June 12th, 2006
moth surprise
Yesterday, we spent about four hours slowly wandering along the roadways and trails at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park. At one stand of plants along a woodland trail, I spent a couple of minutes photographing Scorpion Flies. I was finding plenty of females, but very few males, so I stood around waiting to see if any would appear. As I studied the plants hoping to find a male somewhere among the leaves, I suddenly noticed something very yellow just a few inches above the soil. At first, I thought I might be seeing a False Crocus Geometer moth as there have been so many of them flying here at the farm over the past few days. However, as I leaned closer for a better view, I found that the moth was far too large and had very furry legs, so realized that this was an Io Moth (Automeris io).
I shot several photos of the moth with its wings closed, and then gently nudged the edge of one wing with my fingertip. The moth obliged by opening its wings enough to display the eye markings on the hind wings (see below – click on image for larger view). Such a large and beautiful moth — and what a nice surprise to stumble upon it while searching for Scorpion Flies. The rest of our walk was unusual in many ways. I’ll have more to say about it over the next couple of days.
June 12th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
Oooh. Handsome! Refresh my memory – are Io moth caterpillars stinging? I recall that they are one of those, like Mourning Cloak and some Tigers that do sting.
And, since I’ve placed us on the subject – I haven’t encountered one yet this year and didn’t try to identify the white furry job that did the stinging, but I’ve been popped when brushing against redbud flowers. Any ideas what that might be? (You might not have redbuds up there.)
June 12th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
Wayne – Yes, the Io caterpillar has clusters of green spines that are supposed to sting with about the intensity of stinging nettle and are mildly irritating for hours after the sting as the spines break off in your skin. I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing that yet (although have often managed to get into stinging nettles!).
Regarding the white furry caterpillars in the redbud — David Wagner’s book lists plants as well as caterpillars in the index. Just looking at that, there are two possibilities – One is the American Dagger Moth (Acronicta americana) which has white or pale yellow settae with long black lashes (or pencils depending on your terminology). He doesn’t mention that one as stinging (and usually does when they do), but I would suspect the settae could sting as many furry caterpillars do. The other that is known to be in redbud and would be in your region is the White Flannel Moth (Norape ovina) which has a black and white caterpillar with white knobby lobes and white spines. He mentions in his notes that a colleage tested the stinging properties of this one and said that he gently rubbed it over his wrist. Then “it took probablly a minute and a half to two minutes, but it started with an itchy burning that within five minutes turned to a red spot about the size of a quarter. After about 15 minutes, three white blisters appeared that lasted about two hours, burning the whole time, but gradually diminishing in intensity (the blisters also shrank to nothing in that time). After the blisters disappeared, the itching lasted another several hours, and the redness until the next morning.” Hmmm.. I don’t think I’d want to have many close encounters with that particular caterpillar!!
June 12th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Wow.
June 12th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
A blue-eyed moth. Nice way to begin a Monday.
Thanx!
June 13th, 2006 at 2:52 am
This moth is beautiful…I have not yet seen one in person…but I will.
June 13th, 2006 at 9:48 am
I’ve only seen this moth during Hamilton Naturalists’ Club moth outings at night using a sheet and black light for bait. Neat to see it during the day!
June 13th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Now that’s a good surprise. I’ve never seen one of those, but I’ll be keeping my eyes open now.
June 13th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Harry – Yes, “Wow” is exactly the word I used when I found it!
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Pablo – Those blue eyes are so unusual when you get a good look at them up close. They are somewhat raised and quite a metallic slaty-blue. They remind me of owl eyes.
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Jimmy – Yes it is a beautiful creature and I hope you’re able to find one.
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O.W. – I think these are often attracted to lights as you’ve described. However, it was nice to see it in daylight. I’ve found that, even with good lighting, moths look very different in daylight as compared to under artifical light — especially moths such as this which have bright colours.
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Pamela – Yes, it was a wonderful surprise and in quite an unexpected place, although this season, I do seem to be learning more about where to look for moths in daylight.
June 13th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
What an amazing sight when that moth opens its wings. It takes my breath away to see something that surprisingly beautiful. I am so glad you were there with your camera.
June 13th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
RA – I must mention that Don was very surprised when I nudged the moths wings and the eyes were revealed. He really wasn’t expecting anything like that as he wasn’t familiar with this species. It was fun to see his reaction. And yes, it was great to “be there” and capture the image of this moth with the camera — I feel very fortunate many times each day for that matter!
June 13th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
That’s one spectacular moth Bev, I wonder if those big “eyes” really have any effect in deterring predators.
