17th-18th April – Lappet Moth

Not too much to report but I have had my first Lappet Moths (Phyllodesma Americana) since 2013.  One was in the light trap yesterday (17th) and two this morning.  Tricky to photograph well and one of these photographs was taken on my deck table as it just wouldn’t pose on anything else…

First Moths of 2016

I’ve had the light trap out 6 times since April 2nd and have recorded 27 moths of 4 species.  21 of these were Speckled Green Fruitworm moths (Orthosia hibisci).  1 of the species, a Western Woodling (Egira rubrica), was recorded in Lethbridge on the 9th April.  This appears to be quite an early Alberta record.  Given the recent warm weather I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I see a few more early records.

The other species were the expected:

False Pinion - Litholomia napaea
Western Swordgrass - Xylena thoracica

2015 Backyard Macro Moth Summary

As I have already had my first few moths of 2016, I thought it was about time that I completed last years summary…

In 2015 I counted 3,222 macro moths consisting of 160 species.  There were more than 3,222 moths in my bait and light traps but 3,222 are the moths that I could identify with a reasonable level of confidence.  Of course, there are always a few moths which are a best guess based on location, date of occurrence etc.

The 10 most common moths were as follows.  No real surprises here.

Common Name	Scientific Name	No’ of Records
Glassy Cutworm	Apamea devastator	452
Thoughtful Apamea	Apamea cogitata	398
Bristly Cutworm Moth	Lacinipolia renigera	382
Olive Arches	Lacinipolia olivacea	173
Vancouver Dart	Agrotis vancouverensis	165
Bronzed Cutworm Moth	Nephelodes minians	154
Setaceous Hebrew Character	Xestia c-nigrum	139
Civil Rustic	Platyperigea montana	124
The Mottled Rustic	Caradrina morpheus	109
Lesser Wainscot	Mythimna oxygala	92

I recorded 19 new backyard moth species in 2015.  This was up from only 7 in 2014.  I think a possible reason for the improvement was a drier June which allowed me to put the light trap out more often.  Once again, my thanks go to Gary Anweiler for his help identifying the new moths!!  Even when I think I know what the moth is (and I often don’t) it’s great to get confirmation of a new backyard species.

Here’s the list of the new backyard species for 2015 followed by some new species photographs.

Pale-marked Angle Moth (Macaria signaria)
Gray Spruce Looper Moth (Caripeta divisata)
Mountain Girdle Moth (Enypia griseata)
Small Phoenix Moth (Ecliptopera silaceata)
White-ribboned Carpet Moth (Mesoleuca ruficillata)
Wormwood pug (Eupithecia absinthiata)
Sigmoid Prominent Moth (Clostera albosigma)
Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella)
Northern Pine Tussock Moth (Dasychira plagiata)
Colorful Zale Moth (Zale minerea)
Frigid Owlet Moth (Nycteola frigidana)
Pink-barred Lithacodia (Pseudeustrotia carneola)
Splendid Dagger Moth (Acronicta superans)
Brown-lined Sallow Moth (Sympistis badistriga)
Orthodes obscura
Old Man Dart Moth (Agrotis vetusta)
Praevia Dart Moth (Xestia praevia)
Two-spot Dart Moth (Eueretagrotis perattentus)
Abagrotis hermina