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This is a very attractive small moth is attracted to the lights on our porch on summer evenings. The yellow colour is easily mistaken on a branch for a yellowed and wilted leaf. It has a variety of english names, including the Pink-bordered Yellow and the Two-pronged Looper. The latter is from the two spikes on the caterpillar, which adds to its effectiveness as a accomplished twig mimic. Click here for an excellent image of the caterpillar. Sicya macularia caterpillars feed on a variety of deciduous shrubs including alder, blueberry, buckthorn, currant, false azalea, poplar, shrubby cinquefoil, spiraea, and willow. 
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 Alaska Onion Grass (Melica subulata) is one of the few native species of grass we have at Leaning Oaks. Commonest under the shade of some of our Douglas-fir it is an indicator of a rare plant community on southern Vancouver Island. Onion grasses are so named for the bulb like corm found at the base of the stem. The corm of this species is said to be edible, with a nutty flavour, although I haven't tried it myself. This is a perennial grass that spreads by rhizomes. There are two other species of Melica on southern Vancouver Island, but neither of those species produce the onion-like corms.  This micromoth is a variable, colourful moth with long antenna and a distinctive shape. Carcina quercana is native to Europe with a small range in western North America where it is introduced. It was first found in Victoria in 1920 and there are records from Victoria to Port Alberni, the lower mainland and the Seattle area in Washington State. Most references suggest it is a specialist on oaks, and indeed one of the other names for it is the Oak Skeletonizer Moth. In fact however, it appears to use a wide variety of host plants for its caterpillars, including beeches, blackberries, apples, chestnuts and recently in Victoria, it has been found feeding on Snowberry.
The larvae are small green caterpillars found on the underside of leaves, usually protected by white webbing. Another common name is Long-horned Flat-Body and the "flat body" is a characteristic of the family, the Depressariidae (which means flat). It can be tan, pinkish, orange or brown, usually with a small yellow line at the wing tip and a larger yellow spot on the wing and very long antenna, sometimes longer than the body of the moth. |
AuthorsTwo biologists on a beautiful property armed with cameras, smart phones and a marginal knowledge of websites took up the challenge of documenting one species a day on that property. Join along! Posts and photographs by Leah Ramsay and David Fraser (unless otherwise stated); started January 1, 2014. Categories
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