2024 December 28

   Marie O’Shaughnessy writes: I was at Maber Flats with Carla on Christmas Eve December 24th and during our walk we found a Banded Woolly Bear caterpillar crawling along the dirt pathway. I thought it was so surprising to see the larva of the Isabella Tiger Moth in December. Is this sighting unusual?

When I researched this caterpillar I was fascinated to find it is featured in the old Farmer’s Folk Lore Almanac.

It is reputed (!) to be able to forecast the winter weather, based on the width of the orange/rust coloured middle band. The more of this colour the milder the winter weather, and the more black each end of the caterpillar , the harsher the weather.   So it is said, anyway!

Jeremy Tatum writes:  The Banded Woolly Bear (which, as Marie, says, is the caterpillar of the Isabella Tiger Moth) spends the winter as a caterpillar.  We generally see lots of them in October, and then we see them again in March or April as they come out of winter hibernation.  Mild mid-winter may cause them to wake up and wander around.  Whether this is good for them is questionable – it may be better for them to sleep undisturbed throughout the winter.

And yes, the width of the central brown band is indeed reputed to forecast the severity of the winter.  This is, of course, total nonsense – the width of the band has nothing whatever to do with forecasting winter.  But it persists as part of folklore, and it is remarkable that there are still people who believe it to be true.

Banded Woolly Bear Pyrrharctia isabella (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

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 it must be O. occidentalis.  It wasn’t until I got home and saw it on the computer screen that I saw that it wasn’t a moth at all – it was a small beetle.  Scott Gilmore kindly identified it as Plectrura spinicauda.

 Plectrura spinicauda  (Col.: Cerambycidae)   Jeremy Tatum

  I did, however, manage to photograph a genuine female Operophtera, which I think is highly probably O. occidentalis (photograph below), If you compare it with a known female brumata (see Invert Alert for 2023 November 22), you’ll see that the wing-stubs of this moth are much smaller than those of brumata.
Wing-stub size may be a reliable way of distinguishing the two species – though more photographs of the female would help to substantiate this.

Believed to be Operophtera occidentalis  (Lep.: Geometridae)   Jeremy Tatum

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. But what about these two?   [Jeremy Tatum writes:  occidentalis!!!]

Operophtera occidentalis (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

Operophtera occidentalis (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

Next, writes Jeremy Tatum:  Anyone – try and find a wingless female to photograph!

2024 December 16

No Invertebrate Alerts were issued on December 14 and 15.

Jeremy Tatum writes:  Although there have been no submissions yet (3:00 pm) today, December 16, I am issuing this Alert with an appeal for photographers to visit the Nature House at Goldstream Park to look for and photograph Winter Moths (Operophtera sp.) there.  You’d probably need to go there before Christmas – after Christmas may be too late.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to go there myself.

Nearly all Winter Moths that we see in Victoria are the European Winter Moth O. brumata.  However, at Goldstream there is a better than evens chance that you will see and photograph the native Western Winter Moth O. occidentalis.  Photographs of the males are of interest. However, of particular interest would be close-up photos of the wingless females, to see if it is possible to distinguish between the females of the two species.  It probably is possible, but we need to study them.

There is also a small chance of finding the much less common O. danbyi.

2024 December 13

   Jeremy Tatum found this bug in his bedroom this morning.

Halyomorpha halys  (Hem.: Pentatomidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Ian Cooper writes:  Here are several photos from this morning’s photoshoot (December 13, 2024), in *Colquitz River Park and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.   (The slug was photographed on December 11.)

* Garden Slug  Arion hortensis (Pul.: Arionidae)  Ian Cooper

* Camel cricket Pristoceuthophilus celatus (Orth.: Rhaphidophoridae)  Ian Cooper

# Cross Orb-weaver  Araneus diadematus  (Ara.: Araneidae)  Ian Cooper

# Elongate-bodied springtail Tomocerus sp. (Coll.: Tomoceridae)  Ian Cooper

# Chrysalis of Tiger Swallowtail  Pterourus sp. (Lep.: Papilionidae)   Ian Cooper

Jeremy Tatum writes:  I have not yet found a reliable way of distinguishing between the chrysalides of P. rutulus and P. eurymedon.

#Probably a winter gnat  (Dip. – Nematocera:  Trichoceridae)  Ian Cooper