When the gentleman naturalists of the 19th century began to explore and record Scotland's fauna they provided English names for the species they found. No less than three moths have Rannoch in the name, Rannoch Sprawler, Rannoch Brindled Beauty and this species opposite the Rannoch Looper. The reason for the popularity of Rannoch is, at first puzzling since they all occur in Strathspey, probably in greater numbers. However the answer is, in historical terms, plain to see. These naturalists explored Scotland using the new train system and they would have disembarked and Rannoch station to set off and record so these species were first known from that area. We photographed this species close to Loch Ness last week whilst searching for Dragonflies |