Hemlock Loopers

I was carrying my compost bucket to my outdoor pile when a white fungus-sy looking pattern on a brown oak leaf drew my attention. It seemed as if two leaves were stuck together, so I picked them up to take a pic in the sun, and when I leaned down to take a photo of the pattern, I saw this:

... the hemlock looper moth (Lambdina fiscellaria), perfectly camouflaged against the fungus and veins of the oak leaf! Isn't it magnificent?

This moth, in the family Geometridae, is native to North America - they lay their eggs in the leaf litter. This species can be responsible for widespread defoliation of hemlock, spruce and fir stands when the insects have a bumper year, sometimes decimating a forest population to the point that the trees die off. In fact, while looking up info about the stands of spruce boughs covered with beard fungus at Harriman Point recently, the hemlock looper was thought to have been involved. 

As for the white fungus on the oak leaf, it can be from having had heavy rains in the fall, when leaves stay wet longer, and stick together.

I like that the fungus highlights the details of the leaf cells and structure. So much to discover, see and learn in my own backyard! It looks fantastic with light behind it. And, yes, my fingernails are full of mud from a kayak 'incident.'