July 28, 2019 - Moths at Dunning Lake

I often turn on the porch light at our lake home in northern Minnesota and wait to see the interesting moths that are attracted to the light. These insects are active at night, so most people never get to see them. Here are a few of the more colorful ones I’ve seen so far this year.

This is an Isabella Tiger Moth. It’s about 1 to 1¼ inches (24-33 mm) long. This is the moth that develops from the Woolybear caterpillar. (Here’s a link to a Woolybear photo https://www.earlorfphotos.com/Insects/Moths/i-m6JpZvQ/A )

TigerMothIsabellaPyrrharctiaDunningLakeItascaCounty20190628

The American Lappet Moth folds its wings into a tent shape when it perches. In this position, its reddish color and scalloped wing edges provide good camouflage because it looks like a dried leaf. (That doesn’t help, however, when it perches on a black door frame, as in this photo.) Its size ranges from 5/8 to1 inch (15-25 mm) long.

LappetMothAmericanPhyllodesmaamericanaDunningLakeItascaCounty20190711

This moth is called a Confused Haploa. It’s about an inch (20-22 mm) long. I had help from BugGuide.net in identifying this one because there are three other species in our area that are similar in appearance.

MothHaploaConfusedconfusaDunningLakeItascaCounty20190718

Here’s another moth that looks like a dried leaf. It’s called a Two-lined Hooktip and is less than one inch long (16-21 mm).

MothHooktipTwolinedDrepanabilineataDunningLakeItascaCounty20190628

The Large Lace-border moth has a wingspan of over an inch (20-31 mm). There is a lot of variation in the amount of black on the wings, from almost none to a mostly solid black stripe.

MothLaceborderLargeScopulalimboundataDunningLakeItascaCounty20190712

This is a Hollow-spotted Plagodis. It has a wingspan of 1 to 1½ inches (26-35 mm).

PlagodisHollowspottedalcoolariaDunningLakeItascaCounty20190621

The most spectacular moth I’ve seen so far this year is a One-eyed Sphinx. It’s a large moth with a wingspan of 2½ to 3¾ inches (62-90 mm). The colorful underwings have a black spot with an enclosed blue ring.

SphinxOneeyedSmerinthuscerisyiDunningLakeItascaCounty201906284x6