Bent-line Carpet (7416)

Costaconvexa centrostrigaria

Family Geometridae, subfamily Laurentiinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

5 July 2012

Near Whitesboro

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Distribution map

With this installment, we go back to the large and varied family, Geometridae. As noted previously, the full-spread wing posture of the pictured beast is typical of the family and not matched by many other species, particularly among the smaller to medium-sized moths. Bent-line Carpet is a very common and widespread species, coming to lighting in small numbers, but through a very large part of the moth year. The sexes differ in appearance and, like many moth species, this one is quite individually variable in precise extent of darker coloration; all share at least the dark forewing apical patch and at least thin dark bands at the antemeridian and postmeridian lines.

The subfamily housing the carpets also houses the pugs, a group of generally small moths with very short hindwings that give them a distinctive look that allows for immediate identification as a pug. Unfortunately, that point is the last at which pugs are easy, and I may go into them in the future at this site.

Faint-spotted Palthis (8398)

Palthis asopialis

Family Erebidae, subfamily Herminiinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

22 June 2012

West Cape May

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Distribution map

Faint-spotted Palthis is a member of the group called the litter moths, typically being found during the day roosting among the leaf litter and most of which have a strong equilateral-triangle shape. This species is yet another whose English name is not so English and is one of only two members in the genus, the other being Dark-spotted Palthis.  Oddly enough, the best distinguishing characteristic of the present species is the dark spot or patch at the apex of the forewing (inside that scooped out bit at the wingtip); Dark-spotted Palthis is orange to rufescent there.

The two members of the genus share the same odd wing posture, with that upraised kink in the forewing. This posture is, presumably, yet another adaptation that moths have derived to not look like food. The idea is that if one doesn't present the shape that all those other moths do, predators, probably avian predators in particular, will not think one is food. It also behooves a beast employing such strategy to not be too common, either in absolute abundance or in specioseness (if I may coin a term), else more birds (or whatever) might just sample the fare anyway, learning that the odd shape is also food. Indeed, while Faint-spotted Palthis is not rare, it is also apparently not all that common. Of the 100s of moths captured per night, Mike Crewe catches only a few a night in his trap (such as the one pictured here) and Sam Galick's black light brings in only the odd individual or two on any given night.

Black Snout (8465)

Hypena scabra

Family Erebidae, subfamily Hypeninae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

11 June 2012

Near Whitesboro

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Distribution map

The common name provided here for this beast may sound unfamiliar to many, as it is often known by its caterpillar's name, Green Cloverworm or Green Cloverworm Moth. However, all other U. S. and Canada species in the genus that sport common names are called snouts (11 in the Beadle and Leckie guide), due to the labial palps that extend forward of the head, a feature typical of the genus. The species' appearance is wildly variable, but all individuals sport the nearly-straight line perpendicular to the inner edge of the forewing that connects to the base of the black triangle that is so prominent on this individual. Though the variability in appearance would be worth an essay here in its own right, the premise for this essay is, again, common names.

As noted previously in this venue, a large percentage of common names presented in moth field guides aimed at the layman or amateur are difficult and often not composed entirely of English words. I mean, if we're going to have "common" names such as Helcystogramma, why bother? I believe in a coherent, standardized set of common names established by some body with some sort of official standing. Ideally, common names would also be relevant in some fashion to the species or group of species and its appearance, behavior, or ecology. Finally, and most relevant to our subject species, only under certain extenuating circumstances should members of a single genus be known under different group names (such as Baltimore Snout and Green Cloverworm).

Despite the assertion by many that scientific names are more stable than are English epithets, such monikers are at least as subject to change as are common names. One excellent example of such is the moth illustrated on page 371 of the Beadle and Leckie guide called Small Characoma, a beast that now resides in the genus Garella. Yes, it was formerly in the genus Characoma, but has been saddled with a "common" name based on a genus name that no longer applies! (Note, though, that the MPG site lists a different common name.) In fact, the genus of Black Snout has been changed recently, too, with the species formerly being a member of Plathypena and with many other members of Hypena formerly belonging to Bomolocha.

Aethiophysa invisalis (4877? 4878?)

