I was reading the pictures behind glass when I saw a static moth. I didn't know whether it was alive or dead, but it was not moving and had great colours on the body and a fascinating pattern on the wings.
I wanted a picture. Unfortunately I had rushed out without my mobile phone. How could I get a photo?
Ask the nearest person, who had a mobile phone, or ask if they had a mobile phone. Seated nearby was a family of three. Surely one of them would have a phone and be willing to take a photo.
If not I would have to walk further, or return later. I hoped they would be interested and willing.
Sure thing - yes. They all three stepped over to look at it. Their offspring was as excited and thrilled as I was.
The father took a photo. He looked at it and decided to take another, more carefully, to get it sharper. He adjusted and was satisfied with the result.
He sent it to me. Through WhatsApp.
Later I hunted for it. My laptop was set to the UK address and up came a UK moth identification site, with no result. So I switched my search to identify moths of Singapore.
Immediately a similar photo popped up. The moth is known colloquially as a tiger moth, because of its striped body, I presume. It is also known as a wooly bear.
The technical name is Huber's moth, I imagine after Huber who first saw it and classified it and identified its characteristics. Huebneri, easy to remember, as it has a hue, like b for butterfly, nearby in daytime. It is also called a day-flying moth. This sounds like an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms.
This moth, and/or similar ones, can be found in Singapore and Northern Australia.
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