June 14th, 2006 at 2:15 am
Duncan – Yes, it sure was spectacular, both in size and colour! I’m not sure if they would actually deter a predator. They certainly are striking as they are quite metallic and give off a shine that does look like a pair of big eyes — very owl-like eyes.
June 14th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
I was thinking “Wow” at the first pic where the wings are closed. Then the second one… WOW!!
Just… WOW. I’m gonna go look again :)
June 15th, 2006 at 2:05 am
Leslie — Yes, I was thinking the same thing while looking at the closed wings — although I did know what the hind wings would look like before I got to see them. Even at that, it was a most impressive sight! I just had three 8×10 photos of it printed up today, one to give to my mother, one to send to a friend, and another to put up on the wall here… it was really such a wonderful moth.
June 30th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
this is the moth that got me interested in ‘mothing’ several years ago.. aren’t they gorgeous? I’ve had up to 30 males at my light at one time.. the females haven’t emerged yet, but they should be soon.
(and I found out the hard way about the Io caterpillar.. ouch!)
Beautiful photo Bev :)
June 30th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
ps- although I think the ‘eyes’ are meant to deter predators, they don’t fool most birds. I find their wings scattered around my driveway every day. Most moths live very short lives unfortunately.
July 1st, 2006 at 12:57 am
Cindy — Thanks! No wonder you became interested in ‘mothing’… especially if you get as many as 30 of these moths at your light at one time. Wow!
Re: the ‘eyes’ — I don’t imagine they would deter predators that much either. Birds aren’t too easy to fool.
July 7th, 2006 at 10:50 am
Dazzling!
Trackback didn’t seem to work. I’ve linked here (Scroll down to Update II at bottom):
A must see
July 7th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Thanks, Sissy. The trackback on this blog is sometimes very slow. Sometimes it shows up immediately, but other times it can take up to 3 days for the link to shows up. I’m guessing that sometimes it doesn’t work at all!
July 7th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
Your photographic skills, artistic eye and naturalist’s pen are most admirable.
I’ve cited your work again in my latest post:
A toxic mix of malcontents
July 18th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
EWWWWW!!!!!!!!! tHE AMERICAN DAGGER MOTH IS SOOOOOOOOOO UGLY AS A BUTTERFLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
July 20th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Hi all
I’m at work and i have just found a big white furry moth, vrey unusual, can anyone shed any light on what it is and where it has come from??????
July 21st, 2006 at 12:21 pm
Annissa – How large was the moth? If the body was about an inch long and the wingspan about 2 inches wide, it was probably a Virginia Tiger Moth (Spilosoma virginica) – a fairly common species. The body is furry and white, all white wings, but usually with a very tiny black spot on each wing, and the legs are usually marked with black so that it looks as though it’s wearing striped stockings. This is one that I photographed a couple of years ago.
July 27th, 2006 at 10:14 am
Thank you, this is the moth that i saw, what a lovely picture it is. Cant recal the stripy stockings though.
July 27th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Annissa – There are a couple of similar species — closely related — that probably don’t have such striped legs, so it could be one of those.
July 28th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Anissa, Bev is right..a Virginian Tiger Moth (aka Yellow Bean Moth) Spiclosomna virginien.. we get many here and I love those stripey legs. I wish guides would include more info. on the legs because they can often eliminate a species and confirm another. Beautiful moth!
August 17th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
I found a moth that looks very similar to the virgina tiger moth but instead of the all white wings it has black and gray marks. Also it appears to have an black furry band on the back. The antennas also look much more furry. I have touched the moth repeatedly and to my surprise it is still a live.
August 18th, 2006 at 12:29 am
April – Sounds like quite a nice moth. If the antennae are furry looking, it’s probably a male moth.
August 20th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
We had a run-in with the Io Caterpillar yesterday at our cottage near Jones Falls, Eastern Ontario when it fell on my 5 year old grandson’s tee-shirt as he was banging on a tree trunk. He was stung on his hands and stomach quite extensively and was understandably very upset until the stinging subsided after about 20 minutes. I dislodged it with a stick and took it into the bush where we later studied it after everyone calmed down. It is indeed quite beautiful although the moth is even more so and presumably much safer to touch!
August 21st, 2006 at 1:28 am
David – Well, that’s not too nice that your grandson got stung by the Io moth caterpillar! However, it’s great that you had a chance to observe the cat after the incident. Btw, Jones Falls is a great area. One of our favourite stopping off spots when we’re down in that direction.
September 17th, 2006 at 9:21 am
Trackback didn’t work again:
“Agile, powerful fliers with good vision”
May 16th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
i need all classification and all complet information about moths for my website