Aethiophysa invisalis

Family Crambidae, subfamily Glaphyriinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

5 July 2012

Near Whitesboro

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Distribution map or distribution map

In my experience and opinion, there are two primary aspects of insect identification that scare off hobbyists from becoming seriously interested. The first (not necessarily the most important) is the lack of widely accepted common or English names for most species, once one gets out of the butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, tiger beetles, and orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids) and even including these groups in much of the world outside northern Europe and the U. S. and Canada. The second reason is the uncertainty of identification in groups with incredible numbers of species, many or most of which are very similar to each other and a large portion of which require close study of minutiae and, particularly, structure of sex characters. As example, the Kaufman insect guide notes that there are some 870 species of syrphid flies (Syrphidae) and that that family accounts for only about 1/20 of the 17,000+ species of flies known from North America north of Mexico. Of course, that's "known," which does not necessarily mean that that is all there are; in fact, there are almost certainly hundreds, if not thousands, of species awaiting description or, even, finding.

But, of course, this is a blog about moths, so I'll get back to the subject "species." When I first noted the subject of this essay's picture at Steve Bauer's house near Whitesboro, I knew that I had not seen the species and figured it for one of the horde of crambids (there are lot of species with triangular wings and that perch head-down in two dimensions), most of which are not illustrated in the Beadle and Leckie field guide. I rummaged around among similar crambids on the Moth Photographer's Guide (MPG) and found two species that looked very much like this beast. Unfortunately, I could not find any particular feature that separated those two species. On the record of known occurrences, I figured that the first one (Aethiophysa invisalis 4877) was the more likely of the two species to occur in New Jersey (though neither had, apparently, been recorded here). So, I submitted the above picture to both MPG and to the Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) website as the first county and state record of that species. While there has been no action on the photo at Bug Guide, which is the portal for records addition to MPG, the picture was accepted as proof of occurrence by BAMONA. However, it was accepted as Aethiophysa lentiflualis, not as Aethiophysa invisalis.

That gave me pause. Since BAMONA does not apparently utilize Hodges numbers, I cannot compare Hodges numbers between the two sites. Also, since neither site explains the nomenclatural differences and because a brief internet search got me nowhere in discovering the causes of the differences, I do not know, really, what species to which this beast is referable and why MPG does not use lentiflualis and why BAMONA does not use either invisalis nor consimilis (the other species name on MPG). Apparently, the two sites are following different authorities, but if there had been a lumping, there should be some shared name, not completely different names. So, I have no real clue what has gone on with that genus; perhaps, someone will comment with the solution.

So, we come to the real gist of this essay: uncertainty. In the birding world, given reasonable views, virtually every individual bird can be identified by those with strong skills in that vein. Thus, birders take for granted that, though an individual birder may not be able to identify an individual bird, s/he is certain that someone can make the ID. In the insect world, that is just not the case, particularly without a specimen to study. That uncertainty leads to many enthusiasts giving up on various insect groups, including moths. But, as one might have expected from the fact that I have established this blog, I would encourage those with an interest to stick to it and accept the fact that you will have a higher percentage of unknown beasts (a very much higher percentage) than you would were you a birder with a relatively similar knowledge set. And, if you had given up on moths previously in your life, give it a second chance. We know a lot more, now, about distribution than we did even a decade ago, and there are more and more-comprehensive ID resources out there than, again, even a decade ago.

Catalpa Sphinx (7789)

Ceratomia catalpae

Family Sphingidae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

7 July 2012

West Cape May

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Distribution map

With a wingspan reaching 2.75 in. (95 mm), this subtle beauty is one of the largest sphinxes and one of the county's largest moth species. The very similar Waved Sphinx (7787) can be differentiated by subtle details of forewing pattern (particularly those of the sub-terminal [ST] line), but often/usually has the reniform spot filled by white or silver, rather than gray as in Catalpa.

The alternate focus of this essay is a bit of terminology, what is termed in moths as the "reniform spot." The literal translation of "reniform" is kidney-shaped, so it may come as a surprise to many that, in the mothing world, one often finds the seemingly redundant phrase, "Reniform... kidney shaped" (couplet 3 in Eupsilia key). That is because lepidopterists have co-opted the word to note the location of a spot that is often kidney-shaped, rather than using it for its true meaning (I suppose that some bounder could make the above say, "Reniform... reniform"). The reniform spot is just distal (in the sense of toward the end and, in this case, toward the end of the wing) of the median line and close (proximal) to the leading edge of the wing (see Fig. 4 in Beadle and Leckie). The Catalpa Sphinx has an oval reniform spot outlined in black.

