Moth Of The Week

Moth of the Week

Peppered Moth

Biston betularia

The peppered moth is a part of the family geometridae. It was first described in 1758 by Charles Linnaeus. This moth gains its name from its speckled coloration, which has been studied as an example of natural selection and population evolution.

Description This species has a short body with narrow forewings. The body and wings are the same white base peppered with black dots and irregular black lines. This speckled pattern may vary with some moths having very few spots and others having so many that they look as if they are black with white spots as opposed to white with black. In rare cases, the black on the wings and body is replaced with gray or brown and in even rarer cases the spots are a combination of brown and black/gray. These spots help the moth camouflage against lichen on trees.

The evolution of this moth had been studied extensively during the last two hundred years, which created the term “industrial melanism.” During the Industrial Revolution, air pollution killed off lichen and covered trees in soot. This caused moths with a black spots on white base (typica) coloration to lose their camouflage and die off due to predators. This caused a spike in population for moths with a darker coloration (carbonaria) because they had the camouflage advantage. Once environmental conditions improved, the lighter colored moths once again became the dominant coloration.

The male’s antennae are bipectinate, meaning it has two rows of rami going down either side of a singular flagellum.

Wingspan Range: 45 - 62 mm (≈1.77 - 2.44 in)

Diet and Habitat The caterpillar of this moth eats many trees, shrubs, and small plants such as Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Downy (Betula pubescens) and Silver Birch (Betula pendula), limes, sallows, poplars, oaks, Sweet Chestnut (Castanae sativa), Beech (Fagus sylvatica), Bramble (Rubus fruiticosus), Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) and Hop (Humulus lupulus).

They have a wide range, being found in China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet), Russia, Mongolia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Europe and North America. They prefer habitats of woodland, scrub, hedgerows, parks and gardens.

Mating Depending on its location, this moth can have one or two generations per year. In Great Britain and Ireland, the peppered moth has one generation per year, whilst in south-eastern North America it has two generations per year. They emerge from the pupea in late May to August.

The females attract males with pheromones, which are carried by the wind. Males follow the concentration gradient to find the female. The male guards the female from other males until she lays the eggs. The female lays about 2,000 pale-green ovoid eggs about 1 mm in length into crevices in bark with her ovipositor.

Predators This species is a night-flying moth, making the vulnerable to bats. The males in particular fly every night to search for a female while females fly only the first night.

To protect themselves from birds during the day, this species rests on lichen covered trees to camouflage themselves.

The day time resting positions of this moth have been recorded and studied. This study shows that the peppered moth prefers resting spots that are covered such as below where the trunk and a branch meet, the underside of branches, and leafy twigs.

Additionally, the study found peppered moths with a lighter coloration (typica) blend in better against crustose lichens rather than foliose lichens because birds can see ultraviolet light. The peppered moth reflects UV light while crustose lichens don’t, making them easier to pick out.

Fun Fact The caterpillars of the peppered moth resemble things in both color and size. An experiment published in 2019 done on the caterpillars of the peppered moth showed that the larva (even when blindfolded) could sense the color of the tree they live on and change their body color to match and/or would move to a different twig that was closest in color to their own body.

(Source: Wikipedia, Butterfly Conservation, Max Planck Institute)

Moth of the Week

Hornet Moth

Sesia apiformis

The hornet moth is a part of the family Sesiidae or the family of clearwing moths. They get their common name predictably from how they mimic the appearance of the hornet. This type of mimicry is called Batesian mimicry, which is when a harmless species mimics the appearance of a unpalatable or defended species to protect themselves from predators. It was first described in 1759 by Carl Alexander Clerck under the name Sphinx apiformis.

Description This moth uses what called Batesian mimicry to resemble the hornet so predators do not want to eat it for fear of being stung. The adult moths have clear wings with yellow and striped black bodies. The number of stripes varies, females have two stripes while males have three. They are about the size of a hornet with the same jerky flight pattern when disturbed. The only difference is the hornet moth has more yellow and lacks the waist between the abdomen and the thorax.

Wingspan Range: 34 - 50 mm (≈1.34 - 1.97 in)

Females are larger than males

Diet and Habitat The larvae eat several species of poplar trees such as apsen (Populus tremula), black poplar (Populus nigra), and goat willow (Salix caprea). They prefer trees surrounded by heavy vegetation as those kinds show more evidence of infestation from larvae burrowing into trees. Adults do not eat.

This moth ranges over mainland Europe, Great Britain, and parts of the Middle East. It had also been introduced to America and Canada. They prefer open habitats such as parks, hedgerows, golf courses, quarries, fens, pond edges, and pits.

Mating The female moths attract males using special posterior glands to emit pheromones, usually soon after emergence. The male doesn’t seem to have any courtship behaviors as the two sexes are likely to begin mating as soon as they come into contact. Both males and females mate multiple times with different partners before the female beings laying her eggs.

Females prefer to lay eggs on old or isolated trees surrounded by vegetation. Females can lay from hundreds to thousands of eggs and exhibits no parental care. When comparing the number of eggs laid to the number of adults emerging per year, it is clear the large number of eggs laid is to make up for the large mortality rate between the egg and adult stages.

