Identify the mystery moth or butterfly
This was a surprise visitor to my flat late last night. It certainly behaved like a moth with an almost suicidal attraction towards hot halogen lights. I didn't get much of a look at it while I safely guided it outside. But what I thought was a colourful moth looks more like a butterfly, I'd say a peacock, in the cold light of the picture that's just been emailed to me.
Mind you I am notoriously bad at moth spotting. I've been lucky enough to spend the odd night out with researchers marvelling at our moths and the great names the Victorians gave them. But identfying them properly is a skill I can't master. (It's the same with fungi, experts have politely put me right when gathering wild mushrooms less I wake up with a stomach ache or worse I don't wake up at all!)
Studying moths is one of those rather brilliant areas of science when amateurs can still make as much of a contribution as the professionals. Indeed I spent a pleasant lunch hour on the UK Moths website just in case I'd found something new. Moths always surprise, did you know some look like hornets?
Still almost definately an insomniac peacock butterfly. Unless of course you know different...
I'm David Gregory, BBC Science Correspondent for the West Midlands. My first law states: "Science is the answer." There is no second law. Feel free to drop me a line: 
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