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March 17, 2021
Ben here with the Wednesday edition of #BenInNature presented by our friends at Carter Bank & Trust!
It's hard to believe, but today marks one year since my very first nature post! I had hoped to commemorate the day with a video that I'm working on, but unfortunately, the weather hasn't been cooperating just yet. In the meantime, we'll celebrate with a cool moth!
This is Eutrapela clemataria, also known as the curve-toothed geometer moth! Interestingly, this species is the single representative of the genus Eutrapela. The geometer moths belong to the family Geometridae, and they get their name from their caterpillars; geometer moth caterpillars are the familiar "inchworms," and "geometer" roughly translates to "measure the Earth."
This particular moth can be found across the eastern half of the U.S., and they generally live in deciduous and mixed forests. Their caterpillars feed on the leaves of a variety of trees, including ash, birch, cherry, elm, fir, maple, willow, and poplar. The last generation of the season overwinter in leaf litter as pupa and emerge in early spring, so this fellow probably just turned into its adult form. A second generation will take wing in mid-summer, although in the southern parts of their range, they can be found year-round.
Moths are generally pretty good at camouflaging themselves, but the curve-toothed geometer is exceptionally good, so much so that I actually thought it was a dead leaf stuck to my porch ceiling when I first saw it!
ABOUT #BenInNature
Social distancing can be difficult, but it presents a great opportunity to become reacquainted with nature. In this series of posts, Administrator of Science Ben Williams ventures outdoors to record a snapshot of the unique sights that can be found in the natural world. New updates are posted Monday - Friday, with previous posts highlighted on the weekends. This series of posts is made possible thanks to the support of VMNH Corporate Partner Carter Bank & Trust (www.cbtcares.com)
NATURE PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS
If you discover something in nature that you would like help identifying, be sure to message us right here on Facebook with a picture (please include location and date of picture) and we'll have our experts help you identify it!
