Friday, May 16, 2003

Moth Mania
image of winter moth

Last December I observed a massive moth invasion in my hometown of Randolph, Massachusetts. There were thousands of moths swarming all over the place, so I grabbed one and took some photos. Now comes this story from WBZRadio.com, about the sudden invasion of inchworms defoliating the trees. It turns out these are likely the offspring of the same European winter moths (Operophtera brumata), though the species can be confused with the fall cankerworm (Alsophila pometaria). The distinct fringes along the wings and the fact that I caught this moth in December make me think that the photo above is the winter moth, but I can't be sure. You can read more about the moths and the expected extent of invasion here.

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