Sept. 11, 2011 - Moths

At our home in northern Minnesota, I often turn on the porch light at night for an hour or two so I can photograph moths that are attracted to the light. It’s been really interesting to see the variety of species that show up. This is a Yellow-banded Underwing. There are quite a few species of Underwing moths and they feature cryptically colored forewings and brightly colored hindwings. In general, moths are active at night. The coloring of the forewings allows them to remain almost invisible as they perch on a tree during the day. The brightly colored hindwings are meant to startle a predator as the moth flies off. My favorite insect web site, BugGuide.net, has reports of Yellow-banded Underwings from all the states and provinces surrounding the Great Lakes. That gives you an idea of the range of this moth.

MothYellowbandedUnderwingDunningLakecomposite20110819

This is a White Underwing. The pattern on its forewings allows it to perch on birch trees during the day and not be noticed by predators.

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Here’s another White Underwing. This one is even lighter in color than the one in the previous photo, so it would really blend in with the bark of a birch tree. It was very cooperative and climbed onto my index finger. It is a fairly large moth; with the wings spread apart, it spans about 3 inches. It stretched from the middle of my finger almost to the tip.

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Here’s a close up of a White Underwing with its proboscis (tongue) sticking out.

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Many of you have seen my bird mug shots; here’s a mug shot of the White Underwing. I especially like the right-hand photo.

MothWhiteUnderwingmugshotDunningLake20110907

Another insect attracted to our light was this beautiful Maple Spanworm moth. It could easily be mistaken for a colorful fall leaf. The shape of this moth might look a little odd. Most moths spread their wings flat on the surface. This one curls the ends of its wings up at about a 45-degree angle.

MothMapleSpanwormDunningLake20110824