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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2016 18:28:28 GMT -8
diana in the back yard. To be so lucky...
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Post by joee30 on Jul 9, 2016 18:28:56 GMT -8
JTaylor, you might have them there, but they are uncommon in most places in their range. I bet you can find them there with a lot of patience, and careful searching.
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Post by beetlehorn on Jul 9, 2016 19:07:29 GMT -8
John, In regards to elevation....I collected one last summer,(I think it was in August)at 3,150 Ft. elev. One thing I did notice was lots of Pignut, Shagbark, and Mockernut Hickory, as well as Black Walnut on that mountain in southeast Tennessee.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2016 19:34:39 GMT -8
Pig nut and shag bark hickory is very common here in southern Illinois. I might luck up on a sappho eventually
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Post by jhyatt on Jul 10, 2016 6:10:28 GMT -8
Tom, We have tons of shagbark hickory here, but the black walnuts stop at about 2000' in this area and poplars take over. I suppose it used to be mostly chestnut. But as I think it was Leroy who said, "Bugs are where you find 'em!" Some day, somewhere, one will turn up. Jtaylor, to be 100% honest, I only once in 30 years found diana literally in the back yard. Normally I have to drive about 30 minutes to dependably find them. And they are really subject to boom-and-bust cycles. A really big year or two followed by several years of real scarcity, then some average years. Population doesn't seem to correlate with weather or anything obvious...
jh
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Post by joee30 on Jul 10, 2016 10:31:19 GMT -8
John, I can imagine it's the same here with S. nokomis and many other species of Speyeria.
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Post by rayrard on Jul 10, 2016 12:32:26 GMT -8
I wonder why, given the abundance of Catocala in the northeast and the abundance of hickory-oak woodlands, why so many species are not found in the northeast anymore?
I would be curious as to the decline of Catocala robinsonii, angusii, marmorate, nebulosa, and lacrymosa in the northeast and why things like maestosa and sappho never get up here. What is the furthest north these species have been recorded and why did they disappear from here when most Catocala are quite common still.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2016 15:55:01 GMT -8
I got one moth off the light sheet last night. Nothing in the trap. It finally quit storming long enough for me to run the sheet. I collected the moth around 10pm and left the light on until 4am the next morning only to find nothing when I got up and checked it. Not even finding them on my trees as I usually do by this time of year.
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Post by jhyatt on Jul 10, 2016 16:58:50 GMT -8
JTaylor and Rayrard, We had a run of 2-3 Catocala-less summers here in the mountains the past couple of years, but this season they're back up a bit - thought not up to what I had come to think of as "normal". I run a backyard bait trap, pretty far from any woods, and got a nice marmorata last night, and ultronias every night. Got a gryneus a few nights ago. But the usually weedy-common ilia is scarce this year. I used to get nebulosa not infrequently in August or late July, but then we moved 5 miles away from that ridge-top house and I no longer see them. Regards, JHyatt
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Post by jhyatt on Jul 10, 2016 17:02:43 GMT -8
I meant to add in the above note that Catocalas were almost absent here during a very dry June until we got a bit of rain about a week ago, then numbers seem to have popped up a bit. Did they just emerge after the rain, or did they just start coming to bait? jh
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2016 17:40:42 GMT -8
They must be in a bust cycle in my area. My backyard borders a large woods. So basically my trap and light sheet are on the edge of the woods. Last year about this time I checked my trap before work and there was about 30 catocala from that night. This year has been a big difference. I'm getting more at light than at bait and I'm just not seeing them on trees during the day. Maybe they will pick up soon
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Post by jhyatt on Jul 10, 2016 18:58:10 GMT -8
JTaylor, I hope they do pick up for you. Have you ever read a book called "Legion of Night" The Underwing Moths"? The author (Sargent, I think)kept tons of Catocala records in Massachusetts over the years, and found that some species come regularly to light but not to bait, and some species came to bait but not to light.
My at-home Catocala days are pretty much over. We used to live on a ridgetop in the woods, and my situation was similar to yours - the back yard was the edge of the forest. But now I have a golf course on one side of the house and a horse pasture on the other. A good night will bring 3 or 4 specimens to a bait trap, vs. the dozen or two I used to get. I have to travel a mile or three to find a good place for a trap.
Interestingly, I used to check the trap at bedtime and again before breakfast for Catocalas - and I'd often find butterflies (Lethe, Polygonia, etc) in it by 7 am. Some species are early risers! jh
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 3:48:27 GMT -8
Have not had the chance to read that book. Sounds like a good winter project. 3 or 4 specimens in a night is better than nothing at all. I've still got a solid 2 months of catocala season left so I'm still optimistic. I check my trap in the afternoon when I get home from work for butterflies and again before dark. I check it again about 4:30am for catocala.
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Post by rayrard on Jul 11, 2016 22:43:49 GMT -8
Wouldn't dry weather drive them to bait?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2016 3:49:55 GMT -8
You would think that hot dry weather would make bait very attractive to them. It should also drive them from high in the canopy down to the trunks where it's cooler and increase tree tapping opportunities
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