Robin's Carpenterworm (2693)

Prionoxystus robiniae

Family Cossidae (Carpenter and leopard moths), subfamily Cossinae
Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

13 June 2012

Belleplain State Forest HQ

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Distribution map

There are microleps that are big and there are macroleps that are small. This one is one of the former, just about the largest microlep illustrated in the new Peterson moth guide, with length reaching 45 mm. This is also yet another beast named for its caterpillar (obviously), which bores into wood of a variety of deciduous trees (ash, chestnut, locust, oak, poplar, willow). In places, various species of carpenterworm can be injurious to cultivated trees (such as fig plantations in California). However, Robin's Carpenterworm is a U. S. native and probably does not become a real pest in native habitats.

As might be expected from its wide variety of food plants, the species seems at least fairly widespread in Cape May County; I have seen it in Belleplain S. F. and at Green Creek. The only ones that I've seen have come to lights so, despite its size, it might be a mite difficult to encounter "in the wild."

Checkered Apogeshna (5177)

Apogeshna stenialis

Family Crambidae, subfamily Pyraustinae
Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

6 June 2012

Near Mayville

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Distribution map

This small beast (17 mm wingspan), though strikingly patterned and colored and despite its wide range (Maine s. to Florida and, at least, Illinois s. to Alabama), is very poorly known. The species' page at Bug Guide notes that the habitat is not well known ("Deciduous forests?"); I have encountered it in areas of mostly deciduous forest, dominated by oaks, Sweetgum, Sassafras, and Red Maple, though with some admixture of pine and, of course, the ubiquitous American Holly.


Its life cycle is also unknown. That is, we do not know what its caterpillar looks like, much less what it eats, among nearly all other aspects of its behavior and ecology. The fact that it represents a monotypic genus means that we may not be able to infer much of that unknown life history from congeners, as it has none. In Cape May County, at least, it is not at all rare, as I have seen it in multiple places and on multiple dates. It readily comes to lights and I have also kicked it out of waste places (lots of Haresfoot Clover and a bit of grass) during the day. In fact, one of the individuals that I kicked up is the subject in this post's picture, perched on the underside of a leaf about a foot off the ground (the photo requiring some slow and careful contortions to obtain!). The species joins some 230 other species in North America of the Tribe Spilomelini of the subfamily Pyraustinae of the family Crambidae (the same family that houses the grass-veneers; see Pasture Grass-veneer).

Horned Spanworm (7010)

Nematocampa resistaria

Family Geometridae, subfamily Ennominae
Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

11 June 2012

Green Creek

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Distribution map

Last night, some Cape May County nature nuts interested in moths gathered for our first moth party of what will, hopefully, become a regular feature. Tiffany Kersten and Sam Galick hosted it at Steve Bauer's house and we had a grand old time. Tiffany painted a couple of trees (one American Holly, one Pitch Pine) with the usual moth-attracting mixture of over-ripe bananas, brown sugar, and beer, and I set up my black light and sheet on the lee side of the house and waited for our nocturnal lepidopteran friends to arrive. So far, we have worked out the identifications of 32 species of moths, and we still have a lot of photographed moths to ID.

One of the highlights was the above Horned Spanworm, one of the many moth species named for its caterpillar, thus providing me with another opportunity to rant about common names. Some, like our spanworm here, do not have the word "moth" included, while others do -- most inconsistent! Additionally, since they are moths, it seems redundant to insert the word "moth" into any particular species' name. That habit is akin to calling Northern Cardinals "Northern Cardinal Birds." Yes, we understand, it's a bird. Granted, moths are nowhere near as well known as are birds, but I do not believe that should play a part in English nomenclature.

The Horned Spanworm is one of the many local species of the Geometridae, another name derived from the caterpillars, which are often known as "inchworms." While the Geometridae, like most moth families, is varied, a large percentage hold their wings out straight and flat (like many butterflies) when perched. Since very few other moths exhibit this posture, one can start with this family whenever one encounters an unknown moth perched with its wings out like this.

Red-lined Panopoda (8587)

Panopoda rufimargo

Family Erebidae, subfamily Eulepidotinae
Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

29 May 2012

Near Belleplain

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Distribution map

The moth family Erebidae is a large and fairly varied one, split into a number of subfamilies, many of which are represented in Cape May County.  A couple of those subfamilies are fairly widely known, even if for only a species or two, such as  Gypsy Moth (subfamily Lymantriinae) and Isabella Tiger Moth (subfamily Arctiinae). While many of us have heard of the former and know of its devastation of local oak forests, most may never have heard of the latter, though they're undoubtedly seen  many of them, at least in the larval form, known as Wooly Bear. But, I have no picture of either moth, so our introduction into the family will be carried by a poorly-known species, the Red-lined Panopoda. Like the subject species, many groups within the Erebidae are delta-shaped as adults -- that is, quite triangular in shape, and nearly equilateral triangular at that, so the family is a good place to start down the ID-process road when encountering such a beast.

