What was it?

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What a delightful morning with 16 species of birds while drinking my tea. Taking the opportunity to observe them, I watched the Red-breasted Nuthatch take its seed from the feeder head down. However, it drinks its water right side up. A chickadee ate ice crystals in addition to drinking the water. Blue Jays were given their space on the ground. But so were the squirrels. The goldfinches held their ground on the feeder. The titmice, chickadees and nuthatches are grab-and-go types at the feeder. Hope your Christmas was just as nice. Happy Holidays!

Bug found on Dec 19th outing. If it had not been on a leaf, I would have been missed it. But what was it? I immediately could see it was not a beetle because it did not have the stiff elytra. Elytra are the two stiff outer wings. The hard elytra protects the inner or rear wings of beetles.

It was cold so I was able to get close. Definitely had not seen one like this before. And well, it had to come home. LOL

The studio shot allowed me to see it hairy abdomen better!

Side view.

Between shots, I put this pill bottle over it so it would not escape. It had warmed up. However, it still was not moving much. However, I did not want to chance it. I have lost critters before. :-).

A quick search led me to its ID. It was a female Linden Looper (Erannis tiliaria). Also called the Winter Moth. The female is wingless! The abdomen tends to have two irregular longitudinal bands, with lateral spotting smaller than on dorsal bands. The female’s body tends to be rather variable in the size and number of the black spots. (BugGuide) Males are fairly plain but do have wings. Hoping this female had not laid her eggs, I put her in a jar. However, she died the next day with no eggs for me. 🙁 Adult moths generally do not live long. Often males moths will die immediately after mating. Whereas females need to lay their eggs first. Maybe she had already done her job. 🤞🏼

The larva of a Linden Moth. (May 2013)

The larvae color can range from yellowish brown, black, or brown. Food includes a number of deciduous trees including ash, elm, oak, poplar, and Prunus. FYI, there are at least 22 Geometridae species with wingless females. In addition to those, some other genera of tussock moths and members of the Psychidae (Bagworms) are also wingless.

Indeed, I hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends and perhaps some nature watching as well!

Not all moths have wings

Jawbone Discovery Suggests Modern Mammals Originated in The Southern Hemisphere

Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know

11 Comments

  1. Very interesting info about the linden looper. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the caterpillar before but the adult is new to me. Great day today!

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  2. I was studying the top and side shots and was thinking it sure reminded me of a moth. The way the head to the body and the type of antennae. But I had no idea that there were moths that did not have wings. So interesting! Thanks Mary. The cats look familiar to me but maybe I had seen your pictures of one.

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