Old Lady (Mormo maura)

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SteveH
Posts: 2072
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am
Location: Elton, Cheshire

Old Lady (Mormo maura)

Post by SteveH »

Old Lady (Mormo maura):

One in the trap in Elton this morning was only our second ever.

Steve

davidtomlinson
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:54 pm

Re: Old Lady (Mormo maura)

Post by davidtomlinson »

Never having seen an Old Lady moth, I have never noted the Latin name; "maura" is unknown to me, but in some Romance languages it means "Moorish". "Mormo" is more interesting. In Greek mythology, Mormo was a spirit who bit bad children, said to have been a companion of the goddess Hecate. The name was also used to signify a female vampire-like creature in stories told to Greek children by their nurses to keep them from misbehaving. I have read that Old Lady moths have a habit of appearing in bedrooms - that might scare the little ones!? I am fascinated by moth names, both vernacular and Latin, so I though I'd share this info.

SteveH
Posts: 2072
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am
Location: Elton, Cheshire

Re: Old Lady (Mormo maura)

Post by SteveH »

interesting background info David!

Old Lady has a habit of communal roosting under bridges over streams and small rivers, so you could start checking those out next July and see how lucky you get. The last one I saw away from home was one in the River Gowy (yes IN!) - it seemed unconcerned about the fact that it was in the water, and unerringly 'swam' to the side, crawled up the concrete surround to the footbridge I was standing on and proceeded to sun itself dry!

Steve

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