Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada 10 May
2003 (specimen captured 10 April 2003) (top left)
4 May 2003 10:25PM EST (top right)
10 May 2003 (specimen captured 10 April 2003) (bottom) The
photographs at top left and bottom are of the same specimen, which was first
photographed on 10 April 2003, captured, and refrigerated in the expectation
of taking more photographs the next day. Through a series of very busy
weeks, the vial was forgotten in the refrigerator. When I caught up
with it again a month later, I was amazed to discover that the moth was
still alive. When the additional photographs were done, the moth flew
off as if it had never experienced the ordeal of incarceration.
Presumably, as a species that hibernates as an adult, Lithophane bethunei
is a hardy beast! Lithophane bethunei is one of over 20 species
of Lithophane that have been recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D.
Lafontaine, pers.comm., 2001). Lithophane bethunei has an
overall pale creamy straw-colored appearance, with shades of tan and pale
yellow. The antemedial and postmedial lines are generally indistinct,
marked only by a few black dots on the veins; the top left photo, however,
does show a hint of a pale pm line, especially on the left wing. The
most obvious line is the subterminal line, which is yellowish in color, with
some darker shading beyond it. Orbicular and reniform spots are pale
and somewhat yellowish. In the median area, a darker tan shade
surrounds the reniform spot, giving the impression of a U-shape with its
ends terminating at the costa (top right photo). Covell (1983)
describes the hindwing as cream with some gray shading. The larvae of
this Lithophane bethunei feed on a wide variety of trees; Handfield
(1999) notes birch and elm in particular. According to Handfield, this
species overwinters as an adult, with flight seasons in my general area from
mid-April to early June, and from early August to late October. I
have photographed this species in 2002 on 6 May; in 2003, on 10(10May) and
18 April, and on 4 May. |
