Creatures that saw the light

 Black lighting for moths has been a lot of fun over the years, although since Marie's significant decline in her health and eventual passing, I haven't done any black lighting for the past two plus years. But in looking at various file folders with numerous moths shown, I have gotten back into it. So far I have been out to Rondeau, the only place I have done any black lighting in this current year, on five occasions, at three different locations. With the shorter nights, I usually put the lights on at about 9:30 p.m. and stayed until after midnight. On a couple of occasions I stayed out until about 2 a.m., and was tempted to stay until daylight, having an occasional nap in the vehicle if necessary. However the ongoing presence of mosquitoes was just enough to prevent any naps, so packed it in no later than 2. 

Each time I was out, I took anywhere from 125-200 photos, many of which were duplicates, but could easily be deleted once I got a closer look at them on the computer. Nevertheless, to date I have probably photographed about 150 species of moths, plus a couple of dozen other creatures that came to the light.

Here are some of the more colourful, even rare, moths that I got photos of. You can get a relative size of each one, based on the size of the weave on the sheet it was photographed on.

Abbreviated Button Slug Moth

Angle-lined Prominent

Angus Datana

Baltimore Snout

Basswood Leafroller

Bent-lined Carpet

Bicolored Pyrausta

Common Spring Moth

This next one is a member of the Crocus Geometer complex, and often cannot be identified to species based on a photo.

Dark-spotted Palthis

Dimorphic Tosale Moth

Next is an Elm Sphinx. Large moths such as sphinx and silk moths are always a highlight.

At the opposite end of the size scale is this next one, a Goldenrod Gall moth.

Green Leuconycta 

Next is one of the smaller silk moth types. It is a Pink-striped Oakworm Moth, and I am fortunate if I see even one every year, so it is definitely a highlight of the black lighting season.
 

Pink-shaded Fern Moth

Muzaria Euchlaena Moth

Lettered Sphinx Moth

Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth

Hickory Tussock Moth

Spotted Apatelodes Moth

Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth

Another medium sized silk moth, is the Rosy Maple Moth, shown next. This is more commonly seen than the Pink-striped Oakworm moth above, and I often see 4-5 of these in a season.

Purple-crested Slug Moth

Another highlight is to photograph a large member of the silk moth group. This one, a Polyphemus Moth, came in very briefly at first and never stopped fluttering on the sheet. This next photo of it is the best I could get at first, and is not entirely in focus, nor is it entirely in the photo. It left after a few brief moments, and then returned about an hour later, and even landed on my hat, my shirt and arm, kept moving and I couldn't get a photo of it.

It left again, and then an hour later it came back and landed quietly on the sheet, and remained until I was done for the night. 

Yellow Slant-line

White-dotted Prominent

Tulip-tree Beauty

Three-spotted Fillip

And finally, The Badwing.

Taking so many photos and having to process them is definitely time-consuming. I still have lots more already processed, and lots I haven't even started on yet. As the third week of July is considered National Moth Week, I may post some more, or at least feature some of the non-moth creatures that stopped by for a photo shoot.

 

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All good things come to an end......

 ....at least for now. Yes, the night-time creatures are becoming harder and harder to find. Once the temperature gets down to about 10C, very few are attracted to the black light. There are still a few around, but they will be preparing to overwinter under some bark, or in a pile of leaves. Many adults will just die, with those in the larvae or pupa stage overwintering.

I expect there will be the occasional decent night yet to come along. One year I was still having some success in early November, although with the lake effect keeping temperatures from sliding too low, Rondeau will have some later opportunities than places inland.

With that, I will now feature a few of the more colourful or interestingly patterned ones I got at Rondeau this year. Currently the park's list is a bit over 650 species, which seems like a lot, and it is, but a far cry from what is likely there. There are over 3300 species known from Ontario, and if the diversity of habitats of Rondeau were thoroughly surveyed, would probably have at least 1200 species. So we have our work cut out for us. Some plans are in the works on how to obtain a significant increase next year!

Here are a few. One or more may have been shown in previous year's blogs, but these are all from the 2022 season. Some are quite aptly named, others are not. In fact some don't even have a common name, just a scientific one.

Arched Hooktip

This next one is a new species for Chatham-Kent. It is not very common anywhere in southwestern Ontario, where the only records are. It is Atascosa glareosella.

Basswood Leafroller

Black-bordered Lemon

Bog Lygropia

Chestnut-marked Pondweed Moth

Delicate Cycnia

 I always am on the lookout for members of the Caloptilia group, as they are tiny, have interesting patterns, and are propped up due to their quite long front legs. This first one is a Dogwood Caloptilia, only about 7mm long.

Sphinx moths are fairly numerous, but don't often come to lights. This one is on the ground immediately below the lit sheet. It is an Elm Sphinx, the only one I photographed this year.

When one is walking through grasses, there often are little moths that pop out, but then almost immediately go into hiding under a blade of grass. They are tiny and mostly linear. This one is one of the smaller members of the grass-veneer group, called the Gold-striped Grass-veneer.

I come across two or three of this next species each year. It is considered uncommon, and is known as the Harris' Three-spot.

A fairly large and quite distinctive moth that shows up later in the season is this Large Tolype. I have had as many as 8 on the sheet at the same time.

Little White Lichen Moth

Lost Owlet

This next one is also a first for Chatham-Kent. It is a Mayapple Borer Moth, and although it has not been found very often across southern Ontario, it is a bit surprising since there is a lot of Mayapple in various woodlands across the southwest.

One that is officially rare, and is also quite intricately patterned, is Moonseed Moth, named due to its affiliation with an uncommon plant called Moonseed.

This next one is the Pickeralweed Borer, also uncommon.

Not uncommon, but certainly distinctively patterned, is this Pink-shaded Fern Moth, which I come across a few times each year.

 Members of the Silk Moth group are always a highlight to have come to the light. They are some of the largest and most colourful of all of our moths. This first one is a Promethea Moth, which is very closely patterned to a Tuliptree Silkmoth. At first I was thinking and hoping it would be the latter species since I have never photographed one. However the moth experts I consulted agreed it was a Promethea, although some were not 100% certain. Nevertheless, it will be documented as a Promethea.

 

 

Another colourful, but slightly smaller, silkmoth is this Rosy Maple Moth. One can usually have a small number come to the lights, but just for a short period. Late June and early July is prime time for this beauty.

Rusty Virbia

Sensitive Fern Borer Moth

The Beggar

This next one is known as a Variable Narrow-wing. It is a migrant that may show up in late summer/early autumn, and comes from Central America! The late season southwesterly winds bring it northwards, but the ones I have photographed are in surprisingly good condition, such as the one below. I have photographed it a couple of times in the past, but always in September or early October.

And last but not least is this White-headed Prominent, a fairly regular but not common species.

Of course I have photographed hundreds of others over the season, but most are less impressive from a colour and pattern perspective, and some are quite worn having lost many of the scales that give them their diagnostic pattern. 

I am already hoping for great things next year!

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