Mokka mit Schlag » Nature

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
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Before I left Irvine, I was starting to get in the habit of walking around Mason Park after dark, something I’d be a little more nervous about doing in Prospect Park, especially with a couple of thousand dollars worth of camera equipment around my neck. However the few lights in the park really did attract some beautiful insects you’d be hard-pressed to find in the daytime including this Diamondback Moth I found on my very last nightly foray:

Plutella xylostella, Hodges #2366
William R. Mason Regional Park
2009-08-26
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I missed Moth Monday last week because I was busy packing for my move back to Brooklyn, as well as trying to squeeze in a few more state birds in California. I didn’t quite hit 300, but Little Blue Heron and Semipalmated Sandpiper were still nice additions.

I’m now back in New York. Federal Express hasn’t dropped off the Firewire disk where I store my raw photos, but here’s a JPEG from 2007, and in honor of my return, it’s from Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. This is Hodges 7132, the Common Tan Wave Moth:

Common Tan Wave Moth, Pleuroprucha insulsaria
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge; August 12, 2007
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Santiago Oaks Regional park in Orange has been one of the best sites for finding medium to large moths since I moved to southern California. This geometer from August 2 is Hodges #7114 – Idaea demissaria:

Thanks to Bob Patterson for the ID.
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Sophonia orientalis
Irvine, 2009-07-16

This introduced species from Taiwan shows up on my balcony occasionally. It’s a little less than half a centimeter long. The spots on its hindquarters are fake eyes. In the field at night they really do look like eyes, and consequently the bug appears to walk backwards.
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Here’s one I just found at San Joaquin yesterday, so the ID’s still a little hesitant; but I think it’s Hodges#4866, Abegesta reluctalis. Could also be a similar species in the genus. Thanks to Maury J. Heiman for the ID.

This picture is quite a bit larger than life size. The moth itself was less than a centimeter.
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