Sept. 18, 2011 - Moths-part 2

Last week I showed you some of the interesting moths that were attracted to our porch light at our home in northern Minnesota. Here are some more. This is a Chain-dotted Geometer (Cingilia catenaria). The adult moths emerge in August and fly from August to October. They have a wingspan of about 1½ inches. Eggs are laid in the fall and are able to overwinter in our climate. The larvae or caterpillars emerge in June and feed on quite a variety of plants in our area. The caterpillars of Geometer moths are often called Inchworms because of the way they move. They extend the front of their body as far as they can. Then they loop their body up so the back end reaches the front end. Then the process starts all over again.

MothGeometerChaindottedCingiliacatenariaDunningLake20110902composite

This is a Chestnut-marked Pondweed moth (Parapoynx badiusalis). The larvae are found in the water where they feed on pondweeds (of course). This is a small moth with a wingspan of about ¾ of an inch.

MothChestnutmarkedPondweedParapoynxbadiusalisDunningLake20110819

This moth was identified by the experts at BugGuide.net as a Currant Eulithis (Eulithis propulsata). I can’t find much information about it except that it is also in the Geometer Moth family.

MothCurrantEulithispropulsataDunningLake20110818

I also found very little information about this Baltimore Hypena moth (Hypena baltimoralis). Its range is described as Eastern United States, west to Wisconsin. It must be extending its range because we are farther west than Wisconsin. It has a wingspan of just over an inch.

MothpossibleDimorphicBomolochaDunningLake20110908

Moths do have interesting names. This one is called Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum). It is also called Spotted Cutworm. It ranges from Alaska to Mexico in the west and all across the United States and Canada, except in the south central and southeastern states. In fact, my photo was identified on BugGuide.net by someone in the state of Washington who said they were also showing up where he lives. The wingspan of this species is ½ to ¾ inch.

MothSetaceousHebrewCharacterXestianigrumDunningLake20110824

This is a Common Looper Moth (Autographa precationis ). It feeds on dandelions so it is a very helpful moth. It has a wingspan of about 3/4 inch.

MothSoybeanLooperChrysodeixisincludensDunningLake20110819

This moth lives up to its name: Pale Beauty (Campaea perlata). It is pearly white and pale green in color. The wingspan of the Pale Beauty ranges from 1 - 2 inches with females being much larger than males. This is a very common moth found over most of North America, including the western Arctic. However, BugGuide.net says they are not found in Nunavut and Texas. Now what does that say about the Pale Beauty?

MothPaleBeautyDunningLake20110818