Male and Female Gypsy moths.
The continuing story of my Bathroom visitor.
We saw, this afternoon what looked like a Gypsy Moth fly across the patio and into a bush that was against a wooden fence.
In this picture, I assume the female is laying her eggs on the fence-post, and the male is fertilising or protecting the eggs while the female is otherwise engaged ?
Some info I found, .......
"By the end of July, the caterpillars enter into the pupae stage, encasing themselves in brown paper-like shells, often located near the original egg masses. After 9 – 17 days, the moths emerge. The adult male moth, which is brownish in colour, flies around in search of females to fertilize their eggs. The females are white or cream coloured with a few dark spots on their wings. They cannot fly, but simply crawl a few inches from their pupa case and begin laying their eggs.
More INFO from pabia.ca/488/
Male and Female Gypsy moths.
The continuing story of my Bathroom visitor.
We saw, this afternoon what looked like a Gypsy Moth fly across the patio and into a bush that was against a wooden fence.
In this picture, I assume the female is laying her eggs on the fence-post, and the male is fertilising or protecting the eggs while the female is otherwise engaged ?
Some info I found, .......
"By the end of July, the caterpillars enter into the pupae stage, encasing themselves in brown paper-like shells, often located near the original egg masses. After 9 – 17 days, the moths emerge. The adult male moth, which is brownish in colour, flies around in search of females to fertilize their eggs. The females are white or cream coloured with a few dark spots on their wings. They cannot fly, but simply crawl a few inches from their pupa case and begin laying their eggs.
More INFO from pabia.ca/488/