www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Here are three things I saw the other day at Denbies Hillside that I can't immediately identify: one moth, one mollusc, and one orchid.

First, the moth (sporting a hairstyle nearly as extensive as my own... )Next, a magnificent snail. I have seen their empty shells many times here (my children used to collect and paint them in bright colours), but this is the first inhabited example I've come across.Finally, an orchid I'd not encountered before, with a delicate pale yellow colour. It appeared to be a solitary specimen, and I only found it as it was close to a female Adonis I was trying to photograph. Any suggestions for any or all of these?

Cheers,

Dave

The moth looks like one of the Eggar Moths although they don't fly until late summer. The closest I can find in my books is the Grass Eggar which according to the same books isn't found in Surrey so I'll hand it over to a Mother

the snail is escargot, the Edible or Roman Snail.

I think your Orchid may be Narrow-leaved Hellborine, which is nationally scarce but does grow in chalky soils. I'm far from an expert on Orchids though and this is based solely on the book sat next to me at the moment!

Your Moth looks like a White-point Dave. An immigrant which occasionally breeds in the south-east. A nice find

https://ukmoths.org.uk/species/mythimna-albipuncta

Cheers,

Neil.

Hi Dave
Your orchid is a Large White Helleborine, Cephalanthera damasonium.

Cheers

Maurice

Cheers, Buggy - so that's the type of snail that the French tuck into slathered in garlic and parsley butter. That particular one would have made a sizeable snack on its own - it was a whopper.

Thank you Neil - no wonder I've never seen a moth like that before as it sounds relatively uncommon. In view of this I've sent the sighting to the moth recorder for Surrey as they may be interested.

Many thanks, Maurice. There seemed to be one or two similar orchid species, but looking now I can see that must be the one. Very attractive it is too.

Cheers,

Dave