Predators This species of moth is primarily preyed on by magpies and great tits. Interestingly, these birds do not eat hornets despite eating this moth. An explanation for this is since these birds don’t eat hornets, the mimicry is less effective as they have any bad experiences with insects of this coloration. In fact, it can be suggested that the black and yellow coloration has the opposite effect: once the birds realize this moth is harmless and can be easily seen, they begin to actively seek them out.

Fun Fact The hornet moth is seen as a pest in the eastern United Kingdom due to a large dieback of poplar trees from larvae burrowing into them. However this dieback is not inherently caused by the larvae but instead from drought and human influences, which the larvae increase the effect of.

(Source: Wikipedia, Butterfly Conservation)

Moth of the Week

Angle Shades

Phlogophora meticulosa

Image source

The angle shades is a part of the family Noctuidae. This species was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. According to Wikipedia, this moth gets its common name from the colors and marking on its wings.

Description The forewings of this moth are shaped with a sharp point. Most of the forewing is buffish as well as the head, legs, body, and antennae. The middle of the forewing is split by a triangle. The bottom of the triangle lays on the termen of the forewing or “the edge of the wing most distant from the body.” The triangle is made of layers of brown and pink. The hindwings are whitish with darker veins.

ab. roseobrunnea ab. nov [Warren], the central triangle is a rich red brown tinged with fulvous (tawny/orange), the whole wing reddish tinged, and the green shades all strongly mixed with red, the metathorax and dorsal tufts also being deep fulvous instead of green; found in São Jorge Island in the Azores

Wingspan Range: 45 - 52 mm (≈1.77 - 2.05 in)

Diet and Habitat This species eats a wide range of herbaceous plants such as Common Nettle (Urtica dioica), Hop (Humulus lupulus), Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber), Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius), Bramble (Rubus fruiticosus), Hazel (Corylus avellana), birches, oak, basil, and broccoli.

They are distributed throughout Europe. Their reach spans eastto the Urals, southeast to Syria, Armenia, and Asia Minor, west to Azores, and south to Algeria. They are a strongly migratory species. It is found in a variety of habitats such as gardens, hedgerows, fens, woodland, grasslands, farmland, wetlands, heathland, and moorland.

Mating This moth is generally seen from May to October and has two generations per year. The larva overwinter in soil as pupa.

Predators This species flies mainly at night. They are presumably preyed on by nighttime predators such as bats. This moth uses its coloration to disguise itself as a wilted leaf when at rest. They can be seen during the day resting on walls, vegetation, and feces.

Fun Fact The angle shades is attracted to light and sugar.

(Source: Wikipedia [1][2], Butterfly Conservation, The Wildlife Trusts)

Moth of the Week

Crimson-Speckled Moth

Utetheisa pulchella

The crimson-speckled moth is a part of the family Erebidae. This species was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. It is also called the crimson-speckled flunkey and crimson-speckled footman.

Description The forewings are white or cream with red spots broken up by smaller black spots. Black dots also line the lower edge of the forewing called the outer margin. The pattern of spots may vary and the red splotches can merge into lines across the wings. The hindwings are much blander, they are all white except for a waved black/dark brown edge on the bottom of the hindwing, also called the outer margin, and a mark of the same color in the middle of the hindwing.

The head and back of the thorax is spotted buff yellow and black while the abdomen is only white or cream to match the wings. The moth’s legs are white and its antennae are dark brown/black and filiform.

These colors warn predators that this species is toxic.

Wingspan Range: 29 – 42 mm (≈1.14 - 1.7 in)

Diet and Habitat The caterpillars eat forget-me-nots, starflower, ribwort plantain, and plants from the genuses Echium, Solanum, and Anchusa. In their Afrotropical range they feed on Northern bluebell and plants in the genuses Lithospermum, Heliotropium, Trichodesma and Gossypium.

These plants contain alkaloids which makes the caterpillars and adult moths toxic to predators.

This species has a large range and are native to the Afrotropics, North Africa, the Near East, and Central Asia. This species also migrates to the United Kingdom, though its patterns are defined as “sporadic.”

These moths inhabit dry open places, meadows, shrublands, grasslands, and parks.

Mating This species has multiple generations a year: the broods are “continuous” in the tropics while elsewhere they have 3 per year.

Predators These moths fly both during the day and night. They have no camouflage but instead their colors advertise to predators that they are unpalatable. The plants they eat as caterpillars contain alkaloids which make them toxic to birds and other animals.

Fun Fact The crimson-speckled moth has 5 subspecies: Utetheisa pulchella antennata, Utetheisa pulchella completa, Utetheisa pulchella dilutior, Utetheisa pulchella kallima, and Utetheisa pulchella pulchella.

(Source: Wikipedia, Butterfly Conservation)

Moth of the Week

Chimney Sweeper

Odezia atrata

The chimney sweeper is a part of the family Geometridae. It belongs to a monotypic genus, meaning it’s the only moth species in the genus Odezia, which was created in 1840 by Jean Baptiste Boisduval. It was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus.

