Mottled umber return to scene of crime - Country diary archive, 19 November 1918

19 November 1918 Spotted and spider-like they sprawl on the trunks and branches of the very trees which, as caterpillars, they attacked so fiercelySpotted and spider-like, the long-legged females of the mottled umber sprawl on the trunks and branches of the very trees which, as caterpillars, they attacked so fiercely last spring. Do we not remember how they swung on silken lifelines from branches denuded of leaves, and how those that had fallen swarmed up the boles to reach the few tattered remnants of the spring foliage. They do not look like moths, these wingless females, but the males, flattened against the trunk or sheltering in crannies in the bark, are very beautiful. There are hardly two alike; some are almost orange, others, as their name suggests, umber as the dead bracken below, others again pale brown or grey. Some have their wings crossed by faint waving lines, some by a smart, dark band, for this destructive species is a variable one. Related: Hunting for moths in the night garden Continue reading...