Spiders, Moths, &, for some reason, Fears; NMS, Sat 3/8/19; 10:00pm

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Tome Service introduces

Elliott Carter(1908-2012)'s Mosaic
Harrison Birtwistle(b1934)'s Three Songs from 'The Holy forest' (with Claire Booth, soprano)
Nash Ensemble/Stefan Asbury

Oliver Knussen(1952-2018): Study for 'Metamorphosis' for solo bassoon; Ursula Leveaux - originally written in 1972, the revision of the piece was Knussen's last completed work. (It is also going to be played at the Codogan Hall Prom on 9th Sept.)

And two orchestral works:

Ian Wilson(b1964)'s Licht/ung from 2004, played by the Ulster Orchestra, conducted by David Brophy

Genevieve Murphy(b1988)'s Calm In An Agitated World performed by the composer (vocalist and tape) and Brighde Chaimbeul (pipes) with the brass & percussion of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov (World Premiere, recorded at the Glasgow Techtonics Festival in the Old Fruitmarket on Sat, 4th may this year).

The selected recording is Fozié Majd(b1938)'s Dreamland for S4tet (originally from 1997, revised in 2006) from METIER's new CD (MSV285776) played by the Winning Savage Cooper Morgan 4tet.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/May/Absentia_MSV28576.htm

... and Claudia Mollitor gives her "Sound of the Week".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007c0p

[Serial_Apologist]

Hopefully by listening to this programme, I will be able to exorcise my current clothes moth invasion problem.

[Richard Tarleton]

Hopefully by listening to this programme, I will be able to exorcise my current clothes moth invasion problem.

Spider phobias I can sort of understand, but I've met people who claim to have a phobia about moths. They are things of great beauty - there are around 2000 species in the UK (and another 2000 species of micromoth), of which precisely 2 snack on clothes. This Elephant Hawkmoth came into the bathroom the other day, and landed on the bath mat (cotton, M&S) but had no intention of eating it, it realised its mistake and was only too happy to be restored to the great outdoors. (plus it's the larvae that eat clothes, not the moths....)



We've been trapping (and releasing) moths in our garden since April, we're on 300 species and counting. We do have an occasional moth problem in the house, but for some reason it seems to be confined to my black M&S cotton T shirts.

[Bryn]

Spider phobias I can sort of understand, but I've met people who claim to have a phobia about moths. They are things of great beauty - there are around 2000 species in the UK (and another 2000 species of micromoth), of which precisely 2 snack on clothes. This Elephant Hawkmoth came into the bathroom the other day, and landed on the bath mat (cotton, M&S) but had no intention of eating it, it realised its mistake and was only too happy to be restored to the great outdoors. (plus it's the larvae that eat clothes, not the moths....)



We've been trapping (and releasing) moths in our garden since April, we're on 300 species and counting. We do have an occasional moth problem in the house, but for some reason it seems to be confined to my black M&S cotton T shirts.

Pleased to stumble across a Lime Hawk Moth larva while heading for the closest Amazon Locker a few days ago. Its reaction to disturbance is not as impressive as that of the Elephant Hawk Moth larva. The lack of eyespots reduces the fearsome appearance.

[LezLee]

I've had a moth phobia since I was a little girl. There's no logic to it, I like butterflies though I don't really like them on me. It's not even the size of moths, I hate little clothes moths as much as the really big ones and once slept in the spare room because I couldn't find the moth I knew was in my own room. The photo on this thread made me feel sick! I also hate daddy-long-legs, even more because they fly so fast and rarely settle. I hate worms too and woodlice. If they could fly I'd probably need serious counselling! Spiders are fine, I'm happily sharing my front room with 3 large arachnids right now and appreciate their eating habits!

[Serial_Apologist]

I've had a moth phobia since I was a little girl. There's no logic to it, I like butterflies though I don't really like them on me. It's not even the size of moths, I hate little clothes moths as much as the really big ones and once slept in the spare room because I couldn't find the moth I knew was in my own room. The photo on this thread made me feel sick! I also hate daddy-long-legs, even more because they fly so fast and rarely settle. I hate worms too and woodlice. If they could fly I'd probably need serious counselling! Spiders are fine, I'm happily sharing my front room with 3 large arachnids right now and appreciate their eating habits!