However, the primary focus of this essay is common names. As long as there have been moth guides written that were aimed at least partly at the layman, there have been attempts to coin common names for the various species. When some aspect of a particular species' ecology or behavior was known, it was utilized in naming it, as for the "Waterlily Borer" and the "Clover Looper." Due at least in part to our extensive lack of knowledge about life histories and behaviors of most moth species, even in our relatively well-studied part of the world, such name coiners have taken a couple other tacks when traveling that road. One, and the one that I appreciate, is the tack of whimsy, naming species with monikers such as "The Infant," "The Betrothed," and "The Neighbor." However, as for our subject species, for most, they simply translated the latinized term used for the scientific name as directly as they could manage. For many of those, they did not even bother to translate the genus name, simply using it as is for the group name for that/those species of moth(s).

This tack results in a large number of moth species with common or "English" names made of words that are not, in fact, English. With the long-anticipated publication of the new Peterson guide to the moths of northeastern North America, I had hoped that the authors would attempt to avoid that last naming tack, because laymen are generally turned off by such. To no avail. So until someone grabs that bull by the horns, we are stuck with such mouthfuls as "Fernald's Helcystogramma," "Sooty Lipocosmodes," "Crowned Phlyctaenia," and, of course, "Red-lined Panopoda!"

Shagreened Slug Moth (4669)

Apoda biguttata

Family Limacodidae
Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

28 May 2012

Belleplain S. F. Headquarters

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Distribution map

This post's subject is the first of, presumably, many to come that holds its butt in the air when perched. This behavior may be an adaptation at avoiding predation by critters that use sight to find food, as the odd posture makes for an odd outline, perhaps convincing some would-be predator that the moth is just some odd bit of detritus, not a juicy tidbit. Whether that is true or not, we may never really know, but the behavior makes for an easy and quick recognition factor when identifying moths. Unfortunately, quite a few moth groups have developed it. So, though nearly all of the slug moths (family Limacodidae) adopt this posture, so do some geometers (Geometridae; see Horned Spanworm) and prominents (Notodontidae), as well as members of other families. On the bright side, a goodly portion of the northeastern North American moths that do "moon" are slug moths, so that family is a good place to start when you encounter such a beast.

The slug moths are another group of microleps, and our focus species here is a small thing (10-15 mm). Despite that, it's a striking beast that can pull your eyeballs off much larger and otherwise-more-enticing moths at your backdoor light.

Pasture Grass-veneer (5363)

Crambus saltuellus

Family Crambidae, subfamily Crambinae
Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

31 May 2012

near Whitesboro

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Distribution map

The grass-veneers are a difficult group of micro-lepidoptera (microleps), which, themselves, form a difficult group of moths. Microleps are the Empidonax or peeps or gulls of the mothing world, with quite a few moth enthusiasts giving them short shrift or ignoring them altogether. It might have been expected that I find at least some of them -- particularly the grass-veneers -- enticing. The genus Crambus is the type genus of the Crambidae, a surprisingly varied group of very small moths. The 97 species of Crambid illustrated in Beadle and Leckie (see first post on this blog) range in size from 4 mm to 38 mm in length, with most under 15 mm. Just so you know, there are 25.4 mm in an inch.

The grass-veneers form a fairly tight group in the subfamily Crambinae; they are generally long and thin, with long, fuzzy palps extending forward from the face, with the hulking monster of the group (at least of those illustrated in Beadle and Leckie) maxing at a whopping 18 mm. By contrast, this post's subject, Pasture Grass-veneer, averages only 14 mm. Most species for which we know the host plant(s) eat grass as larvae (caterpillars). As adults, they tend to be found in grassy places, perched lengthwise on the underside of a grass leaf (as above). Many of the species have wings with extensive white, which is evident when one gets flushed. If one lands on a horizontal perch (such as the broad leaf of some plant other than grass), it quickly runs to the edge and crawls to the underside of the leaf, there to hide until the next large animal disturbs it. Grass-veneers are also regular visitors to lights, so look for their tiny forms among the hulking brutes of what some term the "regular moths."

Pearly Wood-nymph (9299)

Eudryas unio

Family Noctuidae, subfamily Agaristinae
Photograph copyright by Tiffany Kersten

29 May 2012

Burleigh

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Distribution map

The Pearly Wood-nymph is a gorgeous critter that I am still waiting to see. However, the photographer found this individual on her car after a nocturnal rain and sent me the picture. Two of the species' known food plants are grape and Virginia Creeper, both of which are abundant in the county, so I still have hopes of seeing it! The new Peterson moths guide notes the flight period for the area covered by the guide (Virginia and Missouri north through Minnesota, central Ontario and Nova Scotia) as June through August. Thus, Tiffany's moth was a bit early, which is not all that unexpected given the very warm winter and spring that we experienced this year.