A pair of rarely seen moths were photographed up close after being spotted in a Powys garden.

The lime hawk-moth is a large, night-flying moth that can be seen from May to July in gardens, parks and woods, but quite uncommon in an area like Wales.

On May 28, Jeremy Taylor spotted a pair of Lime hawk-moths while sitting in a garden with his mother in Middletown, near Welshpool.

Mr Taylor described seeing the pair as an “absolute rare sight”.

He said: “I’m 56 years old and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like this pair in this area.

“Their wings are so bright that they just can’t help but stand out in the garden, and they were so much larger than the type of butterflies and moths we usually see that I almost heard them before I even saw them.

“I was almost overwhelmed by how different they are, since they’re completely different to anything else that’s flown into that garden that I’ve seen.

“I knew had to catch it on camera, mainly for my mum Joy as it’s her garden as we love sitting in there watching the wildlife together.”

The brightly coloured, large moth is normally spotted on warm nights and typically only flies throughout May and June in one generation.

The wing shape, markings and pink and green colour are unlike those of any other Hawk-moth found in the UK.

The Montgomeryshire Moth Group website had this to say about Lime Hawk-moth: “A fairly uncommon species, but can be locally common where there is abundant foodplant. It has mainly been recorded from eastern half of the county.”