National Forest Week and some of the smaller inhabitants

 This past week has been National Forest Week. I intended to do a post specific to this topic, but the week got away on me. However I will give a short nod to forests, since they are so incredibly important for a huge number of reasons.

It is always fun to explore them, as they have so much to offer. One of my main reasons to wander through them is for the inspiration they provide, experiencing their creation and diversity and providing a lot of stress relief. I know that many of you do the same.

Here are a few of my favourite forest photos.

It won't be long before this is the way many forests will look!

The trees are the giant inhabitants of a forest, of course. This next set of photos will feature some of the smallest, and least observed, inhabitants of a forest.

It will be no secret to regular readers of Nature Nuggets, that I am fascinated by moths, and other creatures that come to lights. The diversity is huge, and using a black light is often the only way to see them. While I have been reasonably active in trying to see as many of these night-time creatures as possible over the last few years, my efforts this year have been limited largely to my own yard as well as Rondeau Provincial Park. While my own yard does not qualify as true forest, there are parts of it that, on a very small scale, are forest like. In fact it was after we moved to our current location 34 years ago and planted many trees, that one neighbour wondered if we were trying to make it look like Rondeau, where we had moved from. Regardless, the creatures that follow are, for the most part, typical of forests in the area, although they have all been photographed in our yard.

 Some are extremely small, being barely 5-6 mm in body length. The size of the weave in the cloth background will give a hint of the relative size.

American Idia

Banded Sunflower Moth

Barberry Geometer

Celery Looper

Chickweed Geometer

Dark-collared Tinea

European Pine Shoot Moth

Common Pug

Hairnet Acleris

Harnessed Tiger Moth

Juniper Geometer

Metallic Casebearer

Bee Moth

Oak Leafshredder Moth

Painted Lichen Moth

Pearly Wood-Nymph

Polymorphic Pondweed Moth

This next one is considered quite rare in Ontario, being more of a western species.

Rufous Crambid Moth

Small Bird-dropping Moth

Almost pure white is this next one: the Snowy Urola, a member of the Grass-veneer group.

Soybean Looper

Speckled Xylesthia

This next one is one that is the first record for Chatham-Kent, the Spotted Peppergrass Moth.

Three-lined Balsa

As mentioned, there are many non-moth species that arrive on the sheet, although I don't spend as much time photographing them. Some are just too small, being barely 3-4 mm in length! But some of the others that I have captured are as follows:

 Leafhoppers are always fun to 'shoot'. Some are relatively large, such as this Eight-lined Gyponana, which is 7-8 mm n length.

One time when I was photographing a smallish moth, I noticed this tiny creature just below. It is a midge of the Cricotopus genus, and barely 4 mm in length,

Plant bugs, such as this one in the Lygus genus, are periodically found.

A highlight for me was to have one of these Round-headed Katydids come to my sheet. They can be either green, as this one is, or tan coloured. My first one was tan coloured and I found out that it was the first record for Ontario. I get them annually in the late summer, and I have seen them at Rondeau. Others have photographed them elsewhere in southwestern Ontario. One of the key characteristics to note is the black line just below the tip of its 'nose'.

Spiders come by occasionally, probably thinking that a light means insects, and insects mean a potential meal. This is a member of the Orb Weaver family.

I have lots more photos of ones I have photographed at Rondeau, not surprisingly, and I plan on highlighting some of the more interesting ones in a future post. Depending on the weather, I expect to try and do some more black lighting for another month, and some of the late season ones are hard to come by. Some are the result of arriving as migrants from the south, arriving on favourable winds, and then showing up at a light. I have photographed almost 800 species overall, but with about 3300 species known for Ontario, I have a long way to go!

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Those Night-time Creatures Again!

 This week, July 23-31, is National Moth Week. I haven't posted much about moths yet this year, so it is time to do so. Moths don't often get their due since they are seldom seen other than when the flutter around an outdoor light, or smash into your windshield as you drive along the roadway. But they are extremely diverse, with more than 3000 species known for Ontario, and some are quite colourful and intricately patterned.

My black lighting efforts have been, for various reasons, a little less intensive this year than the past couple of years. Nonetheless I have had the black lights set up both at Rondeau on several occasions as well as my yard. Of course the habitat diversity in my yard isn't nearly as great as what Rondeau or other sizeable natural areas that I've been to in the past are, but it is a lot handier, especially when a decision whether to set up the black light or not is dependent on the often unpredictable weather. 

This post will highlight some of the ones I've photographed in my yard, and include a new record for Chatham-Kent. Most, however, are fairly regular.

Hairnet Acleris

European Pine Shoot Moth (not native)

This next one, also not native, plays havoc with the fruit growing industry, particularly with apples.

Codling Moth

Celery Looper

Black-dotted Glyph

The Idia group can be quite interesting, and variable.

American Idia

Common Idia

Glossy Black Idia

Harnessed Tiger Moth

This next one is really tiny, barely 8 mm in length, and quite slender when at rest. Fortunately its bright, shiny colouration makes it a bit more obvious amidst the myriad of other creatures on the sheet.

Metallic Casebearer

Bee Moth

Oak Leafshredder Moth

Pearly Wood-Nymph

This next one, the Sharp-stigma Looper Moth, is only the second record for Chatham-Kent.

I'm not sure why this next one is called the 'Single-dotted Wave' as it seems to have a lot of dots!

Single-dotted Wave

Snowy Urola

Another very small one, only about 6-7 mm long, is the Speckled Xylesthia, shown next. The name is longer than the moth!

This next one is the Spotted Peppergrass Moth, a first for Chatham-Kent

The Wedgling

Three-lined Balsa

Virginia Tiger Moth

Sometimes when one is concentrating on the moths, other things get 'shot' as well. Such was the case for this next one. It wasn't until I got the photo on the computer and had it greatly enlarged that I noticed this other creature just below, which is only about 4-5 mm. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it seems to be a member of the non-biting midge family, perhaps in the Cricotopus genus. It doesn't have a common name that I have found yet.

And a few more non-moth invertebrates that periodically show up on the sheet.

Green Stinkbug

Eastern Calligrapher, a type of Hoverfly

Next is a member of the Ichneumonidae family, a type of wasp of the Netelia genus

And finally for this post, is a type of June bug of the Phyllophaga genus.

I expect to be out at least a couple of times this National Moth Week beyond my own yard, depending on the weather. Hopefully I will have lots of highlights to feature in a future post.

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