Know your Stigmas...

At last - something, anything, new in the garden moth trap! Even though it is just a Common Looper Moth. This is a very common species throughout Ontario, appearing about now and continuing right through to late fall in three or so overlapping generations. The larva is a generalist on many plants.

This looper is quite variable in its appearance. The overall color varies from shades of brown to purple with differing intensities of metallic sheen. The silvery stigma on the forewing also varies quite wildly from one individual to the next. The above individual is the less common variety that has the stigma in two parts.


And this individual shows the more regular pattern of having the stigma fused into one sweeping spot. Either way the angled, upside down "V" shape of the fore part of the stigma is pretty distinctive. There are some look-alike species but they all have different stigma shapes and subtly different forewing marking.