The beast in the picture above was nearly the first moth that Mike Crewe saw in his moth trap on the morning of 7 July, probably because of its relative immensity. Once we got it out of the trap, we let it perch on a door jamb on the interior of the mudroom closet of his house to while away the time that we dealt with all of the lesser creatures. Most of the small moths will, given the opportunity, fly away once day comes, but the large species (perhaps because they're so obvious and so loved by avian predators) usually sit tight, counting on their camouflage. Upon getting a few record pictures of the Catalpa Sphinx, we took it outside in order to get "natural" pictures, putting it on the side of Mike's big side-yard stump. After a brief photo session, we took it to a shaded spot and let it go.

[Mike Crewe photographing the Catalpa Sphinx in his side yard. Photo by Tony Leukering]

Deadwood Borer (8514)

Scolecocampa liburna

Family Erebidae, subfamily Erebinae

Photograph copyright by Sam Galick

8 July 2012

Near Whitesboro

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Distribution map

We return to the "massive assemblage" of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea and to the large and varied family Erebidae, which occupies 38 plates in the Beadle and Leckie guide. Little is known of this species' habits and ecology, but it is suspected that the caterpillar eats fungus in decaying wood. Either Deadwood Borers are attracted only uncommonly to lights or the species is not at all common, as we have found only a few, with Sam's nice find very early this morning being the subject of this essay's photo.

One quick bit of minutiae to point out:  Don't go looking for Deadwood Borer (or Dead-wood Borer Moth; see previous comment about English nomenclature) in the index to Beadle and Leckie, at least not by the common name, as it is not indexed under any option ("Dead-wood," "Borer," or "Moth"). However, a search under the genus name will be successful. Long-and-involved indices of books usually have at least a few problems, but this is the first one that I've found in this book. I do, however, question the utility of the decision to index both the text and plate entries for every species, as they are on facing pages.

We are obviously getting into the peak of the moth season, because numbers and variety have climbed tremendously just in the past couple of weeks; I have two good examples to prove the point. The first is from this most recent night, a night that I should have found myself wandering over to Sam Galick's place (as I had on the two previous nights!). That is because Sam reports photographing some 80 or so species at his porch and black lights from dusk until the first Northern Cardinal sang near dawn.

The other example comes from Mike Crewe's moth trap. On the morning of 22 June 2012, I helped Mike go through the trap that he'd had out all the previous night, an the final tally of species from that haul is 91. I joined him again in this endeavor yesterday morning (7 July 2012). What Mike does is capture from the trap and release out the door any individuals of species that he can immediately ID, and retains all those individuals that he cannot. Obviously, the common species are the ones most readily ID'ed due to previous experience, but it was still more than surprising to me when the final tally just of Mottled Grass-veneers was 596, which outnumbered all other species combined! Me being the official scribe and tallier, at the end of the endeavor (which took quite a few hours to complete!), I tallied the number of species listed that he had released straight out of the trap: 68. So, combining that with the easily 40+ species that he photographed because he could not ID them, the final tally will certainly be well above 100. And that's from a relatively habitat-poor locations on Cape Island!

Suzuki's Promolactis (1047.1)

Promalactis suzukiella

Family Oecophoridae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

5 July 2012

Near Whitesboro

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Distribution map

While one might think that this stunning creature would be easy to note, it is actually amazingly easy to overlook. That is because the largest of Suzuki's Promolactis reaches a whopping 7 mm or so (just over 1/4 in)! The new Beadle and Leckie field guide illustrates two related, tiny, orange things in this family, but not this one, probably because it is known to occupy only a small portion of the range covered by that guide.

Despite the wonderfulness of this beast, the thrust of this essay is the Hodges numbers (here, 1047.1), about which many readers may have been wondering. The Hodges numbering system was published in 1983 that gave every species known from the U. S. and Canada (at that time) a number that could be used by all and sundry when cataloging moths. As one might expect in a group that we know so poorly, an incredible amount of new information gathered since 1983 has resulted in lumps, splits, and species additions to the area of concern. Suzuki's Promolactis is one of these, hence the decimal point in the number.

Adding species to the list (either through splitting of an existing taxon or discovering a taxon new to the area or, even, to science) is not that painful. One simply puts a decimal after the closest relative of the new species found on the list and then a '1' (or '2' or '3' or whatever, depending upon how many additions have been made previously). However, because of all of these aforementioned changes, the usefulness of the Hodges numbering system has declined, in no small part due to our more-refined understanding of the relationships within and between moth families, which has seen whole-scale changes since 1983. Thus, there are few long stretches in the numbering sequence in which the numbering actually indicates relatedness.

