The Urban Pantheist

We've been experiencing a biblical plague of these bastards lately. This is the larva of the winter moth Operophtera brumata*, a Eurasian pest introduced to the east and west coasts of North America. They have a strong appetite for a wide variety of trees and shrubs, defoliating saplings and causing deforestation. Songbirds have a hard time keeping up--while I've seen many robins, starlings, sparrows, and other birds with their bills stuffed with caterpillars--there are still hundreds all over the sidewalks and pathways in the woody parts of the city and suburbs.


* The etymology of this one is a mess, with transcription errors and pseudonyms all over the place. I think the name is supposed to suggest "working wings" (which would be Operoptera) in reference to the fact that males can fly while females can't (that makes sense in the sexist context of 19th century naturalism). Brumata means "of the winter," because these are some of the only moths that fly in the winter in northern places.

Sunday was sunny and warm! We stayed in the yard most of the day, doing yardwork (Alexis) and loafing about (me).

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Weather is especially unpredictable if you are an ant. Sometimes it's brightly sunny, but it's raining very heavily anyway!


Sometimes it also rains winter moth caterpillars, and these are delicious presents for the queen and the brood.

A male winter moth on a glass door.

From the Wildlife Information line at Mass Audubon:
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Urban species #085: Winter moth Operophtera brumata

Winter moth, an invasive insect from Europe, has been known as a pest of dozens of different tree species, for many years, on both coasts of Canada. In recent years it has troubled New England. The first known appearance of the moth in "outbreak proportions" in the area, was in 2003, in and around Boston. Forestry experts and entomologists are nervous that this plain brown moth will devastate fruit trees and maples.

Of course, it's the larva of the moth that causes the damage. The young winter moth is a small green inchworm with a voracious appetite for the new buds of trees. Other plants such as roses and blueberries can be victimized as well. Large infestations of the caterpillars can so weaken the trees that they do not survive.

Winter moth is interesting for a few other reasons. As its name spells out, the adult moth is active in winter, when there are very few other insects to be seen. Any winter moths seen flying about, are males. The females have reduced, non-functioning wings. They crawl to a place to mate and lay eggs--the males are attracted to their pheremones. Swarms of flying male winter moths can indicate the either the presence of females, or a light source that confuses their lunar-oriented navigation.
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