Reader Jacques Hausser from Switzerland sent a batch of lepidopteran photos, and this is the last installment. The notes are his:
Ochlodes sylvanus, the Large Skipper (Hesperiidae). It is typical of Hesperidae to keep their anterior wings up (more or less) while the rear wings remain horizontal. This individual is a male, recognizable by the black patches of androconia (special scales diffusing pheromones) on the anterior wings. Larvae feed on various grasses.
Lycaena phlaeas, the American Copper or Common Copper (Lycaenidae). It is actually a fully holarctic species. The caterpillar feeds on various Sorrel (Rumex) species.
A caterpillar, for a change: Malacosoma alpicola (Lasiocampidae), the Snout Moth. I didn’t notice the tiny springtail (Collembola, Sminthuridae) when I toke the picture. It looks like somebody having narrowly escaped a big road-train like they have in Australia.
Nemophora degeerella, the Longhorn Moth: a small diurnal moth of the family Adelidae, rather nicely colored and gleaming with bronze metallic reflections. Loose swarms of males dance in the sun around the bushes to intercept females, a dance frequently interrupted by a short rest, sitting on the leaves…
… and I understand the need for rest: flying while carrying these insanely long antennae must be exhausting !
Yea, bugs!
The snout moth larva is a dead ringer for the Eastern tent caterpillar here in the U.S. that I showed a while back. Of course they are in the same genus.
I had been watching skippers for a while, and on one occasion I observed one perching with their wings in a conventional butterfly position. But then another skipper landed nearby and the first moved its wings to the posture that you describe. So I wonder if it is some sort of secret skipper-to-skipper communication thing.
Very nice pictures!!
‘Longhorn’ indeed, I wonder why they evolved such long antennae. Thanks for the new term for me ‘holarctic’. That is some range! It also infers that sorrel species are also holarctic, no?
Yes, those are pretty strange. If the females antennae are shorter then we can expect it has something to do with male mating success.
Agreed…akin to the peacock’s tail.
The better to smell you with, my dear!
Antennae are for smelling, so I guess it’s the male’s job to sniff out the female, before his competitors do?
Snakes’ and varanid lizards’ forked tongues have been shown to make the sense of ‘smell’ directional (technically called vomerolfaction, where chemical traces on surfaces and in the air are detected after the tongue transfers them to the paired vomeronasal or Jacobson’s organ in the roof of the mouth). Insects presumably work the same way (geometrically speaking), and the longer the antennae the weaker the gradient that can be detected (for given sensitivity).
Way cool, thanks for the background info.