Some different moths at last…There were a couple of new backyard moths for the year in the light trap this morning. One was a Thaxter's Pinion Moth (Lithophane thaxteri). This was a good record as I have only seen this moth once before on the 22nd Oct 2013. The other new species for the year was an Alfalfa Looper (Autographa californica). This was my earliest record for this moth by a few days. Of course, there were also the inevitable Speckled Green Fruitworm (Orthosia hibisci) moths. 8 in total. I have the bait trap out as well now so we’ll see what that attracts.
April 16th MothNot many moths in backyard at the moment. Just 1 Speckled Green Fruitworm (Orthosia hibisci) in the light trap this morning. If the wind drops I’m hoping for more tonight. The Olive Green Cutworm (Dargida procincta) below was taken on October 21st last year and was one of my latest moth records. I thought I’d add this migrant American Wigeon photograph , taken yesterday, for some colour. The bird migration is underway…
April MothsNot too much to report for last week, although, I did find a new backyard micro moth on the door next to my light trap yesterday morning (11th). I think the new micro is a Semioscopis inornata. I found 2 common names for this moth. The one used on the E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum is Dull Flatbody Moth and in the Peterson guide it is Plain Semioscopis. I guess it is plain and could be considered Dull so you can take your pick… With regards to macro moths, I had a single Large Grey Pinion (Lithophane georgii) in the trap on the 9th and 8 moths of 2 species in the light trap on the 11th. The latter comprised of 7 Speckled Green Fruitworms (Orthosia hibisci) and a new species for the year, a Western Swordgrass Moth (Xylena thoracica). Strong winds kept my light trap inside last night and may keep it in tonight.
March 31st Backyard MothsThere were 3 moths of 2 species in the light trap on the 31st. 2x Dot-and-Dash Swordgrass (Xylena curvimacula) and 1x Speckled Green Fruitworm (Orthosia hibisci). Since then cooler temperatures and strong winds have prevented me from putting the Light trap out. Hopefully the weather will settle down again soon. The photographs below were taken in 2013.
My First Backyard Macro Moth of 2015!We’ve had a lot of warm weather recently but my light trap had remained stubbornly empty until last night when 2 Speckled Green Fruitworm (Orthosia hibisci) moths turned up. This is my earliest ever record of a macro moth since I started mothing in 2007. My previous early record was a Dot-and-Dash Swordgrass (Xylena curvimacula) on the 1st April 2013. Hopefully, this is the start of an interesting mothing year.
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