Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Friday, July 24, 2009
Dead Leaf, No, Wait
I was about to brush a dead leaf away from the front doormat this morning, when I noticed that it was curiously symmetrical. Curious, that is, for a leaf. But not for a moth.
It turned out to be fairly easy to look up. I searched for orange moth on bugguide.net and it showed up on the first page of search results.
This is the Spiny Oakworm Moth aka Anisota stigma. They spend the winter underground as pupae and emerge in the summer as adult moths. The adults do not feed, according to Butterflies and Moths of North America. The caterpillars, however, are voracious consumers of oak leaves.
Fortunately we have plenty to spare.
Now I have got to go clean that doormat so it looks good the next time I find an interesting moth on it.
4 Comments:
A beauty...We all love the butterflies but, the caterpillars are often not appreciated! It would be fine if he munched on a few oak leaves at C&L! gail
She IS a beauty!
This is a beauty. What a nice jewel to find on the doormat.
Gail: I remember reading a magazine article about gardening for butterflies titled "Love Me, Love My Larvae".
Tatyana: I think she might be a HE ;-) Supposedly the males have brighter colors. But I don't have anything to compare it to.
Tabor: Much better than the dust and dirt I usually find on the doormat ;-)
Post a Comment
<< Tangled Branches: Cultivated, main page