moths – Page 13

Late fall moths

Bicolored Sallow, the most abundant species at my lights right now

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, last night was quite warm, for the time of year; the overnight low hovered around 10 C (50 F). After a couple of weeks of near- or below-freezing temperatures, I was delighted to have the opportunity to put out my moth trap and catch some moths. When I went to bed I saw a few moths circling around the light, but mostly what I saw were Giant Water Bugs. I was excited to open up the trap this morning and see what had flown in while I was sleeping.

Morrison's Sallow, the species that got the honour of first moth of the year last spring

There were seven or eight water bugs in the trap, which I had to carefully release without triggering a phobic freak-out (I can’t help it, there’s just something about them). Once they were out of the way, I could examine the rest of my catch. There ended up being about 14 species of macromoth (those that are on the second half of taxonomically-ordered species lists, generally larger species) and several micromoths (those in the first half of the list, mostly small).

Ipsilon Dart, missing the corner of its left wing

I would classify my skill level with moths as intermediate-newbie – that is, I could probably identify a third to half of the moths coming to my lights over the course of a year, and have a reasonable sense of taxonomic groups, but I’ve still got looooots left to learn. And that’s just for the macromoths. The micros, I haven’t even really touched them yet. I’ve already got my hands full. So the micros from last night, for the most part, went unidentified.

Grotes Pinion — Grote's Pinion, one of a couple of gray pinions that all look kinda similar

Autumn isn’t the most colourful season, as far as moths go. There are lots of browns and tans and grays, colours that blend in with the muted leaves and bark that dominate at this time of year. Still, most of the moths that are on the wing in the cooler months are subtly beautiful in their own way, with intricate patterning and soft hues.

Bethune's Pinion, vibrating its wings to warm up the muscles before it flies off (I'd chilled it in the fridge to keep it still for the photo)

The majority of the species I caught last night are probably ones that will overwinter as adults, tucked into a nook somewhere. A few may have laid eggs that will hatch out come spring, while the adults die with prolonged cold weather. In general, the pinions, sallows, and some of the darts are the fall/spring groups, with members from these three groups comprising the majority of a catch. Eight of my macromoths last night belonged to one of these three groups.

So many familiar faces: every one of the moths above were at my lights in the spring, too. They’ll head off for a long winter’s snooze, but I’ll see them again in five or six months. It’s kind of nice to have two opportunities a year to learn these species; others may only fly for a short span, some as few as two or three weeks in the middle of summer, and it can be hard to learn and remember some of these from one year to the next.

Waxed Sallow, nearly identical to sister species Silky Sallow

New faces, too. This guy, and the next, below, and the one after that, they were all new to me last night. I find this an exciting aspect of mothing that one doesn’t really get with many other groups of organisms. Once I’ve learned the birds of my yard, the 150 species or so that I might expect to encounter in the area, that’s pretty much it; every bird you see is most likely going to be one of those 150. But moths, there’s so much less predictability in moths. Even my friend and co-author Dave, a long-time moth’er, still gets species he’s never seen before, or maybe seen once or twice, turning up at locations that he’s been mothing for years and years.

9878 - Lithomoia germana - American Brindle — American Brindle, a pinion that poses like and so could be confused with a prominent in the genus Schizura

For me, part of the reason I’m getting so many new species is just that I’m still so new to the hobby, relatively speaking. It may be possible to learn your birds in a year or two, if you apply yourself, but moths will take years. Part of it is that Dan and I have been moving around a bit the last couple years, and each new location, with new habitat, provides new species. However, a large part of it is that there are more than 2000 species of moths in Ontario, many of them rare and/or local in occurrence. To see all of Ontario’s species will require time and patience, and perhaps a good bit of traveling to different regions and habitats.

Dashed Gray Pinion, another new species for me

You’ll notice that most of the moths presented here have a green ruler alongside them. The marks on the ruler are millimeters, and give you a sense of scale. I didn’t used to include a ruler in my moth photos, but have been trying to make a point of doing so lately. The measurements will be used in the new field guide, and taking a photo is easier than writing it all down in a notepad, since I’m taking the photo anyway. Also, it allows Dave to confirm my ID, or to identify something for me if I don’t know it. I still defer to him in that department – I can’t wait till there’s a better guide out for identifying moths! All the parts of the book that actually require being able to identify the moths I’ve left to him to tackle; it seemed best.

Green Cloverworm, a variable species that's fairly abundant in fall and often seen flying during the day

The trap will get packed up and head back down to the basement again, now. If I’m lucky we might get another good night of moderately warm temperatures, but anything more this year I will consider a bonus; I’m expecting the season to be pretty much finished at this point. It’s so sad to put things to bed for the winter, but at the same time, it makes their return in the spring that much sweeter. I’ll be much more excited to discover a Morrison’s Sallow circling my porch light in March than I was yesterday.

Sensitive Fern Borer, looking a little worn and having some technical difficulties with its wings (though it arrived at the light so apparently flies fine)

And since I’ve now run out of things to say (I’m impressed I managed even 10 paragraphs of rambling), here are the rest of the moths from last night, sans ramble.

