The winter moth (Operophtera brumata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is an abundant species in Europe and the Near East and a famous study organism for evaluating insect population dynamics. It is one of very few lepidopterans of temperate regions in which adults are active in late autumn and early winter. The adults use endothermy for movement in these cold temperatures. The females of this species are virtually wingless and cannot fly, but the males are fully winged and fly strongly. After the initial frosts of late fall, the females emerge from their pupae, walk to and up trees and emit pheromones in the evening to attract males. After fertilization, they ascend to lay, on average, around 100 eggs each. Typically, the larger the female moth is, the more eggs she lays.
The winter moth is considered an invasive species in North America. Nova Scotia, Canada, experienced the first confirmed infestations in the 1930s. It was later accidentally introduced to Oregon in the 1950s and the Vancouver area of British Columbia around 1970. Defoliation by the moth was first noted in eastern states of the United States in the late 1990s, and is now well established in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine. The winter moth is confirmed present in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. In Massachusetts, the moths have attracted the attention of several media outlets due to the severity of the infestation. Efforts at biological control are underway.
The forewing ground colour of the winged males varies from grey-yellow to beige-brown or occasionally slightly reddish-tinted. The patterns are often band-shaped dark brownish, often indistinct. The fringe is yellowish. The hindwings are pale grey or yellow grey. The antennae are short and finely hairy. The female appears completely wingless, but in fact female winter moths have greatly reduced wings. The flightless female has a brownish-grey body with rudimentary wing stubs that are brown to grey and have dark bands. Body length for both sexes is approximately 1 cm. Larvae are 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) in length after hatching and will grow to 0.75 inches (19 mm) over a six-week period. In North America, the winter moth can be confused with the related native species, the Bruce spanworm (Operophtera bruceata). In fact, the two species hybridize.
It is native to Northern and Central Europe; in the south, its range extends to Northern Italy; in the east to the Caucasus and Asia Minor; in the north to the Baltics. The genetic populations of the winter moth in Europe are a result of recolonization following the last glacial period. As an invasive species, this moth is found in Nova Scotia, coastal New England (Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York) and also the Pacific northwest (mainly Vancouver Island). In New England, expansion inland and north appears to be curtailed by cold winter temperatures, so for example, coastal Maine but not inland. Locally milder winters, as part of global climate change, may be allowing expansion of afflicted territory. A study conducted in Massachusetts documented that winter moth defoliation reduced the annual trunk diameter growth rate of oak trees by an average of 47% while not significantly impacting growth rates of the less defoliated maple trees.
Winter moth larvae (caterpillars) emerge in early spring from egg masses laid near leaf buds after a series of days in which the daytime high temperatures reach around 10 °C (50 °F). Recently hatched larvae feed on expanding leaf buds, often after having burrowed inside the bud, and later on foliage, for approximately six weeks. In addition to feeding on the tree where they hatched, young larvae will also produce silk strands to 'balloon' (be wind-blown) to other trees. By mid-May the larvae, green in color and about an inch long, descend to the ground. Very little mortality due to disease has been noted in winter moth larvae in North America.
Pupation occurs in the soil in late May. Adults emerge from the soil in mid-late November. The female winter moths are flightless but release a sex pheromone to attract males. After mating, the female lays between 150 and 350 tiny eggs in bark crevices, on branches, in lichen, and under bark scales. With such a long pupal period, the winter moth is vulnerable to numerous pupal predators and parasitoids.
Research conducted in the Netherlands indicated that as climate warming is causing spring temperatures to become warmer sooner, some of the winter moth eggs were hatching before tree leaf buds – first food for the caterpillars – had begun to open. Early hatchlings starved. Late hatchlings survived. Because hatch timing is genetically controlled, the moths are evolving to resynchronize with bud opening by delaying the response to the temperature trigger by 5 to 10 days. The larvae, like the adults, can withstand below freezing temperatures at night. Larval dispersal is the dominant source of density-dependent larval mortality and likely regulates high density population dynamics of winter moth in New England. Larvae prefer oak and apple, but also feed on maple, birch, hornbeam, chestnut, hazel, quince, beech, larch, poplar, cherry, pear, rose, raspberry, blueberry, willow, elm, and other leafy trees and shrubs.
