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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One Skunk, No Mosquitoes, No Misery.....

....and two Coyotes!

I spent a couple of evenings at Skunk's Misery a few weeks ago, on the hunt for night-time critters to come in to my black light. Just before I got to the Misery itself, I noted two nice healthy looking coyotes right along the road side, but they quickly darted into the corn field. Even in the dusky conditions I wouldn't have been able to get a photo. So on I went, to set up at a slightly wider spot along the roadside so as to not impede traffic. Not that there was any traffic to impede. Over the six or seven hours I spent at the two spots, I had only one vehicle go by each night.

Just after I packed up on one of the nights, I spotted a Striped Skunk waddling down the side of the road. I didn't stop to try for a photo.

For anyone who has spent time at Skunk's Misery, it is well-known for its mosquito population. It can be down-right horrendous. The wet areas throughout are a haven for hordes of mossies, and that is part of the reason it was called a Misery many decades ago. But for some reason, during both evenings, I was not bothered by even a single mosquito! It wasn't because it was too cold, as I purposely chose warm evenings to maximize the chances of moth activity. However late in the season much of the wet areas were fairly dry, so it was less conducive for mosquitoes. Regardless, I was just as happy to not have to deal with them.

I was pleasantly surprised by the abundance and diversity of the non-mosquito invertebrates which came to visit. Some were brightly marked, some were much less so, and some were so worn it made identification impossible.

Some of the typical, but well patterned ones were:

American Idia

Aster-head Eucosma

Bold-feathered Grass Moth

 This next one is a Graperoller (Desmia sp). It is next to impossible to identify it to species, since there are two that on the upper side look almost exactly alike, so a photo of the underside is critical.

Desmia sp

Dotted Sallow

Double-striped Scoparia

Large Maple Spanworm

Large Tolype

Packard's Wave

Pink-barred Pseudeustrotia

Sensitive Fern Borer

Three-lined Leafroller

Gold-stripe Grass Veneer

A couple of quite colourful ones put in an appearance.

Bicolored Pyrausta

 This next one was a highlight, as I had never seen one before anywhere. I got just the one photo before the small fly type creature also in the photo was getting too close, and presumably tickled its antenna causing it to move off the sheet completely.

Black-bordered Lemon

By contrast, some were fairly drab.

Common Idia

Copper Underwing

Definte Tussock Moth

 And then there were some that were so worn most of the scales that normally would give any pattern were now worn off. It is hard to say what this next one might be.

As is the case most nights of black lighting, there are non-moth critters that come to visit.

Citrus Flatid Planthopper

Leafhopper, Gyponana sp

 The Gyponana is most likely G. octolineata, although there is some debate as to whether they can be separated from other Gyponana species just by a photo. Regardless, this one can take on various colour patterns, with some almost entirely green and others almost entirely red.

Japanese Maple Leafhopper

 Some don't have common names. This next leafhopper is Colladonus setaceus.

 This next leafhopper is known as a Sharpshooter, Tylozygus bifidus.

 A few of this next critter, a braconid wasp of the genus Aleoides, were there.

 This next one is a type of Scorpionfly of the Panorpa genus.

 Grasshoppers, katydids and other members of the Orthopteran group periodically show up. This next one is a Two-spotted Tree Cricket. It was only a few years ago that it was considered fairly rare anywhere in Ontario, but more recently has been recorded in many places in southwestern Ontario.

 Even the occasional spider will appear, perhaps being attracted to the light and thinking that a few delicacies may be around to feast on.

I got lots more photos of various species, but these represent a variety of the most colourful, and the most drab. There is always a few of each on any night of black lighting!