The Six Spot Burnet Moth
David Chapman
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This photograph shows the caterpillar of the six
spot burnet moth on its food plant, the bird's foot trefoil. It is
important for natural history photographers to know enough about their
subjects to show them in a sympathetic way. |
When we bought our smallholding in 1995 we had two main
aims, I wanted to attract wildlife and my wife wanted to keep animals,
the photography of wildlife was only of secondary importance. Watching
the effect of the developments that we have made has been fascinating
and rewarding. Last year our wildflower meadow flourished, encouraged
by a healthy combination of sun and rain but some species benefited more
than others. The yellow flowers of bird's foot trefoil, named because
its seed-head is the shape of a bird's foot and it has trifoliate leaves,
seemed to dominate despite its small size. I was pleased to see such a
great quantity of this species because it is very important for insects
since the blue butterflies lay their eggs on it and it provides a useful
source of nectar for many other butterflies and insects.
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| After feeding on trefoil the caterpillars climb a
grass stem to pupate. To achieve the pleasant out of focus background,
this shot was taken by moving the grass stem to a more photogenic
position. |
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One late evening in June 2002 I was wandering through
the meadow admiring the flowers looking for anything new, as I do, when
I found an unusual caterpillar that I didn't recognise. It seemed simple
enough to identify with the Collins guide, the food plant (bird's foot
trefoil) and colours both pointed to one conclusion, it was a six-spot
burnet moth caterpillar. Now I know what adult six-spot burnet moths look
like and had never seen one on our land so I became a little sceptical
about my identification. A couple of weeks later I visited some prime
six-spot burnet moth habitat on the dunes in Cornwall and found exactly
the same caterpillars feeding on the trefoil along with some cocoons and
adult moths.
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A straightforward portrait of the six spot burnet
moth on eyebright. The low view point has helped to throw the background
out of focus. |
I was actually quite excited, we had encouraged a new species
to live and reproduce on our land. It didn't matter that it is a relatively
common moth, to my mind it is a rather interesting and attractive species.
The six-spot burnet moth is a day-flying insect and is brightly coloured
with red spots (six of them, funnily enough) on dark wings. The dark wings
have a similar sheen to the plumage of a shag since they can appear black
or green depending upon the angle of light. If touched these moths often
play dead, literally just dropping onto the ground; it seems that through
time those moths that play dead have survived better than those that do
not, the reason being that most predators will not eat dead prey.
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| The cocoon appears to be a golden colour when backlit
but this flimsy shelter provides safety for the developing burnet
moth. |
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Anyway, I digress, the point is that I had now confirmed
the identification so over the next few weeks I watched the caterpillars
closely (please don't smirk). The majority of them were crawling around
on the trefoil but some were on the tall grasses. It seems that the grass
also plays an essential part in their life cycle since they all resorted
to the grass to make their cocoons. I suppose that the slim, light brown
cocoons are better camouflaged on dried grass stems than they would be
against the green trefoil and the grass stems are longer-lived than those
of the trefoil offering a better chance for the insects to develop. It
takes about four or five weeks for the adults to emerge from the cocoon,
they always leave a black, dried out skin attached to the cocoon before
climbing the stem of grass to dry their wings. Funnily enough the first
thing that most of them think about is sex! As soon as they can find a
partner they pair up, sometimes with others on the same grass stem and
presumably quite often their own siblings.
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The first thing that the burnet moths do when they
have emerged from their cocoons is to mate. This presents the photographer
with an opportunity to photograph them but it is very difficult to
get all the detail sharp. Wings, eyes and antennae of both moths all
need to be roughly in the same plane of focus and even then you will
need to use a small aperture (I would suggest f11 to f22 depending
upon your focal length). |
Photographing them was relatively easy, and I emphasise
the word 'relatively'. When disturbed the six spot burnet moth is a strong
flier and can cover large distances but when it is dull they are reluctant
to take to the wing. If you can find a pair mating then you are in luck
since they are even more reluctant to fly. Apart from not being too sunny
or hot the next most important feature of the weather is the wind. Burnet
moths tend to inhabit sparsely vegetated areas which are exposed to the
wind (the coast is a prime location for them) but for a successful photograph
you will need to work with a small aperture to gain sufficient depth of
field and so your shutter speed will need to be slow, this in turn means
that it must be a calm day.
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| These two shots, of a six spot burnet moth on grass
head, illustrate the effect of placing a white card underneath the
subject to reflect a little light into the shadows. (Left without,
right with a reflector) |
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Assuming you have the correct conditions there are only
one or two points to consider. A flexible tripod is a must; six spot burnet
moths have little choice but to stay low to the ground. Their wings are
quite dark when not illuminated so a reflector is essential, I prefer
to use a white rather than silver but anything is better than nothing.
It is usually sufficient to lay the card on the ground underneath the
subject. As with other butterflies and moths you will find yourself trying
to align the film plane of the camera with the wings of the subject so
that it is all sharp. In so-doing the background will, at times, be very
messy so most of us resort to gardening.
'Gardening' is a euphemism for removing distracting vegetation
from behind the subject and, even for the conservative gardener, it might
involve removing a dozen pieces of plant (dead or alive) and is difficult
to condone! One more radical, and less destructive, technique that few
people consider is to move the single piece of vegetation on which the
insect is resting. This certainly works well with caterpillars and often
works with adult six spot burnet moths when they are inactive or mating!
I certainly would not use this technique when photographing subjects on
rare or protected plants such as orchids but I have no qualms about moving
stems of grass which are popular resting places for the burnets. When
taking your photograph aim to get as low as possible and look at the subject
from its level, apart from creating a more intimate photograph this usually
helps to throw the background further out of focus.
A couple of months ago I started a project to create a
natural-looking water feature in our garden to attract birds and I encouraged
you to try one of your own. I have had a few photographic sessions and
am encouraged with the results though, ironically, the best photos have
been taken in the pond into which the water runs rather than in the feature
itself. I have also been putting food out for the birds adjacent to the
water feature and this has had some interesting spin-offs including the
regular occurrence of three yellowhammers, several goldfinches and a few
linnets as well as the more usual garden birds. The shots taken in the
pond are better than those from the water feature (an old wheel barrow)
partly because of the angle at which I have set up the camera. The height
of the camera is almost the same as the birds using the wheel barrow and,
although I usually like this effect, it has led to an out of focus foreground
in these photographs. The shots taken in the pond which is slightly lower
have lovely reflections emphasised by the fantastic lighting late in the
day and the dark backdrop. The answer to my problem is to lift my hide
slightly but I am enjoying my infrequent sessions so much that I might
just continue photographing at the pond for now!
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| It is unusual to attract linnets to the garden even
if you live in the countryside but being seed-eaters they do need
to drink a lot and enjoy a bath so a water feature will help to bring
them in. |
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