A moth - Barbara Bacci

This morning I found this beautiful moth trapped behind the glass of my window. I could not resist its charm, so I put it in a box and sketched it. Of course, I let it go as soon as I was done. After a little searching, I discovered it's a Lasiocampa quercus, or Oak Eggar. It feeds on a variety of bushes, but not on oaks, and its name derives from the acorn shape of its cocoon. It'a a large moth, with a wingspan of 45-75 mm. This individual is a female, the male being a darker red-brown colour. Males fly during the day, but females only fly at night, so it must have been attracted to the light and then got trapped in the room.


Barbara Bacci, Italy