July 29, 2012 - Moths

Sometimes I turn on our porch light for an hour or so after dark just to see which moths will be attracted to the light. Here are some of them.

Both of these photos show the same species; a Large Lace-border moth. There’s apparently a lot of variation in how much of the darker “lace” pattern is shown. But you can see that the basic shape of the moth remains the same in both cases. The brown wavy lines are also consistent on both specimens. Another identifying feature of the Large Lace-border is the four tiny black dots seen easily in the middle of the wings on the left photo. They are present in the right photo but just harder to see. This moth has a wingspan of about one inch.

MothLaceborderLargeScopulalimboundataDunnngLakecompare20120711

This boldly-patterned moth is simply called The Neighbor. It has a wingspan of about two inches.

MothTheNeighborDunningLake20120711

This soft, furry creature is a Forest Tent Caterpillar moth. Every ten years or so, there is a huge increase in the population of the caterpillar stage of this species. They are voracious eaters of leaves, especially those of the aspen tree. This population explosion results in widespread defoliation of trees in the north woods. The trees usually grow another set of leaves and most of them do survive. This moth has a wingspan of about 1¼”.

MothTentCaterpillarForestMalacosomadisstriaDunningLake20120711

Here’s a very intricately patterned moth called a Lettered Habrosyne. It has a wingspan of about 1¼”. I couldn’t find very much information about this moth; apparently it’s rather rare.

MothHabrosyneLetteredscriptaDunningLake20100707

With its yellow and brown color, this Sharp-lined Yellow moth could easily be mistaken for a fallen leaf, especially in the fall. To make this camouflage even more effective, it tends to sit with its wings “tented;” higher in the middle and lower at the edges. It also has a wingspan of about 1¼”.

MothYellowSharplinedDunningLake20120711

Sphinx moths are some of our largest and most spectacular moths. This Waved Sphinx has a very intricate pattern on its wings. It doesn’t have colorful under-wings like many of the others in this family. It’s quite large, with a wingspan of almost four inches. I was able to coax the moth onto a piece of driftwood so I could get a nice photo.

MothSphinxWavedCeratomiaundulosaDunningLake20120707