Still getting some good mothsI’ve had 4 new species for the year over the last 2 nights. 2 new species each night. last night there was 62 moths of 22 species in my backyard light trap. The four new species for the year were: Chevron Moth (Eulithis testata) I tend not to photograph too many micro moths but I did photograph one this morning, a Sod Webworm Moth (Pediasia trisecta). This image was created using focus stacking and is the result of 7 combined images.
Backyard mothing againI did photograph some interesting moths just north of the Waterton Lakes National Park over the weekend which I will be posting later in the week. I also photographed a Glover’s Silkmoth caterpillar (probably a late or final instar) that was discovered at the excellent “Waterton River Suites B&B” where we were staying. It’s surprising what gets noticed when people find out that you are interested in moths! Anyway, more on that later. Last night there were 40 macro moths of 15 species in the light trap which included 2 new species for the year, a Maple Spanworm (Ennomos magnaria) and a Cloaked Peasant (Brachylomia populi).
A fairly slow AugustNot that much to report. Thankfully, my light trap has been behaving since I was forced to re-splice some frayed wires. There have only been 2 new moths for year since my last blog entry, an Obelisk Dart (Euxoa obeliscoides) and a Collard Dart (Agnorisma bugrai). Unfortunately, no photograph on the Obelisk Dart. I’m including yet another image of a Semirelict Underwing Moth (Catocala semirelicta), which was in the trap yesterday, as this one shows very pronounced black bars on the forewings. I also had another Briseis Underwing (Catocala briseis) in the trap yesterday but the bait trap was completely empty this morning. Perhaps time I replaced the bait? I’m staying just outside the Waterton Lakes National Park area for the next few days so hopefully I will have some interesting moths to report on when I get back. The Vivid Dancer (Argia vivida) Damselfly photograph was taken in Banff National Park.
A few more August mothsWith the somewhat unpredictable overnight weather conditions it has been a little quieter with regards to moth numbers for August. Having said that it has been picking up a bit over the last couple of days and I’m getting at least one or two Underwings in the bait trap each night now. Last night there were 68 species of 22 macro moths in my backyard bait and light traps. This number doesn’t include one or two Euxoa species which I haven’t (and may not be able to) identified. The new species for the last few days are as follows: Hydriomena Furcata (Hydriomena furcata) I’ve included another Semirelict Underwing Moth (Catocala semirelicta) photograph as this has some slightly different markings.
More moths at last! Blog entry for the 14th August.The unpredictable weather has meant that I haven’t been having a lot of success with the light trap over the last week. Having said that, I was discouraged by fairly dire overnight weather predictions, that did not materialize, on at least one occasion. However, Tuesday was a good moth night with 46 moths of 18 species. 5 were new for the year and 1 of the 5 was a new species. The new species is, I believe, a Once-married Underwing Moth (Catocala unijuga). While it is hard to be 100% certain, the wide black bands on the hindwing which touch the inner margin of the wing and the dark hairs in the basal area of the hindwings point towards unijuga rather than meskei or semirelicta. The forewings are lighter than briseus and lack the characteristic patch of brown scales. The other new species were: Pink-bordered Yellow (Sicya macularia)
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