2024 December 18

Jeremy Tatum writes:  I visited Goldstream Park today, to see if I could find some female winter moths and if I could tell the difference between the flightless females of Operophtera brumata and O. occidentalis.

   There were lots of adult males of both species.  Females were more difficult to find – they do not fly to lights, of course.

I found the insect below, and I could see immediately that it was different from female O. brumata, so I was quite excited, thinking that i...

2024 December 17

Val George writes: Today – despite the rather unpleasant conditions – I decided to respond to your exhortations to check out Goldstream Park for Operophtera occidentalis. I’ve been there twice before in the past few weeks and each time found three Operophtera moths that were definitely brumata. Today, there were 22 moths on the walls of the nature house. About three quarters of them were certainly brumata, and some of the others were in places too difficult to identify them. ...