Moths: Green Forester and Blackthorn Aurora Moth

The green forester (Adscita statices), metaalvlinder in Dutch, is found in Europe, Mongolia and western Russia.

They fly in sunshine from May to August and are often found near sorrel, their host plant.

^{Olympus XZ-1, 28mm, ISO200, f8, 1/80s}

^{Olympus XZ-1, 28mm, ISO200, f5.6, 1/60s}

They have a cousin that is rare in The Netherlands, the smaller Blackthorn Aurora Moth (Rhagades pruni), bruine metaalvlinder in Dutch. It hides well, doesn't visit flowers, and isn't attracted by light, so it is probably overlooked often and could be less rare than the books say.

I did manage to make one photo of this species:

^{Olympus XZ-1, 28mm, ISO400, f8, 1/125s}

Apart from the colour of the wings, there is another difference: these have almost no proboscis (the "roll-up tongue" some insects feed with), and it doesn't eat as an adult.

They also look more ominous, but that could just be me.

Thanks for watching!

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