Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas moth

Last month, little brown moths were coming in my window to die; Seabrooke identified them as Bruce Spanworm moths. They are the last of the year's moths, still flying in November.

For the last few days, one has been hanging around by the front door. Every time I passed by, it was there, but in a different spot; it's still awake, even at the tail end of December. I eventually brought it inside.

Yes, it's the same as the last one.

I was intrigued by the antennae; each segment has two tiny prongs pointing downward.

Side view, showing body rings.
 The moth was very active; he kept wandering around, heading for the exits, as I tried to get a decent photo. (Only male Spanworm moths fly; the females are crawlers.) So why, when I called it quits, did he decide he liked my light box and wasn't going to leave, after all? I wanted to fold up the box and put it away, but the moth ignored my shooing motions. I set the box aside to put away when "Spanny" left.

Two hours later, he's still wandering around under the light.
I'm going to bed. Sorry, Spanny, I'm turning off your sunlamp. Goodnight!

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post! I think you helped me identify a moth that was hanging around our front porch a couple of weeks ago.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've seen ones similar in my house but next time I'll look for more closely :O)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think he was cold maybe? Then he found heaven under your lamp! I don't blame him for not wanting to leave!

    ReplyDelete

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