Six Spot Burnet Moth

The Six spot Burnet Moth is a medium-sized, day-flying moth, commonly found in grasslands, woodland rides and sand dunes, where the caterpillars feed on Common Bird’s-foot Trefoil. The adults feed on the nectar of knapweed, thistles and other grassland flowers, and females lay their eggs on the caterpillars’ foodplants. The caterpillars hatch and feed, hibernating over at last one winter. They emerge the following spring and pupate in a papery cocoon attached to grass stems.

The adult Six-spot Burnet Moth is glossy black with red spots on the long, narrow wings. There are six similar species of burnet moth in the UK: this is the only one with six red spots on each forewing; the other common species have five spots. Flies with a slow buzzing and fluttering pattern.

The Red/Scarlet spot is fitting for the One Word Photo Challenge Theme this week run by Jennifer Nichole Wells, pop over and see what others have posted and give it a go.

All images were shot with a Raynox Macro Adapter which is a brilliant macro attachment for most lenses at the fraction of the cost of a macro lens, I highly recommend one of these if you are looking to get into macro photography on a budget.