7.018 Orgyia recens (Scarce Vapourer)
fw: m13-17mm (Waring & Townsend) f-flightless; Jun-Jul, partially bivoltine Aug-Oct; mainly hawthorns (Crataegus spp), oaks (Quercus spp) and sallows (Salix spp); RDB in lowland heath, wet woodland, fens and bogs in S.Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Norfolk
Orgyia recens (Scarce Vapourer) §2 male and female in copulo (image provided by Ben Lewis)
ID: Male distinguished from O.antiqua (Vapourer) by the presence of subterminal white spots near the forewing apex and the large brown basal and central spots narrowly outlined in white.
In summer 2020 a volunteer at Sutton Fen found a Scarce Vapourer larva. This was retrieved and Mick A'Court and reared on Salix sp. leaves. It was allowed to pupate and emerged as an adult female in spring 2021. Despite regular and close observation no males were seen to copulate with it but it soon produced eggs, so mating is assumed to have occurred. The eggs hatched and the larvae were again reared and pupated. These were kept in a tent with a fine mesh. In June 2022 several adults emerged. My visit to Sutton Fen on the 13th coincided with the emergence of the first female. This remained inside protective webbing that had been spun by the larva. A male soon appeared on the outside of the tenting having been attracted by pheromones produced by the female. Mick allowed the male and female to mate and when I arrived in the evening they were in copulo - the male inconveniently largely concealed behind the female. They remained in copulo overnight and were still in exactly the same position by the time I left the next morning. 2 days later a further female emerged and this time it was mated by a more co-operative male.
Orgyia recens (Scarce Vapourer) §1; male and female in copulo
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Orgyia recens (Scarce Vapourer) §1 female; detail of anterior end - the left fore, mid and hindlegs and compund eye are just about discernable
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§1 Sutton Fen, Norfolk; 13/06/2022; male and female
§2 Sutton Fen, Norfolk; 15/06/2022; male and female
All images © Chris Lewis
§2 Sutton Fen, Norfolk; 15/06/2022; male and female
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 01/07/2022 (§1&2)
