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| Species of the Month - August 2013 Vapourer Moth Orgyia antiqua In August the Vapourer Moth can be seen in the form of caterpillar, cocoon, adult and egg. The caterpillars are very distinctive and can't be mistaken for anything else. Where you find one you will generally find many more in the same area. They feed on a wide variety of deciduous trees, shrubs and woody plants including Bilberry and Bog Myrtle, so can be found almost anywhere including treeless areas. All the same they are not frequently encountered and we only have records of them from 3 places. The NBN map shows very few records from our area.
When the
caterpillar is ready to pupate, usually between July and September, it
spins a cocoon around itself and turns into a pupa inside the cocoon.
Vapourer
Moth cocoon, and its underside, incorporating hairs from the
caterpillar. Within a population the caterpillars stagger their
pupation times and so the emergence of adults from the cocoons is also
staggered. Some adults may emerge and lay eggs on their cocoon
while other caterpillars have not yet pupated, so it is possible to see
all four stages at once.
This is a male adult which has emerged from its cocoon and will fly off to look for a female. The females do not have wings and remain on their cocoons, where they mate with a visiting male and then lay eggs on or near the cocoon. These eggs remain there over the winter and hatch into caterpillars the following spring. I haven't yet seen females or eggs but will make sure I look for them next time I find cocoons. Photos of female and eggs at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgyia_antiqua The adult
male normally flies by day, but can sometimes come to house lights or
moth traps. I had one at my window in Taynuilt in August last
year.
Please send in your Vapourer sightings using the form below,
or email sightings@lnhg.org.uk
with the details if you prefer. If you are
not sure of the identity of your find, please send a photo to sightings@lnhg.org.uk,
or put one on the
LORN forum and let me know it is there. By filling in this form you agree that the information contained in this form may be collated and disseminated manually or electronically for environmental decision-making, education, research and other public benefit uses in accordance with the LNHG data access policy. Your email address will not form part of the record and will not be passed on to anyone.
Carl Farmer
Note you can still send in
records for past species of the month. Here is the list of species
we've had so far:
Jul 2013 - Emerald Damselfly
Next month's page
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