2025 October 10
Marie O’Shaughnessy writes: There was an interesting moth on the ceiling overhang of my carport at lunch time on October 9.
Jeremy Tatum writes: It is indeed an interesting moth in that it is difficult to identify. It is either a Barberry Geometer Rheumaptera meadii or an American Tissue Moth Triphosa haesitata. The former species is quite variable, and there is a variation that looks very like a Tissue Moth. This is one of them, and we are not 100 percent certain which species it is. However, Libby Avis is “reasonably sure” (which is not quite the same as 100 percent certain) that it is R. meadii. Note that the fourth tooth on the outer margin of the hindwing is markedly smaller than the adjacent teeth; this is characteristic of meadii.
In case anyone is asking the question: “If two moths are so similar that no one can tell the difference, why are they not one and the same species?” A good question – but, writes Jeremy Tatum, the caterpillars of these two species are totally and utterly different, and obviously quite different animals.
Probably Rheumaptera meadii (Lep.: Geometridae)
Marie O.Shaughnessy
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