Description This moth is mostly black with white on the tips of the forewing (called the “apex”) and on the fringe of the forewing.

There have been a few variations in color:

- Odezia atrata pyrenaica, which is found in Pyrenees and central Italy, the wings are “dusted” in a brownish yellow with a stronger color on the forewing.

- Ab. Odezia atrata nigerrima, described by Paul Thierry-Mieg, was a female with no white apex or fringe.

- This moth’s wings may become brown from wear over time.

Wingspan Range: 23–27 mm (≈0.91 - 1.06 in)

Forewing Range: 12–15 mm (≈0.47 - 0.59 in)

Diet and Habitat The caterpillars of this species mainly eats the flowers and seeds of pignut (Conopodium majus).

This moth is distributed in the Palearctic region. In the west, it’s range reaches the Iberian Peninsula through western and central Europe and the British Isles. In the east, they can be found in Sakhalin and the Amur-Ussuri region. I’m the north, this moth reaches central Fennoscandia. Finally, in the south they are found in Italy to the Balkans.

These moths were once very common in Austria, but now the species is a rare occurrence.

They inhabit ditch edges, meadows, bogs, moors, lake sides, chalk downland, limestone grassland, woodland edges and hedgerows in southern Britain

Mating In Belgium and the Netherlands this moth can be seen flying from June to August. It presumably Nate’s during this timeframe.

Predators This moth flies during the day, especially in sunshine. They are presumably preyed on by birds and other daytime predators.

Fun Fact The chimney sweeper can be confused for the Small Blue butterfly (Cupido minimus), which also lives in the Palearctic region, as its wings may become brown from wear.

(Source: Wikipedia, Butterfly Conservation)

Moth of the Week

African Wild Silk Moth

Gonometa postica

The African wild silk moth is a part of the family Lasiocampidae. It was first described in 1855 by Francis Walker. It is also known as the Brandwurm in its larval stage in Afrikaans, Kweena in its pupal stage in Tshwana, and Molopo moth/mot in English and Afrikaans.

Description The female of this moth is much longer and larger than the male due to having to carry eggs. The male is about half the size of the female and much thinner.

The female has a light brown abdomen with a dark brown thorax and head. The female’s forewings are striped light brown, dark brown, and gray. The hindwings are a yellow-brown with a dark brown edge.

The male has a dark body and wings with a transparent portion of the hindwing.

Female Forewing Range: 35–42 mm (

Male Forewing Range: 21–25 mm (

Diet and Habitat Larva of this species eat Acacia erioloba, A. tortilis, A. melifera, Burkea africana, Brachystegia spp., and Prosopis glandulosa. The larva will feed from the same tree it’s entire life unless there are two many other caterpillars. When there is a large number of caterpillars, they may defoliate the whole tree and the larva must move in order to not starve.

This moth mainly inhabits savannas with many Acacia trees, especially in drier areas. These moths contribute to the Acacia environment by providing food to predators and nutrients to plants through feces. Cocoons are usually found on Acacia tees.

Mating Males detect females’ mating pheromones with their antennae. Males fly to the females because the females are weighed down by the eggs. The female contains about 200 eggs which are laid on the food plant after fertilization. Eggs hatch in about two weeks. Eggs are laid in clumps and the newly hatched caterpillars grow as a group and become more solitary with time.

Predators This moth is preyed on by parasitic wasps and flies. These insects lay their eggs on the caterpillar and feed off of its resources until the moth larva cocoons. The parasites live off the cocoon and grow to adulthood while killing the pupa. Specifically, these larva are subject to parasitism by Diptera and Hymenoptera, the most common parasitoids being Palexorista species from the Tachinidae and Goryphus species from the Ichneumonidae.[6]

To combat external predators and weather, the caterpillars build a tough cocoon. Caterpillars and their cocoons are also covered in stinging hairs to deter predators from touching them. Female cocoons are larger than male cocoons.

Fun Fact In Madagascar, wild silk has been harvested for centuries, and this knowledge has been introduced to southern Africa. The cocoons are harvested commercially in Namibia, Botswana, Kenya and South Africa, and the species also occurs in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. They are difficult to harvest due to the cocoons being covered in calcium oxalate. Oxford University discovered and patented a method known as demineralizing using a warm solution of EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) that soften the cocoons by dissolving the sericin. This lets the silk unravel without weakening it.

- Wild African silk moth cocoons are also used as ankle rattles in southern Africa by San and Bantu tribes. They are filled with materials such as fine gravel, seeds, glass beads, broken sea shells, or pieces of ostrich eggshell.

- Furthermore, the cocoons have long been known to cause the death of cattle, antelope and other ruminants in the Kalahari. During drought periods, the cocoons are eaten, probably because they resemble acacia pods. The silk is indigestible and blocks the rumen of multiple-stomach animals, causing starvation.

- Finally, the protein found in this species’s slik contains many basic amino acids making it a potentially useful biomaterial in cell and tissue culture.

(Source: Wikipedia, SANBI)