You may have seen my various previous postings on different Tussock Moths, well it seems that this is my summer for finding this creature. I was out walking by the pond last week when I saw this bizarre creature on a tree trunk. It is hard to see from the photo but there is a mat of creamy coloured silk which is apparently a cocoon, the white foamy substance is an egg mass. I have to be honest when I saw this insect I had absolutely no idea at all what it was. Usually I can make an approximate guess, maybe beetle, ant, wasp and then I can narrow it down and work out what it is but this one had me completely flummoxed. So I consulted my 'oracle,' otherwise known as Doug - my department head. He is a pretty good entomologist and can usually answer any questions I have but even he was completely stumped! (At least that made me feel a bit less ignorant!) So I posted the picture on http://bugguide.net Within a few hours I had an answer - you guessed it - a White Marked Tussock Moth Orgyia leucostigma (again!) but this time it is the female moth. The female, as you can see, is flightless. It emerges from the cocoon, waits for a male, mates, lays its eggs on the empty cocoon and then dies. So mystery solved. What a fascinating creature.Photo Credits - CJT
2 comments:
Isn't BugGuide amazing. Someone usually has an answer is a few minutes....
Rambling Woods - yes it is a fantastic site, it has solved several puzzles for me, and like you say, always really quick.
Post a Comment