Thursday, June 05, 2008

Garden Micros...


Just thought I'd post a few moths from last night here in my back yard. There wasn't much considering the weather, perhaps tonight will be better?

Above is another Synanthedon acerrubri! A slightly different view to show the utter craziness of such moths. Gotta love those orange-and-black anal tufts...


Okay, this is not a micro, but since it's a lovely moth that I've never shown you before I thought I'd stick it in. It is Palthis angulalis, the Dark-spotted Palthis. Usually this species has rather long palps that reach out in front of the head, but they are sadly reduced on this individual. It is a common species in Ontario that is on the wing through much of the summer. The larvae feed on a variety of trees and shrubs.


This tortrix has just started to fly for the summer. It is Notocelia illotana. I can't tell you much about it except to say that I catch a lot of them here in Toronto but few elsewhere.


A better view of the lovely tortrix moth Cydia pomonella. All the moths in this genus display beautiful patterns of fine vermiculations often crossed by metallic gold and silver bands.


Finally, a true example of a leaf-mining bit of microdust - Bucculatrix electa. A tiny moth, only about 4mm long. I don't know much about it but will try to find out what its host plant is and let you all know...

4 comments:

  1. So I'm curious about the Dark-spotted Palthis. I see on MPG that all their specimens have long palps - but no furry thighs. Both your and my moths have thick furry thighs on the front legs, but no palps. Is this a sex difference or something?

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