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I managed to get another photo of the ermine moth known as the Ailanthus webworm.
As a general rule, moths are nocturnal and drab. The males and females find each other in the dark of the night by scent or that certain je ne sais quoi. When it's right, it's right, you just know it.
But this ermine is anything but drab. It's actually rather flashy. Something I didn't notice before: the white markings on the legs. This is one fancy lepidopteran, and it's only about three-quarters of an inch long! The closer you look at nature, the closer you want to look. It's infinitely more fascinating than anything you can find on the Internet, so turn your computer off and go outside.
Capisci?
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High on my "to-do" list was getting a photo of an ermine moth—specifically the Ailanthus webworm—because the boldly patterned, black, white and orange insects remind me of one of my favorite artists, French painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet. Although I do not remember the color orange as being part of Dubuffet's pallette.
As the names suggests, the moths are generally found on their host plant ailanthus, an introduced tree also known as "Tree of Heaven." The webworm moths are native to the tropics and south Florida but have expanded their range north as the alien trees became widespread.
Nature is in a constant state of flux. Give and take. Yin and Yang.
Although linked to the ailanthus, this week I located several of the short (slightly less than an inch in length) moths on common milkweed at Ijams Nature Center.
Outdoor sculpture
Monument with
Standing Beast
by Jean Dubuffet
located in Chicago.
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