Hello!

Hi Sparkle 

Here it is, I took a shot, then helped it out the window. You are definitely right, people think moths and only think of the tiny house ones, but they are so varied and amazing and can out shine butterflies (though I do like them too). 

I think I would be so excited to see a red underwing too, probably wanting to squeal and wriggle my fingers, but also not wanting to scare it! 

And all elephant hawk moth! Very very envious, I've seen a poplar hawk moths a few times, plus a cocoon in the garden! They aren't as colourful, but they look like they are wearing little grey fuzzy jackets! 

Carpets and their ilk are all tricky, I can't normally tell which is which. I have a field guide of macro moths, so the info is all in abbreviations, I could do with a larger volume. 

Clear wings look amazing, though being able to successfully identify them would also be hard I reckon!

I’ve heard similar from senior leadership about how in tune I am with the students. I think it’s great when you can use some of your own experiences to help a student. I’m regularly found running around in a corridor with a learner who needs a movement break  (secretly I also benefit from it too) 

I love how Janine is trying to flirt and he’s not getting it at all. I relate a bit too much to that. I’ve had someone flirt with me before and I had ZERO idea. I started infodumping about a local cathedral whilst my friend was facepalming mentally and had to explain to me what happened  

I also love David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys and Japan. I had a huge Japan obsession as a teenager. Duran Duran was a staple in our household growing up as my mother is a huge fan of them. 

Thank you for the warm welcome! 

He was the preeminent English Victorian ghost story writer. He influenced many other writers and he’s still read and celebrated to this day. His stories are often about an overly curious professor or antiquarian meeting some sort of paranormal comeuppance. 

Yes, I love brimstones if you have the photo! They’re so pretty. 

Yellow underwings are common in my garden when they’re in flight so when I got the red underwing it felt like seeing a unicorn  

I agree on dark arches, once moths start having similar colours and pattern variations, they can become a bit of a headache! I find common carpets easy to mix up with say a balsam carpet. 

I was fortunate enough to find an elephant hawk-moth as a teenager. When people say UK moths are tiny and drab, I show them one of those. 

Which is your favourite Aliens movie?

The first one is the best I think. Remarkable for the 1970s. I have a box set with lots of extras. 

Prometheus was next best. There was so much scope to do interesting things to develop the story. I thought the subsequent 2 films were weak.

The large hawk moths are interesting and furry.

In Taiwan I have seen cockroaches a few times. The hotel rooms were fumigated fairly regularly. One evening I was lying on the bed, one crawled out from under the bed and died in the middle of the floor. It didn't bother me, but it might some people. I think in warm humid climates they are impossible to stop.

I don't mind wasps too much. They eat a lot of pests. But in the late summer their job is done and they don't need to support the grubs in the nest and go after sugar and become a nuisance.

Oh I love underwings, though I've only seen yellow, not red ones! (Rescued one from the greenhouse last summer and got a good look in the process). Very envious of your red ones -it's so exciting when you get a flash of colour! 6 spotted burnets are so cool too, we had loads in the garden one summer, it's amazing when you get a good year for them!

When we were visiting the in-laws last summer, I saw a brimstone moth in their bathroom. (I could see if I can find the picture if your interested?) Most tricky I managed to identify was a dark arches, I'm still trying to get my eye in, so far from expert but I love to try figure out what they are! 

Any type of hawkmoth is amazing if your lucky enough to see them?

Cinnabar moths are my favourite species! 
I found about forty cinnabar caterpillars last year in my garden and I was very excited to see them grow into adult moths. I like six-spot burnets too and red underwings. They’re sort of “boring” on top as camouflage and then you get that beautiful flash of red and black of the hindwings. 

Thank you! 

That’s so cool, I also love science fiction! 
I’m a huge fan of the Alien franchise and I’m also a Trekkie (mostly TOS as I love very retro sci-fi). 

Thank you for the welcome! 

Hi, welcome to the community! I like aliens space, and I draw pictures in PC programs. Graphic design was my special intrest fir quite a long time. Now it's not anymore but I use these skills in my next special interest. I write some sci fi stories with aliens and other worlds so I also draw pictures to these stories. I hope you enjoy being here.

Ooo never heard of him, I’ll have to check his works out!

That's brilliant that your mum recognised how beneficial it was, finding things that help settle our emotions can make a real difference! 

I do like moths too, their names are poetry and they are so varied and beautiful. I got a t-shirt with moths on last year. I got a bunch of wildlife ones, but that is one of my favourites! (there are 10 species on it, including the cinnabar)

Lovely to meet you too! 
Funnily enough, the lady who assessed me for my diagnosis said the exact same about Ghostbusters being a regulation tool  

It’s difficult to explain to people who aren’t neurodivergent or don’t understand neurodivergency. Luckily my family and friends try their best to understand. My mum was known for putting it on the telly when l was in a state of near crisis. But, whatever works   

Thank you for the welcome!

I would call myself a skeptic however I do listen and believe people who’ve seen a ghost. I think it’s important to allow them that space to share even though I think phenomena can be explained. As you’ve mentioned ghost stories, do you like M.R James by any chance? 

Art as in illustration

I love to draw monsters and aliens, anything surreal or abstract. I’m not a hyperrealist but I do like detail. I used to do some sculpture but I’ve never been one for realism or to make something practical like a cup. 

I usually say insects to not put people off me as moths and cockroaches are my favourites. Probably two of the most abhorred insects other than wasps

Hello

Art. Do you mean pictures or sculpture? And life-like realism or impressionism? I used to not get art, I mostly wanted pictures that looked like photographs, but since diagnosis I think I have started to get it for some reason.

Insects. A broad group. The most interesting I have seen in my garden are a hoverfly hornet, a hummingbird moth, some crickets, and some large centipedes rather than the smaller orange ones that I have loads of.

Welcome Sparkle! 

Hi and welcome to the community. Although I'm a lot older than you, we have a few things in common.

I'm a woman in my mid sixties, and retired. My main interests now are reading and playing video games, but I've had lots of others over the years.

I was horse obsessed from the age of 10-15 and read lots about them and drew them, and the first poster I put on my bedroom wall was of horses running on a beach. I also enjoyed playing some of the Assassins creed games in the past couple of years because you can ride a horse in them, and in the Odyssey game you can get a skin for your horse which makes it into a unicorn which is lovely.

I worked as a special needs teaching assistant for 5 years in my early thirties - I had no idea I could be on the spectrum then, but when I was doing my work based training my mentor gave me feedback that I was very sensitive to the needs of the children I worked with.

Ghostbusters is one of my top favourite films. My favourite line from Egon is when Janine says to him "I bet you like to read a lot too" and he gives the deadpan reply "Print is dead".

I see from your profile that you like 80s music. That's the music of my youth and I like lots of bands and artists from that era, including David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, Japan, Robert Palmer, The Psychedelic furs and The Clash.

I hope you enjoy chatting with us.