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Moth of the Week
Bird-Cherry Ermine
Yponomeuta evonymella
Image source
The bird-cherry ermine is a part of the family Yponomeutidae, the ermine moths. It was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. It was originally placed in the genus Phalaena but was later transferred to the genus Yponomeuta, becoming Yponomeuta evonymella. This species’ common name comes from their main food plant: Bird Cherry.
Description This moth has a white thorax, head, and forewings. The forewings have five horizontal lines of small black dots, and a few black dots are also on the back of the thorax. The hindwings are shorter and wider than the forewings and are a beige/light brown color. Both the forewings and hindwings have a fringe on the end however, the forewings’ white fringe is short and only on the outer margin while the hindwings’ brown fringe is all over the hindwings’ edges besides the parts touching the forewings. Additionally the hindwings’ fringe is longer on the bottom of the wing. This moth’s thin and wiry antennae are two thirds the length of the forewing and are usually white.
Wingspan Range: 16 - 25 mm (≈0.63 - 0.98 in)
Diet and Habitat This species’ caterpillars mainly feeds on Bird Cherry (Prunus padus), but they also occasionally feed on cherry (Prunus) or buckthorn (Rhamnus). They are known to sometimes be pests of the bird-cheery because the caterpillars pupate and feed together in web like nests that can cover whole trees. This web keeps them protected and allows them to eat mostly unbothered by other insects and predators. The tree is still likely to survive after this, but may grow less in the following growth season/spring. Adults feed on nectar.
This species can be found in Europe and the northern and eastern parts of Asia. They live in many habitats such as river lowlands, deciduous forests, alluvial forests, stream banks with bushes and trees, gardens, parks, and more. Strangely according to Butterfly Conservation, this moth can be found “often far from the known foodplant.”
Mating This moth is seen in June to September and has only gerarion per year. Females let their eggs on the winter buds of their food plants.
Population sizes fluctuate, but it’s not uncommon for mass outbreaks of caterpillars to happen, which results in defoliated trees.
Predators This species is preyed on by parasitic wasps and seems to have few other predators.
Fun Fact This moth is attracted to light. Additionally when disturbed, this moth can skip away and falls to the ground. Note: this second fact does not currently have a citation on Wikipedia so it may be disproven in the future.
(Source: Wikipedia, Butterfly Conservation)
Moth of the Week
Northern Giant Flag Moth
Dysschema howardi
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The northern giant flag moth is a part of the family Erebidae. It was first described in 1836 by Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug. This moth is known by two scientific names: Dysschema thetis and Dysschema howardi, which are considered to be synonymous. This moth’s scientific name may also be confused with Dysschema mariamne, which is the name of Mariamne’s giant flag moth.
Description Males and females have very similar patterned forewings that are black and white. They also both have red-orange abdomens, black heads, and black thoraxes with two yellow and white spots. However, both males and females have different hindwings, antennae, and sizes:
Females have orange hindwings while males have white ones.
A male’s antennae is fluffier than a female’s
Males are generally smaller than females
Males also tend to be more active.
Wingspan Range (Wikipedia): 85-95mm (≈3.35-3.74in)
Wingspan Range: (BreedingButterflies): 75-105mm (≈2.95-4.13in)
Diet and Habitat The larvae of this species eat on plants from the Asteraceae family such as Brickellia californica, Eupatorium rugosum, and Vernonia patens. Adults do feed, most likely nectar from flowers as when bred in captivity they are fed sugary liquids.
This species is found from south-western United States to north-western Mexico, specifically the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. They prefer habitats that are hot and dry.
Mating These moths can be seen flying from June to August and presumably mate during this time. When bred in captivity, if these moths are not fed Brickellia californica or other plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids they will not want to mate. This is possibly because some species in the Arctiidae subfamily use PAs to create mating pheromones and defend themselves from predators.
Predators Larvae of this species hide under objects during the day and are more active at night. Adults are known to show their hindwings to frighten off predators or play dead.
Fun Fact When the larvae of this moth is ready to pupate, it finds a place and spins a silk “hammock” to pupate in.
(Source: Wikipedia [1][2], BreedingButterflies, Texas Entomology)
Requested by: @rodereicus
Moth of the Week
Red-Belted Clearwing
Synanthedon myopaeformis
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The red-belted clearwing is a part of the family Sesiidae. It was first described in 1789 by Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen as Sphinx myopaeformis. This was later changed to Synanthedon myopaeformis. This moth is called the red-belted clearwing in Europe, the apple clearwing moth in North America, and the apple borer. This is due to their tendency to damage their host apple trees. It is considered a pest in Europe.
They may be confused with the large red-belted clearwing and the red-tipped clearwing.