Autumnal Moth, which, appropriate to its name, flies in Sept/Oct; ours all seem to be quite pale individuals

Snowy-shouldered Acleris, one of the minority of micro species showy and/or common enough to have a common name

Caloptilia serotinella; no common name. This guy is less than a half inch long.

acleris sp — Maybe Speckled Acleris, Acleris negundana; there is some amazing variation between individuals of the same species in the Acleris genus, so it can sometimes be hard to make a confident ID

The Moth and Me #7

The Moth and Me #7 is now up at Reflections on the Catawba. Lori runs a Tuesday Night Moth Club in western North Carolina as a regular event for the nature park where she works. She’s relatively new both to moths and to blog carnivals, so let’s all pop over and make her feel welcome! While you’re there, check out some of the links she’s posted on how to get started in mothing, see some of her latest catch, and check out all the other goodies submitted to her or that she’s collected from around the web.

The November edition, #8, will be hosted by Susannah over at Wanderin’ Weeta. Even though here in the northern hemisphere our snow-less season is drawing to a close, there’s still some last few moths to be caught on the warmest nights. Folks further south of the border might yet find things on the wing for a couple of months. Blog about what you find and send your links to Susannah (wanderinweeta AT gmail D0T com) or myself (sanderling AT symbiotic D0T ca) by November 13.

The Moth and Me will be on hiatus for the northern hemisphere winter, December through February. We’re looking for hosts for March 2010 and beyond next year. If you think you might be interested, drop me a note with the month you’d like and I’ll pencil you in.

Tuesday Miscellany

It’s been a busy week! I’ve been trying to pull together the October issue of the Ontario Field Ornithologists’ newsletter, and have been working on a fair bit of moth-related stuff for the book. This has not only kept me from posting much this week, but also kept me from getting outside very much, so I don’t have many photos for the miscellany post this week. I have a few backlogged subjects I hope to get to soon, but in the meantime, here are the handful of “leftover” photos I had.

With the cooler weather settling in as we pass the fall equinox, we’re starting to see mist rising over the fields in the morning, and settling in at night. This photo was taken on one such cool evening, as the sun was setting and the dew was falling. It’s a phenomenon I really only see in meadows and over water; I don’t know whether that’s just because large open areas are better for making it visible, or if the mist is caused by it being a large open area. The little “island” in the mist here is a small hummock that was built by the previous owners many years ago. I don’t know what’s underneath the grass or why they built it.

After a couple of months of distraction before, during, and following our move, I’ve finally got back into mothing regularly – naturally, now that the weather is turning cool. This week will be too cold to bother, but last week had a few decent nights. The large flashy moths at this time of year are the underwings, members of the genus Catocala. Most species in this genus have rather drab, wood-grained forewings, and brightly coloured hindwings that give the group their name. The hindwings are usually pink or orange, but sometimes a yellowy colour, or solid black. Many can be tricky to tell apart from each other. This one is a Pink Underwing, one of a few species with pink underwings. Because they’re so large and flashy compared to many moths out at this time of year they’re one of the groups that has been relatively well-documented, along with silk moths and sphinx moths.

Although most of the bugs I get to my trap are moths, I do get some other critters. Wasps, beetles, midges, true bugs and daddy-long-legs are regulars. What I don’t see very often – or at all, really – are dragonflies. I nearly stepped on this Green Darner the other morning. Dragonflies are day-fliers, so it would be unusual for one to be out at night to be attracted to the light. I can only think either that this one was roosting in the garden near the light, or it rose before I did in the morning and came to the light before I came out to turn it off (I’m not up at the crack of dawn, so this is in theory possible, though I don’t know if dragonflies would actually do this). This is a female or immature Green Darner, as told by the colour of the abdomen – adult males have blue “tails”, while those of females and immatures are red.

I found this near the trap one morning, too, though I think it was just coincidental that it was nearby. It’s a katydid, perhaps an Oblong-winged Katydid (Amblycorypha oblongifolia) or a related species. The name comes from members of the genus Pterophylla, the True Katydids, whose call sounds a little like “katy-did, katy-didn’t”; katydids of other genera don’t sound like that. The Amblycorypha includes 14 species in North America. Most are the typical green, but occasionally one will turn up that’s a rather startling bubble-gum pink, like this one photographed by Tom of Ohio Nature. Female katydids have long, thick, curved appendages protruding from the rear of their abdomen (their ovipositors), while males do not; I think this individual is a male.

I saw this scene along a sideroad near my parents’ new home. It seems to be a common land-clearing practice out in eastern Ontario, but was something I hadn’t encountered in the Greater Toronto Area when I lived there. I don’t know if this was because of the higher population density in the GTA, or just that land wasn’t used for agriculture as heavily as it is in the east. To clear the land for crops farmers will bulldoze the trees and stack all of the leftover brush in huge mounds that they then burn (for scale, that’s corn growing behind the mounds). On the weekend, on the way back from the pink ribbon ride, I passed a couple such controlled burns. I suspect that the large trunks are sold, either for firewood or lumber, and it’s the remaining brush that’s burned, but it seems like a bit of a waste to me. Couldn’t they sell it to someone for mulch or woodchips? Is it really necessary to burn it and release all that carbon into the air?

