Backyard Moth Madness!

Frass (brown specs on leaf, above) is the word used to describe the poop of many insects, including moth caterpillars. As caterpillars eat almost constantly while awake, they create a lot of frass which can be used by predators to detect their location. To avoid this, some caterpillars will explosively expel their frass as far away as possible to hide their true location!

https://www.ontarioparks.ca/parksblog/5-moth-facts/#:~:text=With%20over%202,800%20species%20of%20moths%20recorded%20in%20Ontario%20on

As the summer progressed, caterpillars became adults which provided more species for us to find. A few of the very many moths that we saw are shown below:

Chickweed Geometer Moth!

Flame-shouldered Dart

Florida Fern Moth

Frosted Tan Wave

Gem Moth

Guenee's Pearl

Harnessed Tiger Moth

Juniper Geometer Moth

Peppered Moths

A Gathering of Moths!