Description This moth has a thin, dark blue, segmented body. The body is hairless aside from a bushy tail at the end of the abdomen. They are noticeable due to a bright red-orange band on one of the segments of the abdomen. The wings are clear with a dark outline and veins and a fringe on the outer margin (outer edge). The wings help distinguish the red-belted clearwing from the large red-belted and red-tipped clearwings as the wings have no red-orange markings.
Wingspan Range: 1.8 - 2.8 cm (≈0.71 - 1.1 in)
Diet and Habitat This species eats mainly apple, specifically Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris), as well as Pear (Pryus communis), Hawthorn (Crateagus monogyna), Almond (Prunus dulcis), Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), apricots, cherries, mountain ash, peaches, plums, and quince. In Canada, adult moths have been attracted to the flowers of the snowy milkweed.
They can be found natively in Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. This species was noticed to North America and first detected in Canada in 2005. They inhabit well established orchards and gardens, hedgerows, open woodland, and mature scrub.
Mating Adults emerge from their cocoons in early summer and on flight from May to August, this is presumably their mating season. Females can lay up to 250 eggs, usually singly in the cracks or damaged areas of the trunk and branches they are hosting in. Females attract males with pheromones released from glands. A 2010 study found that 3,13-octadecadienyl acetate is the primary sex hormone.
Predators The larvae of this moth are preyed on by parasites, fungi, and bacteria. The main parasite of red-belted clearwing larvae is Liotryphan crassiseta. Other parasites are Nematodes, Steinernema sp. The fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum are common causes of death in larvae as well as the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis.
Fun Fact
The adult red-belted clearwings are significantly less active on cold days compared to warm days.
In 2014, Judd and Eby found that S. myopaeformis does not discriminate between yellow, green and white or between purple, blue, red, and black. This suggests that they are dichromatic, meaning they can perceive mainly two colors. This affected traps set to catch this species as they acted differently depending on the light reflected.
As this species is considered a pest to apple trees, people have attempted to control the population. This has been tried with pheromone/mating disruption, pheromone laced traps, other chemical traps, the use of predators/enemies, and the covering of apple tree trunks in oil.
(Source: Wikipedia [1][2][3], Butterfly Conservation, Michigan State University)
Moth of the Week
Eight-Spotted Forester
Alypia octomaculata
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The eight-spotted forester is a part of the family Noctuidae, the owlet moths. It was first described in 1775 by Johan Christian Fabricius. It is predictably named after the 8 spots on its wings.
Description This species has a black body with pale yellow patches of tegulae (sclerites above the base of the costal vein/the top edge of a moth wing). The legs are black with the front and middle legs having orange hairs. The forewings have two pale yellow or white spots on both sides, and the hindwings have two white spots on both sides. It also can have a yellow and white patten on the back of the abdomen (middle to lower body).
Wingspan: 3 - 3.7 cm (≈1.81 - 1.45 in)
The larvae is lavender with orange bands breaking up each segment. In between the orange bands are thin black lines over the visible lavender. The enter body is sprinkled in black bumps and thin white hairs. The head is orange.
Caterpillar length: 2.54 - 3.81 cm (1 - 1.5 in)
Diet and Habitat Larvae of this moth eat the underside of the leaves of wild grapes, cultivated grapes, Virginia Creeper, and peppervines. Adult moths eat nectar from flowers of herbaceous (no wood stems above ground). Adults specifically eat from sweetleaf (Symplocos tinctoria).
This moth is native to Canada and can be found in eastern and central Northern America from Nova Scotia to Florida and South Dakota to Texas. It is also found in Mexico according to Moth Identification. They inhabit wooded areas that meet open fields as the fields have flowers to feed the adults and the wooded areas have grapevine and Virginia creeper to feed larvae.
Mating This species are univoltine (one brood a year) in the north, mating from April to June. In warmer climates there may be two to three broods a year, mating in April to June then in August. Eggs are lain on grapevines and Virginia creeper in the summer. Pupae overwinter in soil or wood cracks.
Predators This moth is preyed on in all stages of life and are dinural (active during the day). Larvae spit an orange tinted liquid when threatened and escape by attaching a line of silk threat to its perch from its mouth, then falling off the perch.
Fun Fact
The larvae of this species can be considered pests to commercial and decorative vineyards.
This moth has two subspecies: Alypia octomaculata octomaculata (Fabricuis, 1775) and Alypia octomaculata matuta (H. Edwards, 1883)
This species pupae can go into a dormant state while called a “diapause” where development is delayed. The longest recorded time for this species is 4 years. The reason this species exits a diapause is unknown.
