Wonderful World of Moths!

Over the past few weeks I have spent far less time birding, and a lot more time with my black light set up somewhere, trying to see what moths, beetles, leafhoppers, bugs, etc might show up. It has been a lot of fun. Sometimes I just set up in my back yard, but I have also spent a few hours at places like Rondeau (of course!) as well as Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve and Moore Wildlife Area, both in west central Lambton, and also Newport Forest, along the Thames River in Elgin. Over the course of these after dark events, I have taken well over 1000 photos, including multiples just so I have more options to work on back home on the computer. Since I haven't been able to attach identifications to all of the species yet, I have no accurate species count, but it is probably well in excess of 200.  

Some of the prairie habitat at Bickford Oak Woods

The habitats of the aforementioned sites have varied, but so far they always have some forested component. Although there have been some similarities in the invertebrates that arrive, there have been some differences as well. And some nice surprises!

To see what my black light set up looks like, check out this earlier blog post at this link. It is quite portable, as long as I can drive to a suitable spot with no competing lights, and it only takes a few minutes to set up or take down. The light itself only draws 15 watts, so plugging it in to the vehicle's power supply isn't going to wear down the battery very quickly. In fact a friend who has a similar set up but attaches the light to a separate vehicle 12 volt battery uses the equipment for several hours a few times a year, and has not charged the battery in over two years.

While birds and birding are a lot of fun as many readers know, it is relatively simple by comparison, at least in some ways. First of all, even with all of the devout birders scouring every corner of the province over the decades, there are fewer than 500 species of birds that have ever been recorded in the whole of Ontario. They are predominantly active during the daylight hours and often quite audible. With the optical equipment available these days, birds are relatively easy to see or hear and be able to identify, especially with the host of tools such as field guides. If one is reasonably technically advanced, there are various apps for your phone as well as linkages to useful web sites that can assist a birder in the field.

Looking for birds, not moths

To be able to discover moths, on the other hand, 'moth-ers' have relatively few tools. Fortunately there is an excellent Peterson Field Guide which came out in 2012, written by two Ontario naturalists, David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. There are over 11,000 species of moth in North America, with several thousand in the area of northeastern NA that the guide covers. The field guide includes ~1500 of the most common or most colourful species. However most moths are active after dark rather than in broad daylight, making them difficult to see. Added to the complication is that even the largest moths have a wingspan of up to 15 cm (6"), while there is a huge number of moths that are 10-15 mm (~0.5"), with some being barely 5 mm (less than 1/4"). And then there are the really tiny critters, such as leafhoppers and types of flies that area only ~2-3 mm. When in flight, they are larger, but you can't see them well enough in flight to be able to identify them. So the huge number of a mostly nocturnal group of critters, most of which are incredibly small, none of which make any audible sound, all add up to it being a major challenge. Binoculars aren’t much help at all! What does help is a light source, such as a black light reflecting off a white sheet. And of course a good quality camera and flash with excellent macro capabilities. On line resources include BugGuide and the Moth Photographers Group.

Here is a variety of moths I've shot, either in my back yard, Rondeau earlier in the summer or more recently at Bickford Oak Woods. If you click on any of the photos, they should come up larger and be easier to see the colour and detail.

Bird-dropping Moth

Arcigera Flower Moth

Black-banded Owlet

 This next one is the Bristly Cutworm Moth. While many moths are rather drab, appropriate for their after dark environment I suppose, some moths are quite intricately patterned and show a variation in colour. This one shows a hind of green and purple in the proper light.

Bronzy Macrochilo

Celery Leaftier

Harnessed Tiger Moth

Newman's Brocade

 And yes, there are mosquitoes, although they seem to be at their worst just before dusk, but by half an hour after dark, they are hardly noticeable at all.

There are always a few things besides moths, and actually caddisflies are sometimes the most abundant. However they are very difficult to identify by photograph alone, so I don't bother with them. This next one is the Alfalfa Plant Bug.

 This next one is a type of Mayfly. I had it identified on BugGuide by a northeastern US fly fisherman who wrote a book on mayflies, and he indicated it is known as a Small Minnow Mayfly, Callibaetis floridanus.  It does not show up anywhere in Canada on iNaturalist, and even in the author's web site it does not show this species as occurring in Canada, so presumably it may be a new Canadian record. I photographed this at Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve on August 25, 2019.

A Water Boatman of some type

Meadow Spittlebug

Back to a few moths.....

Pale Lichen Moth

Ragweed Borer Moth

Stalk Borer

Subgothic Dart

Verbena Bud Moth

Ipson Dart

 This next one has a pattern like a frowning face. It is an Elegant Microcrambid Moth

 I was really impressed with the intricate pattern and subtle colouration of this next one. It is a Moonseed Moth, named for its dependence on Moonseed a vine-type plant native to southern Ontario.

Oblique-banded Leafroller

 Some more brightly patterned moths...

Painted Lichen Moth

Raspberry Pyrausta

The Wedgling

 This next one does not have a common name as far as I have been able to come across. It is known only by its scientific name: Xenotemna pallorana.

Most of the above moths are in the 10-15mm size range when at rest. Here are a few tiny ones.

Bactra sp

Double-striped Scoparia

Aster Head Eucosma

Just a small sample of some of the intriguing moths I have encountered. I will highlight some of the ones from Moore Wildlife Area and Newport Forest in a future post, as well as some more from a recent black lighting adventure at Rondeau and area and maybe a few more sites, so come on back!