Interpretive help?

JH jhimmel at connix.com
Mon Jul 16 09:16:33 EDT 2001


I think the Eight-spotted Forester is not so much a "butterfly-imitating" moth than it is a wasp mimic, although there are other day-flying moths that look more convincingly like a stinging hymenoptera.  Being a defensless, non stinging, non biting nectar sipper out in the light of day, it would behoove such a creature to look like something more dangerous to a potential predator.  I would think that looking like a butterfly would be just asking for trouble.  

I wonder if the red legs and yellow "flanks" are meant to resemble the pollen that often collects in the legs of hymenoptera?  Or if it's a warning of unpalatability?

These moths are in the noctuidae family (Owlet), but if you look at the antennae, they resemble those of a skipper - getting thicker towards the end.  Pretty special creatures -  wish I had them in my yard!  (I do get two of their cousins, the Beautiful and Pearly Wood-nymphs(Eudryas grata and unio), at my lights, and the occasional Grapevine Epimenis(Psychomorpha epimenis) at Chatfield Hollow "around the corner")

John  
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John Himmelman
Killingworth, CT USA
jhimmel at connix.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: MariaAA at aol.com <MariaAA at aol.com>
To: ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu <ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Date: Sunday, July 15, 2001 11:34 PM
Subject: Interpretive help?


>Today in my parents' backyard in Wilbraham, MA I saw the most exquisite 
>diurnal, butterfly-mimicking moth--an Eight-Spotted Forester (Alypia 
>octomaculata), according to my Peterson's.  It was nectaring, I believe, on 
>some white-flowered ornamental, with wings up (like a butterfly), and had 
>these crazy bright-red tufts on the fore and middle legs.  Its flight 
>reminded me of tropical heliconia-type butterflies.  Does anyone have any 
>other info on this creature's seemingling interesting morphological, 
>behavioral and ecological adaptations?
>
>Thanks,
>Maria Aliberti
>
>
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