(Source: Wikipedia [1][2][3], MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION, Moth Identification, MarylandBiodiversityProject)
Moth of the Week
Banded Tussock Moth
Halysidota tessellaris
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The banded tussock moth is a part of the family Erebidae, the tiger moth family. It was first described in 1797 by James Edward Smith. This species is also called the pale tiger moth, banded tussock moth, and tessellated halisidota. The common name “banded tussock” moth comes from the clumps of longer hairs that protrude amid the shorter ones on the caterpillars, called “tussocks.” The scientific name “tessellaris” refers to a tessellated pattern, or a pattern made of small stones similar to the pattern on this moth’s forewings.
Description This species has light brown, tan, or cream wings and upper body. The abdomen is a yellow-orange. The forewings have a pattern of beige bands with thin black outlines while the hindwings are blank. On the back of the thorax are two orange stripes with a teal stripe on either side. Adult males and females are identical in color and pattern.
Wingspan: 3.81 - 5.08 cm (1.5 - 2 in)
The caterpillars are covered in long hair that ranges from yellow-orange to dark gray. At the head and bottom of the caterpillars are especially long clumps of white, black, or orange hairs.
Caterpillar length: 3.5 cm (≈1.38 in)
Diet and Habitat Larvae of this moth feed on some species of alder, ash, apple, beech, birch, blueberry, boxelder, chestnut, chokecherry, elm, grape, hackberry, hazel, hickory, oak, sycamore, walnut, and willow. They eat the leaf tissue between leaf veins.
This moth lives in North America and ranges from southern Canada to Texas and central Florida. They inhabit wooded areas with different types of deciduous trees. Adults may be seen by lights at night.
Mating In the north, this species is univoltine with one generation and year while in the south, it is multivoltine with two or more generations on the south. In Missouri, a two generation a year habitat, adult moths are seen from early May until the end of August. They presumably mate during this time. Eggs are laid in masses on the undersides of host plant leaves. Caterpillars overwinter in cocoons made from their own hair.
Predators This moth and its larvae are preyed on by birds, salamanders, toads, bats (Eptesicus fuscus), and 9 different parasitoid wasps (Braconidae).
Caterpillars of this moth are covered in long hairs that are thought to cause stinging and rashes like other similar species. The larvae behave as if they are chemically protected, but they have not been tested for alkaloids according to Wikipedia. Adults are confirmed to have and use alkaloids like other moths in the Erebidae family. They gain these toxins from their diet as caterpillars which makes them unpalatable to predators.
Fun Fact Although some moths in the subfamily Arctiinae are called “tussock moths,” there is a different subfamily (Lymantriinae) also in the Erebidae that are called the “true tussock moths.” Lymantriinae moths used to be in their own family but are now grouped together with other subfamilies under the family Erebidae.
Adult banded tussock moths are visually very similar to adult sycamore tussock moths (Halysidota harrisii). Scientists even need to dissect the two in order to tell the difference.
(Source: Wikipedia, UMassAmherst, MarylandBiodiversityProject, MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION, BugGuide)
Moth of the Week
Mint Moth
Pyrausta aurata
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The mint moth is a part of the family Crambidae, the grass moth family. It was first described in 1763 by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized to Johannes Antonius Scopolius).
Description This moth has purple-brown forewings with yellow marks. The marks on the wings varies but is usually one yellow spot near the middle of the wing but leaning closer to the costa (top edge/vein of the wing). It is also common to have smaller yellow marks with the larger spot. It is possible for the forewing to be blank. It is also possible to have yellow markings that look like a wavy band on the forewings. The hindwings are a dark brown or black with a yellow band in the center.
Wingspan: 1.8 - 2 cm (0.71 - 0.79 in).
The caterpillar of this moth ranges from light green, dark green, light brown, black gray and reddish with a darker back line. They also have a dark brown head.
Length: 13 cm (≈0.512)
Diet and Habitat This species most often eats mint (Mentha spicata and Mentha rotundifolia) but also eats plants like marjoram, Salvia pratensis, Melissa officinalis, Nepeta cataria and Calamintha species.
This species is widely distributed in Europe, North Africa, and North Asia. It reaches to Siberia, North China, Korea, and Japan in the east and to Asia Minor, the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, Middle Asia and Mongolia in the south. They inhabit chalk and limestone grassland, woodland, marshland, quarries, places with waterside vegetation, and gardens
Mating This moth has two generations a year in north-west Europe. It flies from April until the end of September. Specifically in the UK, it breeds from May to June then from July to August.
Predators This species flies during the day and at night. No listed protections or specific predators.
Fun Fact The mint moth (Pyrausta aurata) can be mistaken for Pyrausta purpuralis as they are related. However, Pyrausta purpuralis is larger and has a more distinct band on the forewing. This band is usually divided in 3.
