.:: Behind The Scenes ::.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Tiger moths: What is that white moth with black spots?

Bugs like birds are fascinating to observe. These two beauties were attracted to the flowers in front of the Wild Birds Unlimited - East Lansing store this week.

The first is the Giant Leopard Moth or Eyed Tiger Moth (Hypercompe scribonia). Wow what a show stopper! It was sitting on the sidewalk and I snapped a quick picture before I moved it to the violet plant where it will lay eggs hopefully.

The larvae, which look similar to Woolly Bear, feed on a great variety of broad-leaved plants, including banana, cabbage, cherry, dandelion, maple, orange, sunflower, violet, and willow leaves.

The second wasn’t as easy to identify. I think it’s a type of tiger moth. I didn’t know what markings to look for until after it flew away. Perhaps it’s a Pink-legged Tiger Moth or a Virginian Tiger Moth.

BugGuide is a good resource for butterflies or moths.

Indoor cats don't get bored when you have bird-watching windows.

Dolly is an avid bird watcher. She always lets me know when an interesting bird shows up.

I tried to catch her sleeping. But as a stray she learned early to sleep with one eye open.

What makes that buzzing sound at night?

Almost everyone notices the buzzing sound as the sun goes down in the summer. Cicadias' songs trigger memories of long, hot nights and family camping trips. But I didn't know there was so much I didn't know about the bugs.

According to Wikipedia there are 2,500 species of cicada around the world, and each species sings a different song. Michigan has 10 species of cicadias identified.

They stay high up in the trees and are seen rarely. The males produce sound by vibrating abdominal drums called timbals. The noise is among nature's loudest sounds at 100 decibels or more at a distance of one inch.

After mating, females lay eggs in the bark of a tree. The eggs hatch after six to seven weeks and the cicada juveniles or nymphs burrow underground and begin feeding on roots. Their life cycles are long. Depending on the species of cicadia, they can spend 2 to 17 years underground as juveniles and then about 2 to 6 weeks as adults singing and mating.

When the 1-1.5 inch nymphs emerge from the ground, they climb a tree, puff up their exoskeletons until it splits lengthwise down the back and the adult cicadas slowly emerge. You can often find these ghostly shed skins still intact at eye level on tree trunks.