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Yesterday we saw what is normally the last moth of the year. On a sunny
sheltered south-facing slope, there were dozens of Winter Moths taking
short flights, landing, and flying again. These were all adult males,
because the females are virtually wingless and don't fly. I don't recall
ever seeing so many of them in one place before; perhaps the conditions
promoted some sort of simultaneous emergence from their pupae. Anyway,
given the abysmal state of butterflies last summer, it was kind of nice
to see at least one species flying in good numbers.
This was probably Operophtera brumata (L.), a geometer ("inchworm")
introduced from Europe sometime before 1930. However, it could also have
been the native O. bruceata (Hulst); they're extremely difficult to
distinguish without dissection.
Peter Payzant
Waverley
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<div style="font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;"><font face="Arial">Yesterday
we saw what is normally the last moth of the year. On a sunny
sheltered south-facing slope, there were dozens of Winter Moths
taking short flights, landing, and flying again. These were all
adult males, because the females are virtually wingless and
don't fly. I don't recall ever seeing so many of them in one
place before; perhaps the conditions promoted some sort of
simultaneous emergence from their pupae. Anyway, given the
abysmal state of butterflies last summer, it was kind of nice to
see at least one species flying in good numbers.<br>
<br>
This was probably Operophtera brumata (L.), a geometer
("inchworm") introduced from Europe sometime before 1930.
However, it could also have been the native O. bruceata (Hulst);
they're extremely difficult to distinguish without dissection.<br>
<br>
Peter Payzant<br>
Waverley<br>
<br>
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