Species #4: Hydriomena irata
Geometer Moth
Hydriomena irata
My daughter Rowan spotted this moth on the side of an alder tree. Originally it stood out a little bit as it had chosen a section of trunk covered in green bryophytes. It ended up flying down to a darker patch of bark, where I took this picture of it. According to a Canadian Government Forestry Related site, this species would utilize Western Hemlock and Sitka Spruce in its larval stage.
I will definitely be soliciting help with most invertebrates I might happen to find. In this case, in the one book I have of Pacific Northwest insects, the closest match I find is the moth with the genus I’ve tentatively given. This is probably incorrect, and I will be uploading a photo to bugguide.net in hopes that someone who is a fan of moths will be able to offer some help. At such time as I get a better identification, I will update this entry.
Thanks to Bob Patterson via bugguide.net for the help with identification of this moth.