Moth-like Gifts...

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've been back from a great trip to UK for a couple of weeks now but have been a bit too bust to trifle with such things as blogs etc. I have some very nice photos of some UK moths and a few interesting recent moths from my very own back yard here in Toronto that I'd like to share with you all - at some stage. But first, this...

One of the joys of being a known "moth man" is that folks occasionally bring odd moths that they've found to you for inspection. And so it has been of late. Here are two examples:


Just as I was about to step past the front door late one night (after conducting the annual TEA High Park public moth night in fact) I noticed a margarine container in my mail box. A bit odd so I cautiously pried off the lid only to find a lovely Imperial Moth inside! Hadn't seen one for years, so I was well pleased, as you might imagine. Apparently a near-neighbor of mine (Jamie the flute) had found it by chance up near Parry Sound and brought it back for me. I will be releasing it in suitable habitat soon.

Eacles imperialis, or Imperial Moth is a large and impressive member of the Saturniidae, or giant silkworm moth family. The subspecies we see here is E. i. pini and is pretty local in wooded regions of Ontario where pines are prevalent.


The second gift was the fantastic-looking Sesia apiformis, or Hornet Moth above. It was found by my friends Carol and Hugh as they conducted a butterfly survey in one of the Toronto ravines. This moth is an introduced European species which is rather local in the northeastern sector of North America. In UK the moth is local and hard to detect, even though there is a pheromone lure available to pull them out of the woodwork. I'll write another post about the fascinating process of luring in clearwing moths with pheromones.

The Hornet Moth is large and impressive for a micro! It has one generation that flies mostly in June and July. The larva feed on the live wood of poplars. The adults are remarkably wasp-like in appearance and are thus likely to be overlooked unless one is actually looking for clearwing moths.