The White-speck (10438)

Mythimna unipuncta

Family Noctuidae, subfamily Noctuinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

4 July 2012

Goshen

CMMP block N09

Distribution map

Pat Sutton emailed me yesterday with pictures of moths from her garden. Though I had visited there many times to ogle lepidopterans, those visits had all been diurnal and had been aimed at butterflies, and the two or three wonderful day-flying species of sphinx moths that are regularly attracted to the Suttons' incredible backyard garden. One of the attractants of that garden are four terra cotta trays full of rotting fruit that Red-spotted Purples and a number of other butterfly species love. Well, it seems that Pat and Clay had gone out the previous evening to see what moths might be attracted to same. Yowzer; were there ever moths!

Josh Nemeth and I invited ourselves over on the evening of Independence Day in order to see the spectacle for ourselves. We were not disappointed!

[Yours truly and Josh check out feasting moths at the Sutton residence.

Photo copyright by Pat Sutton.]

 [One of the other trays hosts a large number and goodly variety of moths, including (but not limited to) The White-speck, Ultronia Underwing, a few members of one or more Idia species, and Lunate Zale. Photograph by Tony Leukering.]

In Pat's pictures from the 3rd and in the above from the 4th, our essay focus species, The White-speck, was, far and away, the most numerous species present, usually outnumbering all other species combined. This is not all that surprising, as its caterpillars feed on grasses and other cereal grains, though little of the latter are available in Cape May County.  Grass, however, is.

The species is a widespread inhabitant of the U. S. and Canada, with the large holes in the range map probably being due to lack of sampling, not lack of occurrence. Though the species is not colorful, nor striking, it is fairly distinctive in a very large family with large numbers of similar-looking species. The species' relatively distinctive feature -- the white speck at the inner edge of the reniform spot -- rules out nearly all species, save for a few other species of wainscot, but the ruddiness of most individuals does the job in that case.

Thanks, Clay and Pat, for your hospitality!