It wasn’t exactly the most promising of places or times for a moth encounter. Mid-morning, and I was sipping a latte on Teesside University’s new plaza. Although it was October, the sun glinted on the metal street furniture. The passing students seemed excited with the newness of their learning. I was reading a poem about moths when – along came a moth. A purposeful whirring flight brought the hummingbird hawk moth right to my table. It hovered over my coffee for a moment before darting away into the depths of the campus. I got up and followed. It flew faster than I could run but it wasn’t going far. I caught up with the striking insect as it hovered over a raised flowerbed, one of the university’s new “green spaces”. Long proboscis sipping nectar