Mokka mit Schlag » Bugs

Moth Monday Cheats

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:29:38 +0000

First of all it’s Tuesday, and second of all this is a Sachem Skipper, which, depending on whom you talk to, isn’t a moth at all, but rather a butterfly (or maybe not–read on). However the real moths are getting rather thin on the ground around here as winter approaches, and unless I take a trip to warmer climes sometime soon, Moth Monday may have to go on hiatus until Spring.

Sachem Skipper, Atalopedes campestris, Hodges #4049
Prospect Park, 2009-09-20

However the real taxonomic story is a little more complicated. Perhaps noticing all publicity the American Museum of Natural History got by demoting Pluto from planetary status, the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History put up signs in its live butterfly and moth exhibit telling visitors that there is no scientific difference between butterflies and moths.

Traditionally butterflies and moths were distinguished because butterflies had clubbed antennae and moths didn’t. However taxonomically the butterflies seem to have evolved from the moths (more specifically the geometers) so they’re really just a subgroup of moths. Of course, by that logic a bird is just a funny kind of reptile (or birds and reptiles are just funny kinds of dinosaurs). DNA studies over the last couple of decades have been upending pretty much everything we ever thought we knew about species, and that seems likely to continue for several decades more, probably leading to a major rethinking of just what a species is anyway, and how many branches the tree of life has. The convenient “King Philip Couldn’t Order Five Good Sandwiches” mnemonic we learned in high school is just way too simple to describe reality.

And, oh yes, the skippers. These have traditionally been considered butterflies, but superficially they resemble bright, day-flying moths. Also, their antennae have neither clubs nor feathers but rather hooks. Does that make them their own group? Taxonomically, skippers are placed in the superfamily Hesperioidea, while all other North American butterflies are placed in Papilionoidea. There are also a few dozen species of Hedylidae in Central America and points south that used to be considered geometer moths, but have more recently been changed to butterflies.

One taxon up is the order Lepidoptera (scale-winged insects) which includes butterflies, moths, Hedylidae, and skippers. There’s no one grouping that includes both butterflies and skippers. Evolutionarily, I’m not sure what, if anything, we know about when or where skippers evolved. Did they evolve from non-skipper butterflies or vice versa? Or did skippers and butterflies each evolve separately from the moths? Are the Hedylidae another offshoot of the moths or a missing link between the moths and butterflies? Whatever we do think we know is likely to change in the next couple of decades anyway.

Moth Monday: One From the Vaults

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:55:50 +0000

Moths are getting a little scarce around here right now, especially on a cold rainy weekend like we just had, so here’s a Straight-toothed Sallow caterpillar from a couple of summers ago at Ridgewood Reservoir recently identified by Tom Murray:

Straight-Toothed Sallow, Eupsilia vinulenta, Hodges #9933
Ridgewood Reservoir, Queens, New York, June 9, 2007

I’ve never seen an adult, but you can see some pictures at BugGuide, Butterflies and Moths of North America, and the Moth Photographers Group.

Moth Monday Repeats Itself: Chickweed Geometer

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:08:34 +0000

Chickweed Geometer was one of the first moths I posted here, but these days I have much better camera equipment:

Haematopis grataria
Flowd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, 2009-10-04

Chickweed Geometer is a common moth around here at this time of year.

Moth Monday at Fort Tilden: Lucerne Moth

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:17:21 +0000

I spent yesterday wandering around Fort Tilden, Jacob Riis Park, and Floyd Bennett Field with the Brooklyn Bird Club. Moths were everywhere. Most of them were large, skinny, and well hidden. They’d flutter up in front of you as you walked through the grass, then disappear into the grass where they’d hide behind a blade of grass. However I did manage to track a few to their resting place. Usually this would immediately spook them again, but I did get decent shots of a couple including this Lucerne Moth:

Nomophila nearctica, Hodges#5156
Fort Tilden, Queens, 2009-10-04

This is a largish member of the Crambid Snout Moths, and is also known as the American Celery Webworm, the Celery Stalkworm, Clover Nomophila, and False Webworm.

Question Mark

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:22:28 +0000

Question Mark Butterfly, Polygonia interrogationis
Sandy Hook, New Jersey, 2009-09-26

Moth Monday Visits New Jersey

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:24:47 +0000

It occurs to me that a lot of the moths I’ve posted lately have been rather, small, brown, and dull; even if from a taxonmoic view they’re quite diverse. Thus I was really happy to find these showy Ailanthus Webworm Moths on Saturday’s Brooklyn Bird Club field trip to Sandy Hook and Richard W. Dekorte Park:

Atteva punctella, Hodges#2401
Sandy Hook, New Jersey, 2009-09-26

This native Ermine Moth species is active in the daytime. It’s originally from Florida where it feeds on the native Paradise Tree Simarouba glauca. However it’s expanded its food sources to include a number of exotic trees including Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus altissima; and has thus managed to expand its range northward as far as Canada. It’s the only member of its genus in North America.

American Copper

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:54:51 +0000

American Copper, Lycaena phlaeas
Sandy Hook, New Jersey, 2009-09-26
1/250 s, f/11, ISO 100, Canon 100mm macro with ring flash

Sweat Bee

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:20:46 +0000

Augochlora pura
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, 2009-09-20

Moth Monday: California on my Mind

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:27:42 +0000

Last weekend I saw moths everywhere I went in Staten Island and Brooklyn. This weekend I couldn’t find a single one so we return to William R. Mason Regional Park in California for Hodges#5451.2, Parapediasia torquatella:

I found this one crawling around a lit building at night. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information about it on the Web. It may have only been described as recently as 1995.

Maybe by next week I can find another New York moth, though before you know it will get too cold here for moths.

Moth Monday: California on my Mind

Elliotte Rusty Harold — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:43:14 +0000

I’ve been seeing some interesting day flying moths in the parks here in New York, especially in grassy areas. However I haven’t yet unpacked my camera gear from the move, much less taken it out in the field so it’s lucky I still have a bunch of California moths in the queue, like this beautiful Monopis crocicapitella from Mason Park:

Monopis crocicapitella, Hodges#415
William R. Mason Regional Park, Irvine, California, USA; August 26, 2009

This also happens to be the first such post I’ve done with Snow Leopard, which adjusts the Mac’s gamma to 2.2 instead of 1.8. I’m not sure if this will make any difference. The old photos I’ve looked at don’t show any noticeable change.