Blonde Linden Looper Adult – Winter Moth
This moth came to our porch light right at the end of our moth season, on November 5, 2015. It is a fairly uniform pale brown, almost blonde.
The thing is, we have very few local moth species that are both this size and that also fly as late as November, and this moth doesn’t quite look like any of them.
The main thing that is giving me trouble is the color. As far as general size and body/wing shape, it looks a great deal like the Bruce Spanworm, Operophtera bruceata, a few specimens of which were also coming to the light at the same time[1].
Although, in addition to not having the same wing patterning, the leading edges of the wings on the Bruce Spanworm moth are gently curved near the “shoulder” while this blonde specimen has straight wings. Well, I’m obviously getting nowhere on my own, so it’s off to BugGuide with an ID question!
. . . later . . .
Jason Roberts has given me an ID, he says it is a Winter Moth, Erannis tiliaria, whose caterpillar is known as the “Linden Looper”. These moths are definitely around the area, as I have photographed their very distinctive caterpillar in the past. And, for that matter, I may have photographed the adult before, too, although that one was, if anything, even paler than this new one. Most of the pictures of Erannis tiliaria adults on BugGuide have more pronounced wing patterning than this, but they also say that this species has considerable variation in forewing color. Given that both of my specimens have been a relatively featureless pale brown, I think that our local strain just tends to run to that color.
Anyway, the caterpillars eat the leaves of most of the common broadleafed trees, and the adults typically come out in October and November, so this is indeed one of the species that are likely to come to the light in the late season just before the frost. They evidently overwinter as eggs.
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[1] For reference, here is a Bruce Spanworm moth that was hanging out a little further along the wall on the same night:
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He instantly made me think of 30s Hollywood’s idea of European nobility – a tall fellow with a dramatic cape. Maybe you could name him Erich Maria Wolfgang Wilhelm Maxamillion von Rentzenkuler IV. Known to his friends as “Chuck.”
🙂
There are more than 160 000 species of moth, but this one looks nice. Nice pics.