Prochoerodes lineola

- No description given -

comments (8)

Christine Young

Lion

Nice variation! Posted 4 years ago
1. Gary B
  
  Lion
  
  This pattern seems frequent here based on the photos I've been able to get over the last few years. Posted 4 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    I mostly see darker ones with out the zigzags. This one is really striking though! Posted 4 years ago
  2. 1. Gary B
      
      Lion
      
      It is really strongly marked. I wonder if there is some regional varaition where this zig-zag form is more frequent than the solid form. Posted 4 years ago
    2. 1. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        I just randomly clicked a few photos of the strongly marked individuals on iNat and several were from your general area. Maybe location is a factor! Posted 4 years ago
      2. Gary B
        
        Lion
        
        That sounds entirely possible. I saw five more of this species over the last couple of nights and all had these markings. I'm not sure if I've ever seen them without the markings.
        
        At BAMONA for MN 3 out 17 were not marked, for WI 12 out of 43 (though some had only faint markings), and MI 4 out 17. I also checked Ontario along the MN border and one was strongly marked and one faintly marked. There could be some reasons why this is so. First, it is a regional variation. Or, second, people are drawn to the moths with these markings and so take more photos of them. But for the second option I'd need to look at all the photos state by state at BAMONA (something like 855) to be sure. Posted 4 years ago
        
        Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        It's difficult to be scientific about this when the people sharing the photos may have been biased towards the patterned moths, as you mentioned!
        
        Almost all the individuals of this species that I see look similar to this one:
        
        Occasionally like this:
        
        Posted 4 years ago
        
        Gary B
        
        Lion
        
        I'm not sure if I've seen any moths like your top example.
        
        If there is photographic bias towards patterns then maybe it could be resolved by an examination of museum specimens collected over decades. On the other hand, I don't think I've seen any moths here that look like your top example but I'll go through my old photos again. Fortunately, I'll only need to go through the month of July and early August. Posted 4 years ago

The Large maple spanworm

''Prochoerodes lineola'', the large maple spanworm, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found from Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Texas and north to Alberta.

Info 11 0

Similar species: Moths And Butterflies

Species identified by Gary B