See ya later...

The MM will be away up north for couple of weeks so you can have a well-deserved break! Hopefully I'll have some nice images to share with you upon my return...

For now here is the lovely Sensitive Fern Borer Moth - the shape of things to come.

Best moth of the night...

I've been quite pleased with my back yard trap of late - ie. I've been getting lots of new moths for the list. Admittedly, most are micros, many distinctly on the "dusty" side of the spectrum. However, I'm OK with small things right now!

The above moth was long awaited - the lovely Glyphipterix impigritella in all it's metallic-banded glory. What a great creature - so much packed into a tiny form. It's hard to imagine that I would let stuff like this slip through the cracks in earlier days just because there wasn't the resources available to identfy them. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the folks who created and maintain the wonderful Moth Photographers Group site. I'm sure I'm not alone...

More Dickey Moths...

I had such a good time at the Dickery that I thought I'd post a few more photos of some mothy delights from the trap...


This is the complex looking Fillet Dart. Is a pretty swish noctuid that I don't catch too often, though it is by no means uncommon. Ths larva feed on blueberries.


The super Fringe-Tree Sallow. Another moth that falls into that "I don't get this too often" category! Often this is because the moths in question have short flight periods and are very host specific and are thus quite local. The larval foodplants include ash, feverwort and fringe-tree.


Out of the many Catocala species this is one that I've seldom seen over the years, though at Dickey lake the Similar Underwing seems to be not uncommon. This one is an oak-feeder.


I'm a big fan of pyralid moths, especially the members of the crambidae. All are small, pencil-slim creatures which often display lovely and complex patterns on the wings. This one is Catoptria latiradella. It must be rather local becaues I've only seen it a two localities - here and at Portage Lake. It is one of my favorites...


Lastly the impressive Great Tiger Moth. Before this I'd only seen this large tiger at Portage Lake - it seems to be rather local. The same species (though a different subspecies) occurs in UK where it is called the Garden Tiger Moth and is much more common.

The Delights of Dickey Lake...

A most welcome invite to a lakeside cottage this weekend saw us heading northeast for three hours into deepest Hastings County. Dickey Lake to be precise! A lovely spot to indulge in fine company, much beer, anything watery and, of course, some quality mothing! And, there is the added attraction of driving past "Thanet" Lake - ahh, memories of back home...

And the moths were indeed good. I caught a fine selection of August fare including a few noctuid year ticks and some cracking micros. The biggest surprise, in more ways than one, was the capture of two Great Ash Sphinx Moths (the fresher of the two featured above). These lads are HUGE - totally impressive in spite of their rather sombre attire. In fact they are so well camouflaged they were hard to find once placed on a tree trunk to recover from their ordeal...


This is a Purple Arches. In life this chunky noctuid exhibits a subtle purple sheen on the wings which is rather nice. The larvae feed on alders, blueberries, birches and others.


The Yellow Three-Spot. I'd only seen this once before so I was delighted to be able to take a nice series of photos. Sod Grasses are the prefered larval foodplants.


The electric Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth! A really lovely-looking moth. I catch this one all over the place but it seems never to be common - usually just one of two per session. The larva feed on tree lichens.


When James rushed into the cottage with the net saying he'd caught something nice for me I really didn't expect this! A brilliant Black-and-yellow Lichen Moth. I was so pleased. It was a bit flighty but, thankfully, it posed for a few photos. The larval foodplants are lichens and the adult can be seen during daylight hours feeding on autumn flowers like goldenrods. Later in the day James caught another creature which bore an amazing resemblance to this moth...but it turned out to be a Net-winged Beetle called Calopteron terminale. Sadly it flew off in a beetle-like way before I could get any pix.


Finally, for now, a colourful Parthenice Tiger Moth - just look at those hindwings!! Well, everyone likes a Tiger Moth don't they???

Thanks to our gracious hosts Cynthia and Alan for allowing us to indulge ourselves...well, me anyway!

The new pest in town...

If you see the moth above you MUST report your sighting immediately to the Ministry of Agriculture!! No kidding - they are worried about this harmless-looking little sprite. It is a small pyralid called Duponchelia fovealis and apparently it has the potential to become a serious greenhouse pest.

