Night-life at Rondeau

A few weeks ago it was National Moth Week. While I didn't get my black light set up at Rondeau for that specific time, I did get out shortly afterwards. It is always an adventure to see what will show up.

To see my set-up, check out this link. It has worked rather well, and since the black light I use can be used either as a plug in to an AC outlet or into a DC vehicle outlet, it does give some flexibility, as long as I can drive my vehicle to the point of interest. The black light that I have (purchased ~35 years ago and still going strong) only draws 15 watts, so it does not put too much strain on a 12V battery, even being on for several hours. Although it could be nice to get well away from any road or parking spot, it is also an advantage to being near a vehicle which has all the equipment needed (especially bug spray, snacks, etc) for the 3-4 hours duration. There are lots of those types of places I can drive to that I haven't tried yet, so hopefully I will get to a few more yet this season.

While moths are the main target group of invertebrates to attract, there are many other groups that may appear, including beetles, odonates, flies and even spiders. I even had a spring peeper drop in once, presumably to snack on some of the multitude of insects.

Most moths are fairly small, sometimes less than one centimetre in length. A very good macro lens and flash combination is essential, but worth it to see the intricacies of these creatures. These first two are barely one centimetre.

Abbreviated Button Slug Moth

Black Duckweed Moth

 Some critters are even smaller, such as the leafhoppers, which are members of the Beetle family. Most are barely 5 mm in length, with some being only about 2-3 mm.

Black-faced Leafhopper

Osbornellus species

 One of the largest is this next one, the Sharpshooter, which is easily recognized by its vivid green colouration and very pointed snout.

 A very large beetle that came to visit was this next one, a Water Scavenger Beetle. It was probably about 3 cm in length, and very robust as you can see. By comparison, the much smaller beetle on the upper left is apparently is a Hydrochus, according to a specialist in aquatic beetles from the U of Mississippi.

A medium-sized beetle visitor was this type of Scarab beetle.

Some other non-moth visitors were as follows:

Fishfly

Mayfly

 This next one had me puzzled. You don't expect dragonflies to visit, but this one did, and stayed quite awhile. It is a type of Meadowhawk. One cannot see the face clearly, but with the yellow/gold colour in the stigma which is bordered by black, it fits Saffron Meadowhawk nicely. I'm not sure if that is definitive, however.

 This green stink bug stopped by for awhile, but was constantly on the move around the sheet.

 A bit of a surprise was this spider, a member of the Araneus group I believe. It isn't large, but dropped down from an overhanging branch and proceeded to build a small web which caught several small insects.

Back to the moths. Unfortunately there were several Gypsy Moths, a fairly large moth and easy to photograph.

Lesser Maple Spanworm

Gold-lined Melanomma Moth

This next one ended up being the surprise of the night. At least it was the rarest species of the night by far, as according to BugGuide it was the first record for Ontario. A subsequent search on iNaturalist indicated that one had been found and photographed in Norfolk County on Oct 6, 2007, by none other than David Beadle, the principal author of the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America. It is called the Gold-banded Etiella Moth (Etiella zinckenella). It is normally found in the southern and southwestern USA, but on rare occasions will appear in the north east.

Pink-shaded Fern Moth

 This next species was quite abundant. I must have seen more than 20 of them come to the white sheet, and they showed some variation in colour, at least the intensity of the colour. Perhaps some of the variation was due to wear and tear as the moth aged. Regardless, the next two are known as Pondside Crambid Moth.

 This next one is a Copper Underwing.

Silvered Haimbachia

Smoky Idia

Water Lily Borer Moth

Hopefully there will be more mothing adventures to report on before long!