A new system is in the process of being born, but the delivery will take quite some time, yet, to complete. This system is noted on page 20 of the Beadle and Leckie guide. Robert Patterson (a driving force behind the superb resource that is the Moth Photographer's Group website) has devised a system in which each superfamily (a hierarchical category above family, but below order) receives a two-digit number and each species a four-digit number that is combined into a hyphenated six-digit code for each species. While only one superfamily has been completed to date, that superfamily is a gigantic and incredibly variable one of macroleps that occupies about 1/2 of the Beadle and Leckie guide (pgs. 268-527)! I do not know much more about it, but expect that Robert may be pulling his hair out dealing with the microleps!

The White-speck (10438)

Mythimna unipuncta

Family Noctuidae, subfamily Noctuinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

4 July 2012

Goshen

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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!

Waterlily Borer (4751)

Elophila gyralis

Family Crambidae, subfamily Acentropinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

30 June 2012

Cape May Point

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Distribution map

We return to the Crambidae, a large and varied family of microleps, to visit another subfamily. The Acentropinae has the common name of "Aquatic Crambids" due to the fact that most species's hosts are aquatic plants, as one might have guessed by the name of this essay's subject species. I don't know how they manage, as there is little readily available on the subfamily's habits and ecologies, but they obviously do so. Many members of the subfamily have distinctive wing patterns and, for crambids, are relatively easily identified. Once you know that they are crambids. Quite a few are delta-winged, like our subject and are readily confused with members of other families (particularly macrolep families), while others hold their wings out like geometrids.

As can quickly be determined by a glance at the distribution map (as of the writing of this essay), this wee beastie represents yet another first state record, though one not at all unanticipated due to its widespread distribution in eastern and central U. S. The location at which this individual was photographed is about equidistant between Lake Lily and the water bodies of Cape May Point S. P., and that distance is not very long at all, so it's no surprise that Waterlily Borer showed up at the Davis house in Cape May Point.

Celery Looper (8924)

Anagrapha falcifera

Family Noctuidae, subfamily Plusiinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

20 April 2012

Lizardtail Sanctuary powerline cut

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Distribution map

As Mike Crewe has pointed out on numerous occasions, the "loopers" of the Noctuidae are not. "Looper" is a term coined for caterpillars of the members of the Geometridae, and also known as "inchworms" or "measuring worms;" noctuid caterpillars are not at all similar. Most of the noctuid loopers are species of open country, with quite a few being crop pests and named after those crops (e.g., celery, clover, and soybean).

Most of these moths are quite attractive, with many having distinctively-shaped silver stigmata (singular, "stigma") on the forewings. These stigmata are distinctive enough that if an unknown moth sports such, one can probably start among the Plusiinae with fair expectation of finding the ID solution there. The stigma of Celery Looper creates a silvery tip to a long, arching strip of white that juts into the dark of the inner portion of the wing. This is one of the few strongly diurnal members of the Noctuidae (which is, obviously, named for the night!), and it can be found nearly throughout the county in old fields and powerline cuts. While the species' caterpillar does eat celery, locally it is probably primarily attracted to clover, corn, and dandelions. The individual pictured here was my lifer and another picture of the same critter is provided below.

Chalky Wave (7158)

Scopula purata

Family Geometridae, subfamily Sterrhirnae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

10 June 2012

Steelmantown bog

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Distribution map

Like Horned Spanworm, Chalky Wave is a geometer, readily discerned as such by its spread-wing posture at rest. Though it may not appear so in this picture due to the strong focus on the moth, when I found it, I initially passed it off as a bird dropping. Fortunately, I looked closer! Even a quick glance at the distribution map will provide the information that the species seems to have a strong coastal-plain affinity. Whether this apparent affinity is real or just an artifact of poor sampling -- and the few number of locations might well indicate that -- is unknown. However, given the few records, even on the heavily human-populated East Coast, I suspect that the species is probably tied to some rarish host-plant species. Given that we apparently do not know what that host plant is and that none of the usual picture sources (Bug Guide, BAMONA, and MPG) have a photograph of the caterpillar, I think that my hunch may be correct.

Another feature of this picture is that, upon finding the beast, I rummaged through Beadle and Leckie and found a depiction that looked very similar. Yet, when I posted this picture on my Flickr site, another Flickr member suggested that it was not, in fact, Large Lace-border, the species in the field guide that I had picked as the ID of this moth. I found that, going through MPG, that person was correct and it was confirmed as correct on Bug Guide. So, yet another lesson learned. Again. (Is that really "learned," then?) Just because something in the moth field guide looks quite close, check all of the resources available, because the field guide(s) cannot possibly cover all of the possibilities and all of the variations within those possibilities when dealing with moths.

