TENT CATERPILLAR MOTHS & AMERICAN LAPPET
Forest Tent Caterpillar moth. This species is similar to its cousin above, but Forest Tent Caterpillar moths have dark lines against a lighter-colored background. (Eastern Tent Caterpillars are the reverse.) This individual was photographed in Michigan.
American Lappet on a stick: photographed April 2016 in the Hocking Hills area (eastern Ohio). They do a good job imitating dead, curled-up leaves.
Eastern Tent Caterpillar moth. The larvae of this species live in communal webs. The adult moths usually fly in June. In some years, they can be quite common, but in other years they are nearly absent.
American Lappet moth crawling on a leaf. (This is not its normal resting pose; these moths usually rest with their wings folded as in the photo above.)
American Lappet moth, resting on my fingertip. These are neat-looking moths, closely related to the tent caterpillars (above).
Another Forest Tent Caterpillar moth, with a different pattern. Sometimes the entire middle band is dark. This moth was photographed at my home lights in Ohio. I have found a few individuals in June and early July.
I have found a couple of American Lappets at my home moth lights in April and early May, and also at Hocking Hills.
