#winter moth

[antiqueanimals]

Animal Coloration: An Account of the Principal Facts and Theories Relating to the Colors and Markings of Animals. Written by Frank E. Beddard. 1895.

Internet Archive

[moths-daily]

Moth Of The Day #267

Winter Moth

Operophtera brumata

From the geometridae family. They have a wingspan of 22-28 mm. They can be found throughout Europe.

Image sources: [1] [2]

[sininply-a-moth]

I tried smth funky with the perspective on the third one, dunno if it worked out

eeeerrrrrrrrrr I drew these on post-it notes, with ballpoint pen, sorry if you can see my sketches because I exclusively used ballpoint pen

I INCLUDED A TINY LITTLE FACT FILE ABOUT A KIND OF MOTH, I COULDNT FINE THE LIFESPAN IF SOMEONE COULD PLEASE TELL ME THATD BE GREAT

inspired by mothgears by @cant-draw-anythin-right (dunno if I can. @ you uhhh. tell if I shouldn't have?)

[onenicebugperday]

@fishermod submitted: Got a few more buggy friends for you from Vancouver, Canada! First, a fluffy moth fren:

Second, a snail I found on the stairs outside. Guessing it'll be hard to identify beyond 'generic garden snail' since it's hiding its head, but maybe the shell's identifiable.

Third, a frighteningly large spider that darted out of my closet late one night. Guessing it's a male hobo spider? I did the cup-and-cardboard trick and evicted him outside where he'll hopefully have better luck (and won't be crawling around my room).

Thanks!

Very cute fluffy moth friend! Looks like a winter moth, which is a type of geometer. The shell is actually the easiest way to identify snails! That one looks like a brown-lipped snail...which refers to the lip of the shell, not their face lips :P The spider is definitely either a giant house spider or a hobo spider in the genus Eratigena, but I'd need a better look at it to say which, and a closer look at the pedipalps to say whether it's a male or female. Thanks for sharing all these friends, though!

[mothgallery]

Day 352

Winter Moth

[flowerishness]

Corylus avellana (Common Hazel)

The Common Hazel doesn’t need colourful flowers. The male catkins produce large amounts of wind-blown pollen which fertilise the tiny female flowers. Unfortunately, my hazelnut tree has been visited by three plagues and is now a mere shadow of it’s former self. 

First came the Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata) about twenty years ago. The larvae arrive when the tree is leafing-out and in a bad year, they reduce the leaves to a ghostly, lace-like appearance. Shortly after, the invasive Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) arrived. Since the first appearance of ‘Squirrel Nutkin’, I haven’t had a single hazelnut - the squirrels take them all!

The  coup de grâce came about five years ago, with the dreaded Eastern Filbert Blight  (Anisogramma anomala). This nasty fungal infection kills the tree and has devastated our local hazelnut farms, reducing the yield from 450 tonnes a year to a mere 18 tonnes. I cut down ninety percent of my tree and I now have only a few branches left. 

[lovingexotics]

Female Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Source: Here

[regnum-plantae]

Caterpillars from the garden centre

Over the summer period I’ve had a chance to meet a good number of caterpillars at work -hundreds of different plants make for a great environment to spot a variety of species. I tried to identify them and learn something new, here are the ones I encountered regularly:   

1. Acronicta psi, the grey dagger. 

2. Pieris brassicae, the large cabbage white.  

3. Trichoplusia ni, the cabbage looper.  

4. Phlogophora meticulosa, the angle shades (brown & green morphs). 

5. Operophtera brumata, the winter moth.  

6. Spilosoma lubricipeda, the white ermine. 

7. Orgyia antiqua, the rusty tussock moth. 

Aside from their name and what they look like once their metamorphosis is complete, I read about what they prefer to feed on, so that now I have an idea of where I am more likely to find them hanging around. They might be “pests” in my workplace, but these finds are often the highlight of my day too!