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Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada
13 August 2003 11:11PM EST (top)
12 July 2004 9:01PM EST (bottom)
Members of the Geometrinae subfamily of Geometridae are often
called the Emeralds, or emerald moths, because so many of the species are green
in color. Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria is one of eight species of
Emerald recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001), of
which six are illustrated on this web site. Distinguishing between similar
species in this group is often problematic, and in checking my identifications
and revising my web pages for this group of moths, I have relied heavily on the
work of the late Dr. Douglas C. Ferguson (Ferguson, Douglas C., in
Dominick, R.B., et al., 1985, The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fasc.
18.1, Geometroidea: Geometridae (in part)).
With its wings of somewhat pale grayish green, sometimes
appearing slightly bluish, Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria is usually easy
to distinguish from other species. On the forewing, the cream-colored
antemedial and postmedial lines are clearly defined, but somewhat variable as to
how straight they are, as can be seen in the photos above. On the hindwing,
only the postmedial line is present. A pale terminal line is sometimes
evident. The fringe is also pale, sometimes a paler shade of the
blue-green of the wing. The surface texture of the wing often appears
somewhat alligatored. Ferguson (1985) comments also that there are no
distinctive abdominal markings, but most of the specimens I have photographed
show a cream stripe beginning on the thorax and extending along the abdomen;
this stripe is quite different, however, from the white stripe on the abdomen of
Synchlora aerata albolineata (Hodges 7058a), which is present only on the
abdomen. Ferguson indicates a wing length ranging from 8 to 11 mm in
males, and from 9.0 to 11.5 mm in females.
The larva of Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria, sometimes
called the Blackberry Looper, feeds on a wide range of plants, not only
blackberry and raspberry species, but also goldenrod, achillea, various species of Compositae, etc. (Covell, 1984; Ferguson, 1985; Handfield,
1999). According to Handfield (1999), this species has two generations per
year in my general area, with adult flight seasons from about mid-May to early
July, and from before mid-July to the beginning of September.
My records to date for Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria (each date
representing "the night of") are in the table below: |
