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

 

Sept moths and 300 up

Heavy rain has once again prevented me from putting the light trap out a great deal but I did get a very nice October Thorn (Synaxis jubararia) on the 13th Sept.  I have only recorded this moth once before in Sept 2008 and that specimen was quite worn so I am very happy with this sighting.  Other moths include an Ashen Brindle moth (Lithomoia germana) and Alberta Lutestrin (Ceranemota albertae).  The latter moth was a fairly worn specimen but I’ve included the photographs as they are good enough for an ID. 

The 300th backyard macro moth turned out to be a Frigid Owlet Moth (Nycteola frigidana) that I recorded on the 10th June.  Not a spectacular looking moth or specimen but as a new species I’m quite happy with it.  Hopefully the October Thorn will supply the colour in this blog entry.

The moths since my last blog (excluding the Frigid Owlet Moth) were:

Alberta Lutestrin (Ceranemota albertae)
October Thorn (Synaxis jubararia)
Ashen Brindle moth (Lithomoia germana)
Nameless Pinion Moth (Lithophane innominata)
Battered Sallow Moth (Sunira verberata)

Very low moth numbers but a new backyard moth.

With the recent rain and cool temperatures there has been very little moth activity in my backyard so I am working on a few ID’s.  The first one turned out to be a dark form of a moth that I see most years, a Kidney-spotted Rustic (Helotropha reniformis).   I spent several hours trying to ID this moth and without Gary Anweiler’s help I’d probably still be searching!  The second moth is a new backyard moth, Mountain Girdle Moth (Enypia griseata).  Thanks again to Gary for the ID confirmation and the additional info’.  Another moth which was new to my backyard in August was, I believe, an Old Man Dart Moth (Agrotis vetusta). 

With the addition of the Girdle Moth (Enypia griseata) my backyard macro moth list is now 299.  Hopefully, I will find 1 more species before the mothing season is over…

First night of no moths

Well, the title is a slight exaggeration because I did find one Olive Arches on the siding by the back door.  However, it was the first non rainy night since spring that both the light and bait traps were completely empty.  The temperature must have dropped very quickly.

Just to add, I have started to update the “Moths of Calgary and Southern Alberta” gallery on my website at http://www.albertanaturephotography.com/mothsofcalgary.

I’ve added some new species and have started to replace a few of the photographs with what are, hopefully, slightly better images.

Blog for 12th August to 2nd Sept

My backyard moth numbers and been fairly low since the middle of August averaging approximately 12 species of Macro Moths each night.  This can probably be attributed to some wet weather and a gradual drop in overnight temperatures.  I have added one new backyard species since my last blog, Abagrotis hermina (actually seen on the 1st August).  Thanks again to Gary Anweiler for confirming my ID. 

I’ve included photographs of some of the August backyard species.  Most of the images are “stacked”.  That is, they are comprised of one or more photographs which use slightly different focus points.  In general I only 2 photographs but the Alfalfa Looper is made up of 4 photographs.

Looking at trends, it appears that the Large Yellow Underwing is more common this year. So far I have recorded almost double the number (43) when compared to any previous year.  This is an introduced species which is probably still expanding its range.

The new moths since my last blog are as follows:

White Underwing (Catocala relicta)
Neumogen's Quaker (Oligia egens)
Kidney-spotted Rustic (Helotropha reniformis)
Cow Parsnip Borer Moth (Papaipema harrisi)
Pale Enargia (Enargia decolor)
Mouse Moth (Amphipyra tragopoginis)
Bicolored Sallow Moth (Sunira bicolorago)
Puta Sallow Moth (Anathix puta)
Venerable Dart (Dusky Cutworm) (Agrotis venerabilis)
Euxoa auxiliaris
Collard Dart (Agnorisma bugrai)
Abagrotis hermina – New backyard Moth.

Neumogen's Quaker (Oligia egens) is quite a small moth but is one of the more colourful Noctuidae.