Moths of Newport Forest

 I think it is time for another post on my black lighting expeditions! Since the first of April, I have had my black lights on for 58 evenings, each time varying from 2.5 to 4 hours. Twenty-six of those have been in my own yard, with Rondeau evenings totalling 18 so far. I've been at Clear Creek Forest Prov Park five times, and from 1-3 times at Moore Wildlife Area, Sinclair's Bush CA, Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve, Sydenham River Nature Reserve and Newport Forest.

It has been a lot of fun, and the mothing season isn't necessarily over quite yet, but with upwards of 10,000 photos taken during those many events, it didn't take long to get way behind. So here goes, trying to share some of the highlights of those various black lighting sites. Don't worry, I have pared down the ~10,000 photos to a more practical number :-).

Back in July, I was invited to join several friends to set up some black lights at Newport Forest. This site is a former working farm, along the south side of the Thames River in Elgin County. About two decades ago it was purchased by Kee and Pat Dewdney of London, who promptly started restoring it to some semblance of its former self. There was a fair bit of woodland remaining, but the fields were converted to forest plantation and meadow. One of the goals of the Dewdneys was to do a complete biological inventory of all flora and fauna present at the site, and over the years, they had done an amazing job. Pat passed away earlier this year, but Kee continues on. The property was given to the Thames Talbot Land Trust a few years ago, and the biological inventory continued. There wasn't a lot of inventory effort put towards night time creatures. I had been there once or twice in past years with my black lights, but always later in the summer. Clearly the earlier season species were missing from the list. 

One of the best aspects of this July outing, aside from being with good friends, was the total lack of mosquitoes. Some other sites, especially Rondeau, had been horrendous with mosquitoes as the season progressed, so being out from before dark until well after midnight with no mosquitoes was a real treat.

Here are some of the more colourful, patterned moths caught on camera that night.

Aproned Cenopis Moth

At just a casual glance, this next one looks a bit like a bird dropping, a clever camouflage to avoid being selected by a predator. It is the Beautiful Wood-Nymph.

Canadian Sonia

Common Lytrosis

Contracted Datana

 Some moths have rather peculiar poses. This is the Dimorphic Eulithis. It props itself up with longer front legs, and has its abdomen curled up.

This next one also has its abdomen somewhat curled up, but not quite as much as the previous species. It is the Dimorphic Macalla Moth.

Feeble Grass Moth

When one mentions Forest Tent Caterpillar, most folks think about the web like structure on a leafy branch, but often without the leaves since they have all been eaten by numerous caterpillars. But the caterpillars turn into a rather attractive adult, shown next.

Green Leuconycta

Hickory Leafroller

 Some of the most well known, large and attractive moths, are members of the silkworm group. This next one is not one of the largest, but is a colourful silk moth known as the Io Moth. It really stands out when it is a bit disturbed, opening up its forewings and displaying those large dark eye-like markings on the hindwings, presumably to look like a large predator and scare off a real predator.

Another colourful moth is this Lappet Moth.

Reticulated Fruitworm Moth

Snowy Geometer

Straight-lined Plagodis

The Saw-wing

Two-lined Owlet

This next one is very small. In fact its name is maybe even longer than the moth. It is the White-spotted Oak Leafroller.

Moths have their enemies, as you can see by the bite that was taken out of this one's hind-wing. It is known as the Yellow Slant-line.

Another distinctive moth is this Yellow-shouldered Slug Moth.

Not all creatures attracted to black lights are moths. This large Yellow-thighed Stag Beetle came in and stuck around quite literally for a couple of hours. He really clung to the sheet, and it was not easy to get him off when it was time for us to pack up.

Overall I photographed about 50 species of moths that night, plus a few non-moth creatures. More moths to come from another site in a future post!