Moths have some wonderful names. I mean, you’ve got to wonder why one little group is named after a domestic servant. As well as this one, the Common footman, there are also Buff, Orange, Scarce, Dingy, Northern, Pigmy, and Hoary footmen, all members of the Eilema group of moths.

I spotted this little chap, Eilema lurideola, floundering around in the grass at Cosmeston recently. It might well be an elegant flier but it was having a great deal of trouble climbing up stalks of grass.