Post by coloradeo on Nov 10, 2020 19:08:40 GMT -8
OK, the annual catocala topic is one of my favorites on this site each year. You all posted some wonderful news on your catches throughout the year and it was fun to see what you were up to. I meant to get a list of my Colorado catocala captures out and am just getting to it as the season is fully wrapped up.
I mostly caught catocala in my backyard this year, with a couple species I got on a trip out to Mesa county on the Western slope in Colorado. I use a slotted pan I bought from Leroy a few years back with fruit bait. I was delighted in that, for whatever reason, this year I added a couple species to those that I catch in my backyard -- I'm up to 11 now. I live in a suburb in between Denver and Boulder, so I guess I'm a little surprised how many catocala I can catch in my backyard at all! I've taken a few up to CSU for help with IDs, so I think I've got these correct, but I'm also convinced catocala ID is a lifelong sport and I'm still building out a correctly identified Colorado series of each for future comparisons.
My favorite catch this year was Catocala nuptialis. It's not a Colorado record according to some of the catocala folks, but it's also not something I can find record of anywhere easily, so it's at least an interesting catch.
I've been catching Catocala amestris in my backyard for a few years. Those were probably county records at least, but I see a few each year reliably now.
Here's my 2020 Colorado List -- all from my backyard, unless noted
- Catocala violenta [western slope]
- Catocala aholibah [western slope]
- Catocala ultronia
- Catocala nuptialis
- Catocala parta
- Catocala amestris
- Catocala semirelicta
- Catocala junctura
- Catocala briseis
- Catocala amatrix
- Catocala amatrix form “selecta”
- Catocala luciana
- Catocala meskei (probably)
- Catocala hermia (which I'm told is now californica)
Eric
I mostly caught catocala in my backyard this year, with a couple species I got on a trip out to Mesa county on the Western slope in Colorado. I use a slotted pan I bought from Leroy a few years back with fruit bait. I was delighted in that, for whatever reason, this year I added a couple species to those that I catch in my backyard -- I'm up to 11 now. I live in a suburb in between Denver and Boulder, so I guess I'm a little surprised how many catocala I can catch in my backyard at all! I've taken a few up to CSU for help with IDs, so I think I've got these correct, but I'm also convinced catocala ID is a lifelong sport and I'm still building out a correctly identified Colorado series of each for future comparisons.
My favorite catch this year was Catocala nuptialis. It's not a Colorado record according to some of the catocala folks, but it's also not something I can find record of anywhere easily, so it's at least an interesting catch.
I've been catching Catocala amestris in my backyard for a few years. Those were probably county records at least, but I see a few each year reliably now.
Here's my 2020 Colorado List -- all from my backyard, unless noted
- Catocala violenta [western slope]
- Catocala aholibah [western slope]
- Catocala ultronia
- Catocala nuptialis
- Catocala parta
- Catocala amestris
- Catocala semirelicta
- Catocala junctura
- Catocala briseis
- Catocala amatrix
- Catocala amatrix form “selecta”
- Catocala luciana
- Catocala meskei (probably)
- Catocala hermia (which I'm told is now californica)
Eric