August 26, 2012 - More Moths

I’ve mentioned before that I occasionally like to turn on our porch light for an hour or so after dark to see what kind of moths are attracted to the light. Here are some more of those fascinating creatures. The names of some of these moths are just as interesting as they are.

This one is called a Bold-Feathered Grass Moth. It was identified for me by one of the experts on BugGuide.com. It appears to be pretty common but neither of my moth books includes this species. Searching on the Internet has turned up very little information about this Grass Moth except that it has a wingspan just less than 1 inch. It is quite pretty with its iridescent wings.

MothBoldfeatheredGrassHerpetogrammapertextalisDunningLake20120718

I submitted this Sweetfern Geometer to BugGuide.com and found out that it was the first one they had received from Minnesota. This moth is found in all Canadian provinces. In the eastern United States, it is found as far south as Georgia. It has a wingspan of 17 to 26 mm (¾ to 1¼ inches). The name indicates that the larvae (caterpillar) feeds on a plant called Sweetfern. A web site from the University of Alberta says Sweetfern isn’t found in their area and I don’t think we have it either. Instead, it feeds on birch and alder.

MothGeometerSweetfernCyclophorapendulinariaDunningLake20120808

The Hologram Moth is also known as the Green-patched Looper Moth. It has a wingspan of 45 mm (just less than 2 inches.) It does have green patches on the forewings but it also has an array of shiny metallic areas on the wings. Depending on the angle of the light, they can be gold, silver, copper, or brass colored. This is a very pretty moth. In Canada it’s found from Nova Scotia to Manitoba. In the United States, its range extends south to Pennsylvania and west to Minnesota.

MothHologramDiachrysiaballucaGreenpatchedLooperDunningLake20120718

This moth was identified as a Red-crossed Button Slug Moth. However, I was cautioned that there is no reliable way to tell it from an Abbreviated Button Slug Moth. (I love these names!) There is even speculation that those two might actually be the same species. None of the sites I looked at gave a wingspan measurement. I do remember that it was quite small, probably less than ½ inch.

MothSlugRedCrossedButtonTortricidiapallidaDunningLake20120711

The last photo for today shows a Large Maple Spanworm moth (not to be confused with the Maple Spanworm moth or the Lesser Maple Spanworm moth). True to its name, it is large, with a wingspan up to 2 inches. It can be found over the eastern two-thirds of North America from Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Texas, and north to Alberta.

MothSpanwormLargeMapleProchoerodeslineolaDunningLake20120808