leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Nov 11, 2018 14:57:56 GMT -8
That trap looks very familiar. I would offer you a suggestion to increase your catch. Close the gap between the bottom of the cylinder and the platform. The eye bolts can be adjusted to closed gap via the nuts on the threads.
East of the front range in Colorado is a dry climate. Use apples for your bait, they will dry out, but not as fast as bananas, peaches of other soft fruit. Place a plastic spoon in your bait. When adding water to keep your bait juicy, stir the water into the apples with the spoon. Just leave the spoon in with bait. The bugs could care less.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 11, 2018 19:36:49 GMT -8
Hello all N. Am. Catocala collectors... Please Help!
I have a mini-mystery on my hands... I am located in central NE Saskatchewan in western Canada. For the 1st time in over 40 yrs. of continuous light trapping in my farm yd., in both 2017 & again in 2018 I collected a single C. ilia? (update: i.d. of C. umbrosa by L. Gall on 15 Jan. 2019) in my light traps... a large, fresh male in early Sept. 2017 & again in Aug. 2018 a large, fresh female. Problem is C. ilia (now C. umbrosa) is always said to be an oak feeder (the larvae). The only oak sp. we have in Sask. (Bur Oak) are found in southern Sask about 120-150 mi. south of my location. Are there any other recorded alternative food plants in N. Am.?
Also for the 1st time ever in both 2017 (1 fresh male) & again in 2018 (10 males, 2 females!) of another more southern Catocala sp. suddenly showed up in my traps - C. ultronia. Larval food plants are Apple (which I have in my yd.) & in the wild Hawthorn which also grows in widely scattered locations around my farm... the closest Hawthorns found are about 5 miles south of my yd.. Again what are alternative food plants for the larvae of this sp.?
Thanks in advance...
John K.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Nov 12, 2018 4:17:55 GMT -8
Catocala moths are strong fliers. It only takes a single obscure tree in someone's yard, fence line, etc., to have a wandering female lay some ova. The end result, you being the only Lepidopterist (I would bet some serious coin you are the only Lepidopterist in a 100 miles or more of where you live.) you are the only person looking at the Lepidoptera.
Think it through. Do you know another Lepidopterist near you?
I live in Scott County, Kentucky. I am a very active Lepidopterist. And, I am retired. There are other Lepidopterist in the area, but not near as active as me. Almost all of them must work everyday to earn there keep.
I also wander about collecting. I use traps to help increase my catch. The more you collect the more you will find and the more you find, the more questions you will have. And, the more answers you will discover and/or find.
It is 7AM, I am in my study mounting moths from a 2014 trip to Killpecker Dunes in Wyoming. (I have tchaikovsky 4th Symphony playing. I love classical music) Most of these moths I have never seen before. And boy do I have questions. And before you beetle guys jump all over me, I have kept virtually every butterfly, moth, fly, wasp, hornet, beetle and ugly bug that I take in my traps from Killpecker Dunes. If I kill it I find it a home. (I also give lots of dead bugs to a nature center to feed their critters).
Keep asking questions, it is how we learn. And some of the answers to your question may be astounding.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 12, 2018 10:44:35 GMT -8
Hi Leroy, I agree completely that a female C. ilia (correct i.d. C. umbrosa by Larry Gall on 15 Jan. 2019) could have been blown up or strayed into my area prior to 2017. This happens many times with both moths & butterflies... (plus many insects in other orders)... when a local population of more southern sp. takes up temporary residence for a few yrs. & then disappears as quickly as it first appeared. Bur Oak is occasionally planted as an ornamental tree in larger southern towns & cities in Sask.; I live 6 mi. NNE, as the crow flies, of the small village of Bjorkdale (current pop. just over 100) & I have never seen a Bur Oak there. My main question remains... does C. ilia have any alternative foodplants, besides oaks, as everything online & in the literature/books says? Leroy you are also very correct in your assertion about me being the only insect collector in my area & therefore I have a limited amount of info/actual specimens to base my questions on.... in fact I personally know of only 3 other active collectors in all of Sask. & they are all based in southern Sask. S. of the Canada #1 highway Close to the USA/Montana border. A few quick, interesting geography & human population facts I just googled: Saskatchewan Total land area: 271,700 sq. miles with a human pop. of 1,164,000 with 4 active bug collectors?? Kentucky " " " 40,409 " " " " " " " 4,454,000 " ? Texas " " " 268,597 " " " " " " " 28,300,000 " ? California " " " 163,696 " " " " " " " 39,540,000 " ? CANADA " " " 3,855,100 " " " " " " " 36,710,000 " ? U.S.A. " " " 3,797,000 " " " " " " " 325,700,000 " several 1,000's collectors? Europe " " " 3,931,000 " " " " " " " 742,855,300 " """ Russia " " " 6,602,000 " " " " " " " 144,500,000 " ? India " " " 1,269,000 " " " " " " " 1,339,000,000 " ? China " " " 3,705,000 " " " " " " " 1,386,000,000 " ? In conclusion... Saskatchewan is a very large province/area (just a little larger than Texas) with a very small population & with a minute number of insect collectors! The entire population of Canada is smaller than the total population of California alone! One advantage of only having a single handful of active Sask. collectors is that there is always the opportunity to discover something new in the insect world & is one of the major reasons I so very much enjoy collecting insects up here in my wonderful, frozen homeland... Stay Warm! John K.
