Yes, male and female Gypsy moths. I presume the male came to your moth trap, but what about the female? In Bucks they have been well established in parts of Aylesbury for just over a decade, but in more recent years have turned up at Chorleywood, Beaconsfield, Stoke Common & near Princes Risborough. They are now also established in N. London and Herts and seem to be spreading. It used to be a notifiable pest, but I believe that is no longer the case. It mainland Europe it can be a pest defoliating trees and perhaps that might become the case in the UK as it becomes more common.
The females are really too heavy to fly when they emerge, but once they've mated and laid their eggs they can fly. Your example should have no problem now because that mass of brown stuff behind her should be the egg batch, covered in hairs!
Yes, male and female Gypsy moths. I presume the male came to your moth trap, but what about the female? In Bucks they have been well established in parts of Aylesbury for just over a decade, but in more recent years have turned up at Chorleywood, Beaconsfield, Stoke Common & near Princes Risborough. They are now also established in N. London and Herts and seem to be spreading. It used to be a notifiable pest, but I believe that is no longer the case. It mainland Europe it can be a pest defoliating trees and perhaps that might become the case in the UK as it becomes more common.
ReplyDeleteThe females are really too heavy to fly when they emerge, but once they've mated and laid their eggs they can fly. Your example should have no problem now because that mass of brown stuff behind her should be the egg batch, covered in hairs!
ReplyDeleteFemale just sitting on a beech trunk and male, as you say, came to light.
ReplyDelete