Arge Tiger (8199)

Grammia arge

Family Erebidae, subfamily Arctiinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

22 June 2012

West Cape May

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Distribution map

The tiger moths are another of my favorite groups, again because of the family's relatively conservative shape that makes most species immediately identifiable to the group. Additionally, many tigers have distinctive, pleasing, and/or interesting forewing patterns. Many species have hairy, furry, or wooly caterpillars that get them distinctive names of their own. Tigers have a strong following among moth-ers, as exemplified by the fact that of the ridiculously low number of moth species recorded in the county before I and, particularly, Mike Crewe started working on them here (63), nearly one-sixth (10) are tigers, including Arge Tiger. As a brief aside, most of the rest of those 63 species are of two families: silk moths (Saturniidae, 14 species) and sphinx moths (Sphingidae 32 species)! In fact, only  one other family is represented, the Notodontidae (prominents).

Arge Tiger is one of the striped species that are particularly appreciated by moth-ers. Unlike most of them, however, Arge sports hindwings that are primarily pale, with some dark spotting; most have colorful hindwings, dominated by reds and yellows with contrasting bits of black. I would provide a link to a picture of the caterpillar of the species, but neither the MPG nor BAMONA pages have one as of the writing of this essay.

The individual subject of this essay was captured by Mike in his moth trap a few nights ago. I got to help go through the hundreds of moths (and hundreds of a large variety of other arthropod beasties) the next morning, when I took the above photo. Mike, who has spent a lot of time mothing in the U.K., particularly in Norfolk (for which see the incredible Norfolk moth site; here is a link to a species page), so knows oodles more than do I about moths. When he runs the trap, he endeavors to keep track of counts of every species. As he's relatively new to our moths, he keeps various ID references handy. Though I don't think that his tally is complete from that night, the last I heard, the species list was up to 75!  [28 July 2012 addendum:  The final tally from that night was 91 species!]

[A scene from the Crewe residence on the morning of 22 June 2012 with the new Beadle and Leckie field guide, a three-ring binder with -- apparently -- every plate from the MPG site printed, and the day's tally of common species from the trap. As with all photos on the site, click on the image to see a larger version.]

Epione Underwing (8773)

Catocala epione

Family Erebidae, subfamily Erebinae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

26 June 2012

Woods Road "square-doughnut field" (nw. corner of county)

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Distribution map

The lovely beast that is the subject of this post, one of the larger underwing species, was found by Mike Crewe as we (along with Megan Crewe) were wandering in the northwest corner of the county today. As can be seen from the distribution map on the MPG site (that is, if you check on the map sometime before it gets this record added to it), you can see that the species was previously unknown from most of New Jersey.

The underwings are a favorite among moth-ers (I guess that we need that hyphen in there!) and collectors, probably due to many species' striking hindwing color and pattern and their exquisite forewing patterns. Ebione Underwing may have amongst the most exquisite of the latter. As noted in the Io Moth essay, those underwings with bright hindwing patterns probably use them as a startle feature. This underwing, however, does not have a hindwing with yellow, orange, or red and I know not whether they are a startling species. In the above picture, we can just see a bit of bright white border on what might be a black hindwing. Fortunately, before the beastie arranged itself in this posture on the trunk of a Pitch Pine, it was perched in a more-revealing pose (below), one that allows us to see that, indeed, the hindwings are mostly black.

Maple Callus Borer (2554)

Synanthedon acerni

Family Sesiidae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

20 June 2012

Belleplain State Forest HQ

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Distribution map

The family Sesiidae, the Clearwing Borers, is an interesting moth family, members of which are often mistaken for hymenopterans (bees, wasps), which is, of course, the idea. They are primarily day-flying species, though this post's subject is the only such species that somewhat regularly comes to lights at night. As indicated by both the species' common and species names, the larvae consume maple. However, they do not eat leaves, but wood, boring into twigs, roots, branches, and trunks. The quite-similar-looking species Red Maple Borer (2546) has a more extensive black forewing tip and only one black patch on the interior of the forewing. And it does not come to lights at night. The various species of the family are difficult to locate, despite being diurnal beasts. Careful scrutiny of larger flowering plants, such as Joe-pyeweed, dogbane, and milkweed, may reveal their presence.

