Bruce Spanworm Moths Emerging
If you’ve walked in northern New England woods recently, chances are great that you’ve noticed light tan moths with a one-inch wing span flitting about — with temperatures in the 20’s, this seems slightly incongruous. However, there are some insects that are active in cool weather, among them the Bruce Spanworm Moth (Operophtera bruceata), also called Winter Moth and Hunter Moth (these moths are active during deer hunting season, which approaches winter). The adults of this species are active from October to December.
Bruce Spanworm Moths belong to the Geometer family, the second largest family of moths in North America. All the flying moths you see are males seeking wingless, and therefore flightless, females to mate with. The females crawl up the trunk or branch of a tree and send out pheromones to attract winged males. After mating, the female lays her eggs which hatch in the spring. Larvae pupate in the summer and adult moths emerge in the fall.
Many Geometers are considered agricultural and forest pests. Bruce Spanworm larvae periodically defoliate hardwood trees, preferring the buds and leaves of Sugar Maple, American Beech and Trembling Aspen trees. In 1958 in Alberta, Canada, at the peak of a 10-year infestation, over 50,000 acres were moderately or heavily affected by Bruce Spanworm larvae.
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