Around here, everybody earns their keep. This freeloader came in with me last night, attaching itself to my sleeve somewhere between the road and the kitchen door and only being noticed when I tried to take my jacket off. After flying about for a short while it landed in a shallow spot of water left at the bottom of the kitchen sink. It let me fish it out and then stayed put for me to take these pics (fortunately the camera was in my jacket pocket).
Even after looking at these pictures a second time this morning I’m not sure what I’ve got here, I’m veering between the Poplar Grey (acronicta megacephala) and Marbled Beauty (cryphia domestica). These are from the same noctuid sub-family; the markings are more akin to those of the Marbled Beauty but I thought last night’s visitor considerably larger than the guideline given in each source I’ve looked at (though by the same token smaller than the size suggested for a Poplar Grey). Species do vary in size, wingspans quoted are only an indicator. I’ll have to wait for someone with better knowledge to come along and help.