(Source: Wikipedia [1][2], Butterfly Conservation)
Moth of the Week
Purple Thorn
Selenia tetralunaria
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The purple thorn (Selenia tetralunaria) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767.
Description This moth’s wings are mainly a darker brown with a lighter brown “termen” (“The edge of the wing most distant from the body”). There is a dark spot at the tip of the forewing and a white crescent shaped mark on all the of wings. There is also a black spot on the upper side of the hindwings.
Adult moths’ sizes can vary due to which brood they are a part of:
Spring Brood: 46 - 52 mm (≈1.81 - 2.05 in)
Summer Brood: 44 - 46 mm (≈1.73 - 1.81 in)
Second generation moths are also different in color. Butterfly Conservation says that are paler while Wikipedia says they are darker.
This moth’s caterpillar is reddish brown mixed with darker brown and gray.
Diet and Habitat This species’s caterpillar feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs such as alder (Alnus), birch (Betula), European ash (Fraxinus), apple (Malus), black poplar (Populus), Prunus, pear (Pyrus), oak (Quercus), and rose (Rosa).
This species is distributed in both Northern Europe and Central Europe. It is scattered in Britain, and it is not found in Ireland. They inhabit woodland, scrub, heathland, and rural and suburban gardens.
Mating In the British Isles, there are two generations a year. The spring brood flies from April to May while the summer brood flies from July to August. In more mild years there can be a smaller third generation that flies in late September and October.
Predators This species flies at night and is attracted to light. No listed protections or specific predators.
Fun Fact The purple thorn is similar to the lunar thorn (Selenia lunularia). They can be told apart because the purple thorn has a dark spot on its hindwings.
(Source: Wikipedia [1][2][3], Butterfly Conservation)
Moth of the Week
Large Emerald
Geometra papilionaria
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The large emerald is a part of the family Geometridae. The species was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. Its common name references its color and size compared to other emerald moths. Its species name papilionaria is a reference to this moth’s butterfly like appearance according to Wikipedia. Adult moths rest with their wings angled and open like butterflies.
Description Newly emerged moths in this soecies are pale and dark green color with white patterned bands classed “fascia” which fades after a few days according to Wikipedia. The fascia change into broken lines of white, two on the hindwings and three on the forewings. However according to Butterfly Conservation, the large emerald is the one of the few emerald moths whose color does not fade.
Variations in color include:
ab. herbacearia Men.: the lines are “obsolete.” Orginally described as a separate species.
ab. cuneata Burr,: a large “web shaped” white spot in addition to the usual patterns.
ab. subcaerulescens Burr,: a more blue green color than normal.
ab. deleta Burr,: the “distal” (farthest from of the moths body) part of the moth’s white patterning is “obsolete.”
ab. subobsoleta Burr.: the white antemedian line one the foreign is “obsolete.”
ab. alba Gillm: the moth is entirely white and tinged with yellow.
Wingspan of 5.0 - 6.5 cm (≈2.36 - 2.56 in)
The larvae described as “rather stout, rugose” (corrugated) “the surface shagreened” (similar texture to a type of raw hide), “the head slightly notched, the setae” (bristle or hair like structures) “mostly with enlarged summits.” The larvae is a reddish brown when hibernating to match dead leaves and things and turns a green in the spring after hibernation.
Diet and Habitat This moth’s larvae feeds on birch, such as Downy Birch (Betula pubescens) and Silver Birch (Betula pendula), but also on Hazel (Corylus avellana), Alder (Alnus glutinosa), rowan, and possibly Beech (Fagus sylvatica).
This moth is present in the Palearctic region and the Near East. They inhabit deciduous forests, heathlands, marshland, in settlements close to woodland, grassland, well-established hedgerows, gardens, and parks.
Mating This species is seen flying at night from June to August in Britain. The egg is broad at one end and more flattened at the other with an oval like shape.
Predators These moths fly at night and are attracted to light. Adults occasionally fly in the tree tops on warm, sunny days. Larvae camouflage themselves during hibernation, being red-brown to match dead leaves and twigs and green to match spring leaves after hibernation. Not specific predators are listed.
Fun Fact The large emerald moth has 4 subspecies:
G. p. papilionaria: found in Europe to the Urals, Southwest Siberia, Turkey, Caucasus, Transcaucasus
G. p. herbacearia Ménétries: described in 1859, found in West Siberia - Southeast Siberia, Korea
G. p. subrigua: described in 1935 by Proute, found in Japan
(Source: Wikipedia [1][2][3][4], Butterfly Conservation, Amateur Entomologists' Society)