by Peter Thompson
It was on the morning of 26th October that we found him in the traps at Leeson House,
Langton Matravers. Not a rare moth in the woolly wilds of Dorset but less frequent in
Warwickshire, particularly bearing in mind the time of year.
David Brown, our guide and mentor, therefore decided to keep it until Friday, to show
it to those inmates of his Warwick evening class who had not come on the annual
butterfly, moth and ice cream trip to Swanage.
The daily programme on these trips is to list the contents of the traps in the morning,
stick the moths in the fridge until that evening, when they get a good staring at before
their release to the wild, blue yonder and our release to the pub. During this period, the
photographers get a chance to strut their stuff and to this end they bring in a variety
of leaves, rocks and other detritus to add verisimilitude to their efforts. The moths are
temporarily released and arranged artistically on the assembled rubbish. All of this
takes place in a sports hall type of room, with exposed roof trusses and a high ceiling,
well out of reach to anyone not carrying a scaffold tower or cherry picker.
Cutting to the chase to avoid dwelling on the half-wit (me) who allowed the insect to
escape, the insect escaped and flew rapidly upwards to take up residence in a cobweb
at the highest point in the centre of the room. As we stood, gazing dumbly upwards
and wondering what to do next, the webmaster appeared and before our very eyes
wrapped up our specimen in silk in a matter of seconds. One of the guys, a professor
at a Scottish University, displaying initiative and great accuracy, threw a wet dishcloth
at the spot, dislodging part of the web to leave the bemused spider dangling from what
remained.
After some searching, we, the
mothers, found our mummy and I
carefully peeled back a thread with
my fingers to reveal a leg. To our
amazement, the leg wagged, so the
parcel was handed to the ladies who,
with great delicacy and eyebrow
tweezers removed the remaining
wrapping.
The moth had lost most of its scales
but duly appeared at the Friday
evening class at Warwick University,
before being released alive, albeit
some way from its place of capture.
Peter Thompson
Above: Photograph of the Pale Mottled Willow
Photograph © Rosemary Winnall 2007
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Butterfly Conservation Warwickshire Branch Magazine 2007