Virginia Creeper Sphinx (7885)

Darapsa myron

Family Sphingidae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

28 May 2012

Lake Nummy, Belleplain State Forest

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Distribution map

The sphinx family has always been one of my favorite moth groups, for a variety of reasons. The primary reason may be that, for moths, their jet-fighter wing shape and stout bodies make them easily discernible in the field. Despite this stereotypical sphingid shape, there is quite a bit of variation within the family, in size, color pattern, posture, and feeding habits. The family even boasts a relatively substantial number of day-flying species, particularly the clear-winged species that act as hummingbirds and are often mistaken as such by laymen.

As this post's subject species' primary host plant -- amazingly enough, Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) -- is so common and widespread, so is the species. Though Virginia Creeper Sphinx comes in a variety of colors, the pattern of color is fairly consistent, and the white shoulder braids make for an excellent first clue to identity.

Southern Flannel (4647)

Megalopyge (Lagoa) opercularis

Family Megalopygidae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

17 June 2012

near Green Creek

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Distribution map

Though I have already treated a very close cousin of this post's subject, there are two reasons that I return to the Megalopygidae's type genus. The first is because these things are just too darned cute! I'll get to the second shortly. The other night I was sitting around in my house and got a wild hare to go check lighted signs for moths, because I did not feel like driving all the way up to Belleplain State Forest, my usual mothing destination. I also wanted to spread my effort around the county, as Mike Crewe and I are attempting to do an extensive atlas or mapping project for the county. So, I drove to Cape May Court House and back, visiting a bunch of lighted signs, some of which had few moths and none of which had anything like overwhelming numbers of moths.

I found this flannel at my very first stop, the King Nummy Campground along Hwy 47. In fact, it was the first moth that I photographed that night! Because I had recorded no moth species for the block (Q06), I photographed it to remind me to record it. And, of course, because flannels are just too darned cute! Upon going through my pictures at home the next morning, I noticed that the beast did not look quite like Black-waved Flannel, which is the only species of such that I had identified here. The color on the upper part of the wings was darker, ruddier, with a distinct yellow semi-collar. The pattern near the wing margins was also not quite right. Finally, it has much more extensive black on the legs than does Black-waved. I knew that Southern Flannel's range got into Maryland, but I didn't think that the species reached New Jersey. So, I checked the MPG site and, yowzer (!), that was the correct ID and the species was unknown from north and east of Maryland! Woo-hoo, first state record!

Of course, when mothing, it's fairly easy to find first state records, because we know them so poorly. Mike Crewe has garnered a host of first NJ moth records, but this was the first that I'd found, that I knew of. Recently, though, I have been checking the MPG site more for occurrence data than solely for ID help, and note that my extensive set of moth pictures from this spring includes quite a number of "first" NJ records (though Mike has, undoubtedly, already scored a few of those). But, hey, flannels are cute and this one was my first state first, hence the blog post.

News Flash Addendum!

Mike Crewe and I independently found Southern Flannels much farther north in the county, both finding them at the Belleplain State Forest HQ (block F09), Mike with six there on 24 June, and I found five there on 25 June (pic below). I may have to go look for the species in Cumberland and/or Atlantic counties!

Io Moth (7746)

Automeris io

Family Saturniidae (silkworms), subfamily Hemileucinae (buck moths)

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

15 June 2012 (male, upper), 17 June 2012 (female), 13 June 2012 (male, lower)

Belleplain State Forest HQ

CMMP block F09 (males), S08 (female)
Distribution map

The Io Moth is quite attractive, with its extensive yellow (male) or bronzy-gray to purplish (female) wings and long, furry yellow forelegs. However, this species presents our first example of a particular phenomenon scattered widely through Lepidoptera, particularly among moths, and present in quite a few other orders of insects (and, in fact, even in some vertebrate groups). That phenomenon is the presence of an appearance feature that is startling, with its presumed aim at causing would-be predators a bit of consternation and, thus, to forgo eating the startling individual insect. In quite a few moth species, this startling effect is created by a vague or precise representation of vertebrate eyes, usually one that can be suddenly uncovered. The male Io Moth has both. When at typical rest posture (as above), dark discal patches on the forewings can create the appearance of eyes. However, should a predator ignore that suggestion of a much-larger-and-perhaps-dangerous-to-the-predator animal, the moth flicks spread its forewings to reveal a startlingly strong suggestion of large eyes.

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

CMMP block F09
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

CMMP block R08
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

CMMP block S07
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

CMMP block E10
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

CMMP block F09
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.