Southern Blast...

There are times when the weather is just perfect for mothing, nothing unusual about this in the summer months, but in October it's a real rarity. Such was the case over the long weekend. It reached 32 during the daytime and hovered around 20 overnight - incredible. And with this weather came some rare and unexpected moths...

The moth above is, I think, a Dwarf Tawny Wave. The jury is still out on the identification but it looks pretty good to me. There are no previous records for Canada of this southern species and it was not really predicted to show up. I'll let you all know once the verdict is in.


There are less than a handful of Ontario records for the moth above, The Cobbler. It sat in a jar for a while because I wasn't sure just what it was having not seen this species before. Whilst I was busy photographing numerous other moths Mike suddenly said "why isn't it The Cobbler?" Hmmm, why not indeed!


Now this moth IS a first for Ontario. The long expected Green Cutworm Moth. This one almost got away from me. It was wedged into a deep recess in one of the egg cartons and, as I tried to dislodge it into a jar, it suddenly activated and flew off!! Damn! It didn't appear to go far but it disappeared behind me and I lost it from view. I thought it looked distinctive enough but I didn't know what it was at this stage having only had a brief half-hidden view. Anyway, a few minutes later, having cursed my bad luck, I looked down to see the offending creature vibrating madly right next to me! A mad rush for a jar and the moth was all mine! And the rest, as they say, is history...


Most years I don't see a new Looper Moth, this year I've had two quality ones! This lovely creature is a Gray Looper Moth, one of two for the night. Both were as fresh as could be. I've long thought that I'd been overlooking this species because I thought I should have seen it by now. However, it is totally distinctive and I could see that I hadn't! I'm not sure of the status of this moth in Ontario but it could be that the two we caught were migrants from the south given the weather conditions and the other species that we caught. Fantastic markings on this flashy Looper.


We caught two Smoky Tetanolita, the fresher of the two appears above. Again, there are very few Ontario records for this species. This deltoid noctuid looks superficially like some of the small dark Idia species but has subtly different wing shape and markings.


This neat little noctuid is Lemmeria digitalis. I had only seen this scarce late-flying resident once before, about 10 years ago up at Portage Lake. I had one very poor slide of that one so I was very pleased to obtaine a whole series of nice photos at long last. It is very distinctive what with those unique wing markings and all.


Having caught this lovely moth a few weeks earlier I though that was it for a few more years...but, just to prove me wrong, here's another one! Actually, this one was even brighter looking than the last. As far as I know there are only two previous Ontario records - so, I've done well with this lovely pyralid...


It was with great excitement that we found the first Melonworm Moth clinging to the sheet up in the radio field. A moth I never thought I'd see in Ontario and a very rare immigrant from further south. We ended up catching four in the end - amazing. It reminds me of a nice migrant moth in UK called Palpita vitrialis, has the same tinted, translucent wings. But, it doesn't have those frilly anal tufts that it waggles enticingly in front of one's admiring eyes!! What a crazy looking beast!!


When we first arrived at the site we decided to walk the lines of flowers with the slim hope of gripping Bob off with a rare butterfly or two. No chance in that department but we did find, almost straight away, a Hawaiian Beet Webworm Moth!! "This is the moth of the night" I proudly announced. Ha, little did I know! We ended up seeing about 15 or more of this rare migrant, mostly flushed out of the grass and flowers. Interestingly hardly any came to the lights at night...


The flashy-looking pyralid Helula rogatalis. I'd not seen this species before and think it may be pretty uncommon in the province.


Many years ago I caught one of these in my garden trap here in Toronto. I had no idea what kind of crambid it was until very recently. It is the lovely Euchromius ocellea. I think I'm right in saying that there had only been a couple of Ontario records, including my Toronto sighting. However, on this night we caught four! I'm not sure if they are immigrants from further south (highly likely) or a late-flying scarce and overlooked resident. Time will, I guess, tell. Nice though innit...

So there you have it, undoubtedly the most exciting mothing I've ever had to pleasure to experience. Just goes to show what can show up if one puts the effort in...

Goop Galore...

All this happened over a week ago - appologies for the lateness of the post! Mike King and I decided, mostly as an 11th hour last-ditch attempt to catch some migrants, to goop a few trees at the base of Leslie Street Spit this evening. We also set up a blacklight and a sheet. The weather was amazingly warm, like July or August, with a sultry southerly breeze wafting in from the lake. The stage was set for something to be sure...

It took a while and it was pretty slow at first, but the moths did start to appear. There were lots of Fall and Yellow-striped Armyworm Moths on the goop, as well as a few regular species. However, the sheet was pretty bare, apart from the 25 Yellow-collared Scape Moths crawling all over it. Anyway, we were thinking of packing it in when I jarred the moth above - the incredibly rare Yellow Scallop Moth! I'd only seen this once before - about 10 years ago in October down at Long Point - also on goop. To be precise, the moth cannot be 100% identified without a specimen because there is another possible species which is very similar. I didn't want to collect it so will wait until someone comes up with a field mark to separate the two!


Another great moth scooped from a gooped tree was this Orbed Narrow-wing. Another great rarity in Ontario we were well pleased with our second of the season. Is an unusual-looking creature, what with those long wings and big eyes. Very well adapted to flying long distances.


Perhaps the prettiest moth of the night was this immaculate Lost Sallow. I'd not seen this species before so was amazed by it's fantastic peppery appearance. Who says moths are dull?

Southern Strays on the Spit...

I'd been out on Toronto Island the day I found out about the above moth. In fact, my main reason for trudging out there was to look, and hope, for such a rarity. You see, when the weather has been so good for southern immigrants it seems that anything might be possible. Anyway, I failed in my quest, though I did come up with two Hawaiian Beet Webworm Moths, which would have been amazing had I not seen a whole bunch down at Mary's place a few days earlier!!

Anyway, upon arriving home and checking my e-mails I noticed a message from Seabrooke Leckie of TTPBRS which a series of photos of moths she had jarred for me from the night before. I couldn't belive it! One was the stunning Small Mocis featured above! A much wanted lifer and incredible rarity up here in Ontario. I think there may only have been two records before this one. What a way to end this amazing warm spell purple patch...


Another nice migrant was this Velvetbean Caterpillar Moth. I'd been expecting this one because they can appear in numbers in such periods of migrant activity. However, I'd not seen or heard of any until this one. Actually, there were two but this was the freshest looking. Quite a nice-looking moth I'd say.

Whatever next...

The OFO Convention...

I attended the Ontario Field Ornithologists 25th anniversary convention down at Point Pelee this weekend - a great time. One reason was to try and sell some artwork, with which I was moderately successful. However, mostly it was to see a whole bunch of old friends I don't get to see very often and to generally have a good time! Of course it didn't hurt to have a great bird thrown in too, so when, at the 11th hour, we found out about the Shrewsbury Northern Wheatear it resulted in a pleasantly mad rush to drive to the site and see it! An absolutely super bird and a long-awaited Ontario tick for the MM.

It was way too cool for moths but we did notch up a few butterflies. The amazingly fresh and rosy Buckeye above was undoubtedly the pick of the bunch though. There had been a Cloudless Sulphur about but it was not to be this time around.

I have been very busy of late but will add a couple more posts before I go away for a while. I've had a great couple of weeks with immigrant moths and will strive to add a few nice photos over the next couple of days. Stay tuned...