I caught this fine example last night in my back yard trap here in Toronto. Don't worry, I've already reported the sighting to the appropriate authorities! I didn't know what it was at first so I took photos and let it go. Guess I shouldn't have done that! Anyway, I eventually tracked it down on the UK Moths site. It is an uncommon adventive there. Strangely, I had to chance to twitch one last year whilst I was over there...but didn't. If I had I would have recognized it immediately. Anyhow, there were some Ontario records in 2005 - all in greenhouses. Too bad, I thought this might be a first!


Here is another nice-looking, and harmless, pyralid called Chalcoela iphitalis. I catch this moth regularly throughout the summer in Toronto, but it seems to be scarce elsewhere.

Sun and Sand in Southampton...

We were all in the lovely little town of Southampton for the long weekend. Is right on the shore of Lake Huron sandwiched between Port Elgin to the south and Sauble Beach to the north. It is famous for it's lovely beaches and the irresistible Jerry's Fries!! KT and I stayed in our favorite B&B whilst "the boy" was sent packing to stay with his cousins just down the road in a small cottage my sister-in-law rents every year. Perfect for me because I can run my moth trap in their garden!

It's not bad for moths here and every year I catch a few bits that I consider to be of interest. I was looking closely at micros this time - of course!!

Here are a few highlights. The lovely moth above is a White Underwing, always a treat to see this ghostly vision...


Here's a moth I don't catch every year - in fact I hadn't seen one for about three years. This is the striking prominent called Notodonta scitipennis. It reminds me of another prominent found in UK, the Iron Prominent. I love the rusty metal aspect of this splendid creature.


Now here's a moth that does also occur in UK - the Ni Moth, only over here it is called the Cabbage Looper Moth. I remember being very excited last year to catch a couple of these in my balcony moth trap in Ramsgate! I've rarely seen this moth in Ontario and I've often wondered it it may be a partial migrant to the area?


Finally this is the brilliant pyralid called Diastictis ventralis. I'd been after this one for years! It seems to be fairly common in coastal fens and can be disturbed and easily netted from suitable habitat during daylight hours. The orange-brown base colour with those sharp white spots are distinctive.

More to follow...

Rondeau Round-up...

Last weekend I travelled with friends to Rondeau Provincial Park on the north shore of Lake Erie. We had a moth night to perform on behalf of the Toronto Entomological Association. The staff at the park were remarkably enthusiastic and supportive which made the whole event a real pleasure - I wanna go back! We arrived late on Friday evening and immediately set up lights and a trap around the maintenance yard where we were staying in a trailer. We thought it a good idea to have a few moths in hand before the actual moth event the following night - a good move as it turned out.

The night was warm and humid after some earlier rain showers and in spite of a near full moon conditions looked good for some productive mothing. Amazingly we recorded only one Catocala on the many trees gooped - a Little Underwing. The lights attracted a huge number of water beetles and a couple of very impressive Longhorn Beetles. Moths were steady but numbers were not great. Many more micros that macros which seems to be the way this year.

The diminuative Pawpaw Sphinx above was perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the night - it was waiting patiently for me on the top egg carton in the trap...

Anyway, below are a few highlights from the first night:


This streamlined little devil is the Thin-winged Owlet, a splendid deltoid noctuid I'd not seen before. It has a southern distribution in Ontario. I was very impressed with the black leading edge to the forewings.


The amazing Moonseed Moth! I'd only seen this fantastic moth once before - it's totally impressive. Again, another southern species for us up here in Ontario. The larva feed on Moonseed vine.


On such events there are always surprises, and this was certainly one of the biggest. This small noctuid is the Obtuse Yellow. It has been recorded in the province on very few occasions (maybe only at Point Pelee) so I was delighted to catch one here.


Definitely my favorite moth of the night! This is the Black Bit Moth. When it fluttered up to the sheet it was a mad rush to "jar" it before it slipped away into the night. Is a wonderfully complex moth, tons of character! The larva feed on Black Locust.


Finally, a moth I'd seem a few times before but one that always brings a tiny smile to my face - the lovely Pink Streak. I'd only seen this local species at South Walsingham before this - where it appears to be not uncommon if sought at the correct time in mid to late July. We saw four of these beauties, but this was the nicest of the bunch.

The moth event went well. Most of the folks who showed up were families camping in the park. The kids loved seeing all the weird and wonderful shapes of the moths we showed them - great education for them. I hope we can return in the not too distant future to enlighten a few more budding naturalists.

Maybe next time I'll show you some of the many micros that were present. Now there's something to really look forward to...