Backyard ReportThe high early morning temperatures are making photography quite tricky. A number of moths flew out of the trap as soon as I lifted the lid. I did record 57 moths of 15 species so the numbers are continuing to increase. Just 2 new moths for the year: Yellow-dusted-Cream (Cabera erythemaria) The Thoughtful Apamea (Apamea cogitata), shown below, has just started to appear in the light trap. This is another one of the very common backyard moths. The Flame-shouldered Dart (Ochropleura implecta) was recorded on the 12th June. Normally very active and difficult to photograph no matter what the temperatures. Backyard ReportThere were approximately 49 macro moths of 17 species in my light trap last night. I say, approximately, as a few got away before I could photograph them. The warm overnight weather means they are quite active even at 6:30am. 8 were new for the year but there were no completely new species. The new ones for the year were: Common Idia (Idia aemula) The Vancouver Dart (Agrotis vancouverensis) is another very common backyard moth. The Blind-eyed Sphinx Moth (Paonias excaecata) photograph was taken in the Okanagan. June 24thIt was fairly quiet in the Light trap this morning. There were 24 macro moths of 9 species with 3 being new for the year. Pepper & Salt Geometer (Biston betularia cognataria) Olive Arches (Lacinipolia olivacea) and Bristly Cutworm (Lacinipolia renigera) moths are two of the most common moths that I record in my backyard. The other moth photograph is a Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata) which was taken in the Okanagan. June 23rd–New MothI’ve just returned from a weeks vacation in the southern Okanagan. I’ll include a few moths from the Okanagan in the next couple of blogs. Last night there were 29 macro moths of 16 species in my Calgary backyard light trap. 9 of these were new species for the year. One of these was a moth that I haven’t recorded before, a Small Phoenix Moth (Ecliptopera silaceata). The other new species were: American Idia (Idia americalis) The One-eyed Sphinx Moth (Smerinthus cerisyi) is an Okanagan photograph. These moths appear to be quite common in the area. Another good moth nightThis morning I recorded 47 macro moths of 17 species. This included yet another 2 new species. A very nice Splendid Dagger Moth (Acronicta superans) and a Wormwood pug (Eupithecia absinthiata). I must admit I sometimes overlook the pug species but this one caught my eye as it had some fairly prominent markings. That brings my new backyard macro moth species for the year to 9. And it’s only June! Other new species for the year were: Morrison's Pero (Pero morrisonaria) |