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Post by rayrard on Nov 13, 2018 22:22:54 GMT -8
I'd contact Larry Gall at Yale regarding the ilia and ultronia. He is a Catocala expert. He'd be very interested in the range extensions and maybe can answer your question about the hostplants.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 14, 2018 13:50:40 GMT -8
Hi Rayrard,
Thx. for the suggestion... I already know with certainly, from Sask. moth lists left to me by my former friend Ron Hooper... now deceased... who worked for decades at the Royal Museum of Natural History in Regina in southern Sask., that both C. ilia & C. ultronia have been collected previously in Sask. More importantly, I've just learned from Tim Taylor of Regina (one of the only 3 other collectors I know of in Sask!) that he had, from 2009-2012, collected 45 specimens of C. ultronia, but he hasn't seen any since then. Tim also told me that he had a friend light trapping for him this yr. near Hudson Bay, Sask. which is only 60 miles directly east of my location. In early Aug. of this year Tim's friend collected a dozen C. ultronia in a single BL trap on his farm!... therefore it is now obvious that C. ultronia is definitely alive & well far N. of it's usual range in southern Sask. The identity of my C. ultronia were never in doubt as they are all the unmistakable fm. "celia". In the coming days I will take some decent photos of the my 2 C. ilia & will post them here & will also consult with Bill Oehlke of P.E.I. (who has an excellent N. Am. Catocala website covering all of Canada's spp. as well). I had immediately consulted Bill's website when I 1st collected C. ilia in Sept. 2017 (& many other well known N. Am. moth sites as well) & numerous times since the collection of my 2nd specimen this yr. in Aug. & I always arrive at the same sp. determination... C. ilia.
UPDATE: These supposed C. ilia were correctly identified as C. umbrosa by Larry Gall on 15 Jan. 2019
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 15, 2018 14:20:53 GMT -8
Hello again, Here are the 2 specimens of my C. ilia (dorsal)? Above 2 Correctly identified as C. umbrosa by Larry Gall on 15 Jan. 2019.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 15, 2018 14:26:08 GMT -8
& here is the ventral view of the above specimens. This pair was Correctly identified as C. umbrosa by Larry Gall on 15 Jan 2019! Attachments:
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 15, 2018 14:28:24 GMT -8
& here are a pr. of C. ultronia from 2018 Attachments:
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 15, 2018 14:38:43 GMT -8
Please be aware that these 3 photos came out a lot lighter in color... all wing surfaces are considerably darker in the actual specimens... especially the C. ilia (now C. umbrosa)... they are really quite dark/melanic...
John K.
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Post by trehopr1 on Nov 15, 2018 15:18:16 GMT -8
Have you ever gotten C. relicta in your region John?
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 15, 2018 15:23:47 GMT -8
Hi trehopr1,
C. relicta is one of the most commonest sp. that occurs in my area/yd.
John K.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Nov 15, 2018 16:04:49 GMT -8
The Top Specimen of Catocala ilia is a female.
Try using a white back ground, colors seem to mix with colored back ground.
Looks like typical Catocala ilia and Catocala ultronia to me.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 15, 2018 16:29:41 GMT -8
Thx. Leroy... for the I.D. confirmation... Haha... nice someone agrees with me! I like darker backgrounds for moths (a personal choice... my favourite color!), especially for Catocalas, as it shows the white/checkered/patterned wing edges which are important in the I.D. of some spp. of Catocala. I should have used a black background... The white wing edges are completely washed out/disappear against white backgrounds. Each to their own...
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Nov 17, 2018 9:40:31 GMT -8
Brief update:
I emailed Bill Oehlke & he forwarded these same photos & details to Lawrence Gall at Yale. L. Gall thinks they may be yet another Oak feeding sp.(the larvae)... C. umbrosa. Larry, also says that neither of these 2 spp.. C. ilia or C. umbrosa feed on anything else, but oak spp. I am establishing direct contact with L. Gall now... he also says he can easily differentiate between C. ilia & C. umbrosa by the differences in shape of the male genitilia (claspers). I probably have to ship off my male specimen (2nd collection) of 27 July 2018 (or maybe just the abdomen) to Yale for positive I.D..
John K.
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