looduskalender.ee

Herald moth

 

 

When the frosts of October paint the leaves of trees and the ground is frosty in mornings herald moths crawl into caves and cellars for shelter for the coming winter. There they look for suitable spots on the ceiling or walls, preferably high up rather than low down, and stay waiting for spring.

 

The greyish-brown butterflies, from whose forewings with the zigzag margins a couple of orange streaks shine, are quite common during most of the summer. Yet they remain part of the secrets of the summer night because they are difficult to discover in the night.  In October when the heralds gather in the wintering places you can go to visit them and study the butterflies at your leisure with a flashlight, without having to catch them in a net or attracting them to the light.

 

Herald moths are not afraid of freezing. Among the butterflies that fly out of a cave in spring in May, there are some whose wings were covered with thick frost in winter.