Early season black lighting

 I had planned to post a few times over the last few months, to feature moth images and highlight some of the finds of late last year. Not sure where the time went, and my spring posts so far have mostly featured migrating birds, and spring wildflowers. However I will take a short break from that theme. Before the spring gets too far along, I want to feature some moths of 2021. The nights have not been great, overall, but on some evenings there has been a bit of action, even back in March. I have had the light set up in the back yard a few times, with only moderate success so far.

Earlier this week Kevin and I set up our lights at Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park, in eastern Chatham-Kent. It is a great spot for all sorts of reasons, and I always enjoy poking around the various habitats. Last year we didn't attempt any black lighting there until later in July. Our priority was to black light at Rondeau as much as possible, but by July the mosquitoes were making it quite unbearable, so we moved our efforts to Clear Creek, and found there were no mosquitoes after dark at all! What a contrast, and a delight!

Since we didn't start until July last year, clearly we had missed the early season moths, so it was time to catch up with them. It is a tad warmer in spring than at Rondeau, simply because Rondeau is affected by the cooler temperatures from the lake and bay that surround it, whereas Clear Creek Forest is a couple of kilometres inland from the lake.

Our first effort at Clear Creek was fairly satisfying. We had three lights and white sheets set up along the trail, and got about 25 species of moth in about 2.5 hours. I'm sure if we had stayed a few more hours there would have been more, but when one gets up relatively early for birds, one cannot stay out too late for moths!

Here are some of the more distinctive moths, many of which looked quite fresh and clean so were likely recent emergent individuals rather than over wintering individuals I suspect. Clicking on the image will make it larger and easier to appreciate the finer details of these delicate creatures.

This first one is an Apical Prominent, and clearly has an atypical shape, at least compared to many moths.

Bicolored Woodgrain

 This next one, the Brown-collared Agonopterix, is quite small, being only about one centimetre in length.

Canadian Melanolophila

Clover Looper

Distinct Quaker

This next one is the Double-lined Gray. A closer look at this fresh specimen shows some linear warm brown markings which can be distinctive, along with the white spot towards the outer edge of the wings.

Honest Pero

I think this next one is quite striking. It is the American Lappet Moth. While it is not uncommon, I have only seen and photographed it on one other occasion.

Linden Prominent

The emeralds are quite attractive. This one is the Red-fringed Emerald, with the first photo showing its more common pose. The second image is the same individual, but one does not often see it posed like this.

Reddish Speckled Dart

Small Engrailed Moth

The following individual is a Tawny Pug. It isn't particularly rare, but is the first time I have seen and photographed it. The body is quite short, about 7 mm in length, but the wing span at about 20 mm is impressive for the overall size of it.

Toothed Brown Carpet

Not all of them come to the lit up sheet. Some will alight on the tripod holding up the black light, and are much more difficult to see and photograph. This fresh looking individual is a Variable Carpet Moth, again, the first time I have seen and photographed it.

These are just a hint of what is to come. I intend to set up my black light at various spots again in 2021. Some will be the same as in previous years, but perhaps at a different time to see what comes in. I have a couple of new spots in mind, one in particular looks like it has an unusual habitat mix, and could provide some really interesting critters. Having found two new species for Ontario in the last year or two, I am hoping the trend continues and more new species will show up. 

There are more than 3200 species of moth known for Ontario, and with the level of interest shown in this group over the last few years, undoubtedly more are likely to be discovered. Stay tuned!