11 moths of 4 species in the light trap this morning. 6 of these were Dot-and-Dash Swordgrass (Xylena curvimacula). The most I’ve had of this species in one night. There were 3 Speckled Green Fruitworm (Orthosia hibisci) and the new species for the year was, a not unexpected, Western Swordgrass Moth (Xylena thoracica).
Added a photo from a birding trip last week NE of Calgary. Always nice to see the return of Long-billed Curlews.
Last night, I put my backyard light trap out for the first time this year and was pleased to find 5 macro moths of 5 species in the trap. Nothing new but only my second Thaxter's Pinion . I photographed 4 of them before they departed. These are all stacked images i.e. multiple images of each moth that have been combined.
Great to get the mothing year started!
Thaxter's Pinion Moth (Lithophane thaxteri)
Gooseberry Stretchia (Stretchia muricina)
Dot-and-Dash Swordgrass (Xylena curvimacula)
False Pinion Moth (Litholomia napaea)
Speckled Green Fruitworm (Orthosia hibisci)
I finally got around to looking through some more of last years moth photographs and have identified another 8 new species. Not all were seen in my Calgary backyard. I found 3 new species in one weekend while visiting relatives in Lethbridge. In addition, I found 1 new species from 2016.
I’ll post some more photographs from last year in future blog entries.
Here’s the list and dates:
2017
6252 Two-lined Hooktip (Drepana bilineata) 5th July – Calgary
7169 Soft-lined Wave (Scopula inductata) 9th July – Calgary
9207 Unmarked Dagger Moth (Acronicta innotata) 9th July – Calgary
8359 Two-striped Owlet (Macrochilo bivittata) 9th July
7892 Leafy Spurge Hawk Moth (Hyles euphorbiae) 12th-13th Aug – Lethbridge
8806 Mother Underwing Moth (Catocala parta) 12th-13th Aug – Lethbridge
11013 Abagrotis erratica 12th-13th Aug – Lethbridge
2016
9391 Dock Rustic Moth (Resapamea passer) 1st Sept – Calgary
