One of the things I’ve been noticing on my outdoor walks lately is how many different kinds of butterflies and moths there seem to be all of a sudden. Many of the moths are small, brown and easy to overlook. And many of the butterflies are much too quick for me to get a good look at, as they flutter off in search of the next flower patch. But I’ve run into a couple large, lovely, and most importantly – relatively still, geometer moths. 

Geometer moths make up a large family, with more than 1,400 species in North America alone. Adult tend to have slender bodies and broad wings which are usually held flat and extended in a way that the hind wings are also visible. This posture causes them to appear somewhat butterfly-like. But like moths, they tend to fly at night and have feathered antennae. Their family name Geometridae is derived from the Greek words “geo” meaning earth, and “metron” meaning measure, alluding to the way their larvae (i.e., inchworms) appear to measure the earth as the plod along inch by inch. 

Pale beauty (Campaea perlata) is a common moth found in coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests across Canada and much of the U.S., south to central California and North Carolina. In our region, adults are active from about May through August. Their wings are a pale green to grayish-white color, with straight darker green lines accented in white. Pale beauty moth larvae are known to feed on the leaves of 65 species of coniferous and deciduous trees and shrubs, including alder, beech, birch, maple, oak, pine, spruce and willow. I found this individual in the wildflower flower meadow in my yard.

White slant-line (Tetracis cachexiata) adults are active from May through July and range from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and south to northern Florida. Adults are white with a straight tannish line on the forewings. Like the pale beauty, the larvae of white slant-line moths are generalist feeders, known to feed on the leaves of numerous species, including birch, alder, cherry, maple, willow, pine and hemlock. The white slant-line pictured here was perched on a pink lady slipper in the Bourne Town Forest.