My clothes moths have developed a facility for erratic flying patterns, which they must have learned from their predecessors telling them, "Watch out for that nasty bloke who is very accurate in clapping his hands when we're flitting around his space". Or from the remarkably large mosquitoes that frequent around here. Mosquitoes are the worst as regards my personal phobias: there's nothing worse than that high-pitched "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" in the middle of the night that has me diving under the bedclothes, and making sure not to leave windows open too long at night. I have arachnids aplenty in the flat - each year having to vacuum away the "Christmas decorations" they suspend across my ceilings. Mine aren't any good at catching the clothes moths either, though!

[Richard Tarleton]

I've had a moth phobia since I was a little girl. There's no logic to it, I like butterflies though I don't really like them on me. It's not even the size of moths, I hate little clothes moths as much as the really big ones and once slept in the spare room because I couldn't find the moth I knew was in my own room. The photo on this thread made me feel sick! I also hate daddy-long-legs, even more because they fly so fast and rarely settle. I hate worms too and woodlice. If they could fly I'd probably need serious counselling! Spiders are fine, I'm happily sharing my front room with 3 large arachnids right now and appreciate their eating habits!

There's enough for a whole conference here, LezLee

Where to start? I'm thinking about it. Why some Lepidoptera and not others? Is it an indoor/outdoor thing? Day/night?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Having spent much of the other night trying to persuade a moth that it would really be better off outside, I can understand why people might be startled by moths - they do so flap around indoors (confused by the bright light?) wobbling around everywhere, suddenly swooping towards you: it's as if they've only just learnt how to take off, and they've realised they've not been told how to steer, or land!

[Bryn]

There's enough for a whole conference here, LezLee

Where to start? I'm thinking about it. Why some Lepidoptera and not others? Is it an indoor/outdoor thing? Day/night?

And how about Skippers butterflies versus Burnett moths?

[I currently have a few very large ragwort plants in the back garden. They are quite devoid of Cinnabar larvae, so I will be off to the local wild flower meadow parkland to see if I can find some to 'transplant'. Heavy dowpour at the moment, so I will leave it a while.]

[Serial_Apologist]

Having spent much of the other night trying to persuade a moth that it would really be better off outside, I can understand why people might be startled by moths - they do so flap around indoors (confused by the bright light?) wobbling around everywhere, suddenly swooping towards you: it's as if they've only just learnt how to take off, and they've realised they've not been told how to steer, or land!

Worst still are the chafer members of the beetle family, which would invade my flat in a wooded area where I once lived, and tend to dive bomb into walls, only to land - somehow uninjured, given their weight - on their backs on the carpet, unable to right themselves even using outstretched wings as leverage, so that I would have to pick up the fearsome-looking but in fact harmless creatures, and launch them out into the darkness. The attraction of noctural insects to light seems strangely counter-intuitive, given the likelihood of light coming from fire in ancient times.

[Bryn]

Worst still are the chafer members of the beetle family, which would invade my flat in a wooded area where I once lived, and tend to dive bomb into walls, only to land - somehow uninjured, given their weight - on their backs on the carpet, unable to right themselves even using outstretched wings as leverage, so that I would have to pick up the fearsome-looking but in fact harmless creatures, and launch them out into the darkness. The attraction of noctural insects to light seems strangely counter-intuitive, given the likelihood of light coming from fire in ancient times.

Ah yes, May bugs (not to be confused with mayflies). Of course, May bugs are not bugs, either.

[Serial_Apologist]

Ah yes, May bugs (not to be confused with mayflies). Of course, May bugs are not bugs, either.

My The Observer's Book of Common British Insects & Spiders doesn't mention May bugs...

[Bryn]

My The Observer's Book of Common British Insects & Spiders doesn't mention May bugs...

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/other-garden-wildlife/insects-and-other-invertebrates/beetles-and-bugs/cockchafer/

or if you hate them:

https://www.cleankill.co.uk/blog/may-bug-or-common-cockchafer

[Richard Tarleton]

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wi...gs/cockchafer/

or if you hate them:

https://www.cleankill.co.uk/blog/may...mon-cockchafer

Also the equivalent of a deep-pan pizza if you're a greater horseshoe bat (daddy long-legs aka tipulid larvae are a favourite food of chough).

Well done re the ragwort by the way - the horse lobby have done much to demonise ragwort

.....a large skipper I took recently......they do look as if they ought to be moths.....