|
As a young boy this was on of the first moths I ever reared in captivity from larvae collected in the wild, The eggs are laid in neat batches under the leaves of many different species of trees, and from the time they hatch the stay together in a large cluster.The larvae can be found in the wild by the bare branches that they have striped of leaves, as they are very gregarious, and by there empty skins left hanging on silk with the V shaped yellow mark on the empty shells of there large head. The larvae should not be disturbed too much all they will all drop to the ground.The full grown larvae are quite large for the size of the moth, only when they are nearly fully grown do they disperse, before pupation into the ground. The moth can wrap its attractive wings around its body; with its excellent camouflage it resembles a birch twig or lichen. The moth has no proboscis so it does not feed, I have seen this moth resting on brick walls, and tree trunks, I can never resist photographing this interesting moth found in the wild, especially the larvae.
|
