Caesar Atlas

My first survey went smoothly, apart from being held up for half-an-hour by an accident on the A14. I saw the warning signs, but can never remember the junction numbers - it was all rather frustrating as I could easily have left the road at the previous junction and completely avoided the bottle-neck.

When I returned home I found that one of the chrysalises that Pete had bought a few days ago had hatched. This is a male Caesar Atlas, probably best considered a subspecies of the Atlas moth, but the taxonomists are still debating this. It's a common south-east Asian silk-moth, and is among the largest lepidopterans in the world, with a maximum wingspan of 262mm. It's certainly a very splendid creature - I particularly love the heart-shaped 'windows' thet are clear of scales and nearly posted a close-up of that section of wing.