Oak eggar (Lasiocampa quercus)

This large moth with a wingspan of about three inches is a female. The males are much darker. I found it on the landing this morning and put it out of the window. Of course it landed on the porch roof near a spider's webb so I had to get the ladder and rescue it. It was still alive and clung onto my finger until I found a leaf in the hedge on which to lodge it. Whether it will survive is anyone's guess.

The information is that the moths were probably named after the egg-shaped cocoons which are found near the ground. The slow moving female moths can attract the faster moving males from one and a half miles away by releasing pheromones (a type of scent). The caterpillars eat oak, , sloe and hawthorn. On the moors they will eat heather, bramble and birch.

I spend much time trying to save the moths that fly into the house at night!