Also on the drive home on the weekend I spotted this version of the “Slow, children playing” sign one often sees around family neighbourhoods. I wonder what exactly they mean by that?

One of the stops on the Peru tour will be a viewing of the local clay lick. This photo of Red-and-green Macaws was taken at the clay lick at Manu. Clay licks are exposed earthen banks that are rich in minerals. Generally speaking, such clay licks are only visited by parrots. It is presumed that the minerals in the clay neutralize any toxins contained in the fruit and seeds that the birds consume. Macaws of various species seem to be the most common visitors to clay licks, but certainly not the only ones. Different species of amazon parrots, parakeets and parrotlets all partake of the rich earth as well. Some clay licks can attract hundreds or even thousands of parrots from the surrounding rainforest. Just imagine the spectacle! If you’re having trouble imagining, check out this video of the Tambopata clay lick also in Peru:

I’m going to Peru with Kolibri Expeditions as part of their blogger promotional series. Want to come? I’d love to have you along! My departure leaves November 13, 2010 and returns the 21st, well before the US Thanksgiving. You can get more information about the trip, including itinerary and, of course, cost, at this page. Don’t forget that if you’re also a blogger you get $100 off. In addition to having a great time, meeting some great bloggers, and seeing some fabulous birds, you’ll also be supporting the local communities as they work toward developing a sustainable ecotourism industry for their area. It’s a win-win!

National Moth Night – part 2

As suspected, the cool weather last night kept the moths in hiding. When I turned the light on at dusk it was already well below my 10 C (50 F) threshold, but I put it on anyway. Five moths tallied at the sheet in a couple of hours: four Maple Spanworms and a pinion (I think) whose identity remains a mystery.

The pinion was much too fast for me to manage to catch with a jar, and eventually disappeared under the nearby spruce and didn’t reemerge. I just got one wide-angle shot of it fluttering at the sheet, which, when cropped in tight, doesn’t provide me with enough field marks to be able to identify it, unfortunately.

It’s a shame about the weather, really. Cool nights can really have a negative effect on the productivity of your moth lights. If this had been a beautiful Indian Summer weekend, with nightime lows of 15 C (60 F) or so, I would expect to have had a really interesting assortment of moths for the two nights. Ah well. Perhaps next year.

I hope others had better luck with their sheets! Don’t forget to submit your posts to the next The Moth and Me by October 13 – email your link to next month’s host Lori of Reflections on the Catawba, loriowenby [at] gmail [dot] com, or to myself.

Also, don’t forget that today, Sunday, is International Rock-Flipping Day! Go out and flip a rock – or two, or three – and see what you find underneath. Write about it on your blog and submit your post to Susannah at Wanderin’ Weeta (wanderinweeta AT gmail D0T com) for inclusion in the event’s compilation of participants.

National Moth Night – part 1

Tonight is the first of two nights designated for National Moth Night (perhaps more accurately National Moth Weekend) in Britain, which I mentioned in The Moth and Me. I’m encouraging those of us on the west side of the pond to join in, too – why should they have all the fun? – and make this a weekend of discovery, in combination with International Rock-Flipping Day on Sunday. If you missed tonight, you’ll also have tomorrow (Saturday) night to put out your lights for moths.

I wouldn’t be much of a promotions person for the event if I didn’t go out there and do it myself, so this evening, despite that the winds were still strong enough to tug at the sheet, and the temperature was 12 C (54 F) at dusk, with a forecasted low of 6 C (43 F), I put out my mercury vapour lamp and white sheet to see what I could manage to draw in.

The answer: not very much. I finally shut the light off at 10pm, when the temperature had fallen to 8.5 C (47 F). Generally speaking, I don’t usually bother mothing below 10 C (50 F) since so little tends to fly at those temperatures. I got seven individuals, total. Three of the seven were the above, a Maple Spanworm (Ennomos magnaria). These unique moths tend to be very speckled and hold their wings at an angle, elevated from the surface they’re resting on. I had one settled in the grass beside the light, above…

One scurrying up and down the sheet restlessly…

And one hanging out on the screening of the porch, near the porch light.

The only other macromoth (taxonomically those usually in the latter half of the field guides or on checklists, and physically, for the most part, the species larger than your fingernail) was this one, a Scalloped Sallow (Eucirroedia pampina). They’re fairly common at this time of year, and I recall even encountering them in the leaf litter of the forest around our house last fall.

I had a single crambid grass moth, which are one of the most common moths that you kick up out of the grass when you wade through a meadow. They’re usually seen as small, pale moths that flit away a few feet and then disappear into the stems. They disappear so well because they’re long and thin, and orient themselves parallel with the grass. I believe this one is a Sod Webworm (Pediasia trisecta).

And finally, there were two of these little moths. I don’t know what species it is; I suspect it’s a member of the family Tortricidae, but I could even be completely wrong on that. Those little micromoths (this one was less than a centimeter long) are often tricky to identify.

That was it for National Moth Night part 1 – hopefully part 2, tomorrow, goes a little better! But I’m not holding my breath. They’re calling for a risk of frost tomorrow night.