Oak Processionary, body front view, Netherlands

The day after my first moth trap night in the garden, I found this Oak Processionary seemingly dead on the floor. And I found another species also seemingly dead right next to it.

It immediately had me wondering if anything I did caused it. Was the light too hot? The shock of the hot light and turning it off too big? I don't have an answer to this.

No matter the cause, I figured that if it's dead, it may as well be a subject of my first insect stack, as only recently I've started to experiment with focus stacking, yet I've never actively pursued finding dead insect or incapacitating them.

Picking it up, I saw it was still alive, the legs twitching a bit. I put it in the grass to dry and give it a second chance. Somewhat later I moved it to a less hot place. It was still there without movement hours later, and fully gone the morning after. I assume it didn't make it.

comments (9)

Claire Hamilton

Lion

Sad, but they don't have a great life expectancy, so who knows. Good practice though and good shot! Posted 7 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks! To be clear, this is not a stack, just a normal shot. I looked up some more info and this kind of eases my mind:
  
  "Life cycle. Adult moths emerge from the pupae in mid to late summer. They live for an average of three days, during which time they mate and lay their eggs in healthy oak trees, usually high in the canopy."
  
  Still, on this day 2 I had a series of shocking finds in a short time frame that kind of made me uneasy:
  - This one plus another species next to it, dead(ish)
  - A very gory massacre of a large amount of mayflies, very creepy looking mayflies
  - Discovery of the other main moth pest we face: Buxus moth
  
  It was like a compressed moment of horror that had me thinking "what the hell happened here last night"!?!?! Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Claire Hamilton
    
    Lion
    
    Oh gosh! I wonder what got at the Mayflies? Surely the moth trap would not have caused the deaths or near deaths. All pretty horrid though. Posted 7 years ago
  2. 1. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      I'll share the photos later in the week when I have more time, but for now: I found a pile of them in a dark little ridge between wood panels at the far end of our porch, where I know a lot of smaller spiders sit. I found the mayflies all in cog webs, in various stages before death, many still twitching. For some mysterious reason the entire group was attracted to that specific point of the garden which I cannot explain. It was away from the moth light.
      
      Exploring the rest of the garden I found a few dead individuals in different places, so it wasn't just the spiders. Still can't explain the massive influx, why so many went to the spider area, and why all of them died.
      
      Either way, it shall be some gory photos soon :) Posted 7 years ago
    2. 1. Claire Hamilton
        
        Lion
        
        I shall look forward to that...I think! Kamikaze flies! Posted 7 years ago

Christine Young

Lion

I found some dead moths on my deck this morning too - 2 white tiger moths. At first, I thought they were just resting on the deck, but they were both nearly dead. I didn’t step on them and they looked intact. I have no idea what happened, but wondered if my actions caused their demise. Or, if by attracting lots of moths, flies, spiders with the moth light, something happened to alter the natural course of things for them. They are still on my deck. I left them there and figured something might want to eat them and they are dead now anyway. Posted 7 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks for chipping in. I'm facing the same question. Claire had a good point in that they have a short life span, but I still do wonder if I shortened it some more. I don't recollect normally finding dead moths on the floor, but perhaps a simple explanation is that I'm not looking for it, and then you tend to miss a lot. Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    True. They don't live long. Maybe they were going to die that day anyway, but were just attracted to the light and thus died near it. I go on my deck daily though to water plants and would notice dead moths. I've never seen any lying around. One other interesting change- a sudden influx of spiders. There are now so many spiders setting up webs on my deck, and every night they get a feast. They are going to be the fattest spiders around - true American spiders, lol. Posted 7 years ago
  2. 1. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      That's a good theory too, they were going to die, but now did so in a different place. Also regarding spiders I have a very similar experience, they're not complaining. Will post their grand mayfly buffet later. It's nasty. Posted 7 years ago

The Oak Processionary

The Oak Processionary is a moth whose caterpillars are pests in oak forests and pose a health hazard because of their poisonous setae, which may cause skin irritation and asthma.

Info 18 1

Similar species: Moths And Butterflies

Species identified by Ferdy Christant