The winter moth (Operophtera brumata) is an insect in the geometer moth 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. Winter moth caterpillars emerge in early spring from egg masses with recently hatched larvae feeding on expanding leaf buds, often after having burrowed inside the bud, and later on foliage. In addition to feeding on the tree where they hatched, young larvae will also produce silk strands to be wind-blown to other trees. The larvae descend to the ground by mid-May with pupation occurring in the soil in late May. Adult moths then emerge from the soil in mid-late November. This focus stack of 73 photographs shows a winter moth caterpillar on a rose leaf in a garden in Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.Photograph credit: Reinhold Möller
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