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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 14, 2012 18:02:38 GMT -8
This is my first full season collecting, so I don't have anything to compare it to. So far this season, I have had 4 female Hercules beetles caught at my light sheet and I picked up one small male at the gas station. One of the females was caught last night and I would have had another large male had I showed up at the gas station a few moments earlier. It is always sad to see such a beautiful insect crushed in a parking lot like that. From the looks of it, it was killed less than ten minutes before I got there. As for the moths, I have seen many Amorpha juglandis and several other Sphingidae have been showing up sporadically. I think I saw around a dozen Lunas, but they haven't shown up for about a month now. There have been quite a few tulip tree moths around here too. I had a handful of Polyphemus moths arrive while the Lunas were showing up. I have also seen four each, regal and imperial moths.
Most of this was caught at a simple setup with a white bed sheet and a self ballasted 160w m.v. light bulb until I accidentally let it rain on the lit bulb about a week ago. Until my replacement bulbs arrive, I have downgraded to a blacklight cfl and a regular tube blacklight (the kind you would see at parties, not the "professional" kind). Three of the tulip tree moths showed up at the blacklights as well as one of the imperials. I have a regular incandescent hooked up down there as well that I only turn on periodically so I can see better when searching around the setup for beetles in the grass. Last night the regular bulb had been on for about a minute when one of the female Hercules beetles showed up. Other than that, I have only had a handful of different kinds of beetles show up.
I live about an hour south of Atlanta, in Upson county.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 14, 2012 0:39:42 GMT -8
The other is about 42mm long and looks like it could cause some pain if it had the opportunity. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 14, 2012 0:38:02 GMT -8
I swung by the gas station tonight to see what I could find. I almost had a large D. tityus. From the looks of the guts, had I arrived only moments sooner, I could have saved him. What I did find intact was a Manduca rustica, M. sexta, and two good sized beetles that I cannot seem to i.d. at this point. This first one is about 35mm long. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 13, 2012 21:45:58 GMT -8
Just for reference, here are the other two that I see commonly around here. (They haven't been identified yet either if anyone wants to take a stab at them as well.) Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 13, 2012 21:43:25 GMT -8
I have seen several of these over the past few weeks. They are much larger than most of the cicadas around here. I tried to research it, but with no luck. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 12, 2012 13:47:19 GMT -8
It does belong to the Bombycidae family. Apatelodinae is apparently a subfamily of Bombycidae according to the guide page on BugGuide.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 12, 2012 1:22:17 GMT -8
I have begun recording bits and pieces of the video. I would really love to hear from some of you more seasoned collectors about things like positioning of the mv light and whether or not having a blacklight on at the same time as the mv bulb will bring in more insects, or if it is just drowned out by the mv, and anything else I could add to the video. I have to wait until my new bulbs arrive before I can do a large portion of the video, so it will still be a while before it will be done.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 12, 2012 0:00:11 GMT -8
I isn't A. juglandis. I have several of them in my collection and they are MUCH larger. You are very correct about how variable they are though. I thought I had 3 different types of moths and they were all eventually identified as juglandis.
I researched the lead africaone gave me. I think he is right with Apatelodes torrefacta. If no-one disagrees, I will place that on the label.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 11, 2012 23:20:22 GMT -8
The way it rests reminds me of one. Any idea what I have here? It is small, I haven't measured it yet, but I would guess it comes in at around 3cm wingspan. (though I am horrible at guessing measurements) Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 11, 2012 22:42:25 GMT -8
LOL! If anyone could find a song for my situation it would be you! Tracking says that I have to wait another week until my replacements arrive. In the mean time, I am amazed at how effective the cheap party type blacklights from WalMart can be! You saw the battered male Callosamia angulifera. I caught a female last night and saw a male E. imperialis tonight. (I also had another interesting catch tonight that you can see in my other thread here in Open Topics ) I am not seeing the level of activity that I was with the mv bulb, but it is nowhere near as subdued as I expected. Oh, and I made a rainshield from a water jug for the cfl blacklight since I had one of them pop in the rain last year... Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 11, 2012 22:29:26 GMT -8
I now have a net permanently stationed in my car. I just need to find the parts so I can put a removable handle on it to make it a bit longer yet still not take up a large swath of real estate in my car. Now I don't have to look like a madman running around aimlessly in the parking lot. I can now look like one of those deranged bug collectors madly swing a net as I run around the parking lot.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 11, 2012 22:20:10 GMT -8
and just for good measure, the moth that was spared in all the excitment (maybe, he is probably still on the sheet. If I determine that it is in better condition than the one in my freezer from a few nights ago, I may still collect it.) Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 11, 2012 22:18:02 GMT -8
oops, forgot to add the photo... Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 11, 2012 22:17:19 GMT -8
Here is the full body shot. I was very tempted to release a mantis to free up a place to keep it, but decided to release it instead. It didn't feel right imprisoning this little guy (or gal, whichever the case may be) for my own amusement. I just came back to the house with it in my net to snap a couple of quick photos. I was laughing so hard at this little catch that I forgot to take my containers back down to the light for the moth. So I snapped a quick photo since finding this little snake reminded me that I am supposed to always carry my camera with me to the lightsheet.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 11, 2012 22:10:06 GMT -8
I was down checking my blacklights that are standing in for me until my replacement mv bulbs arrive. I was checking out a beautiful male E. imperialis (and marveling at the fact that I can attract anything that nice with cheap party type blacklights from WalMart) and decided to check the bushes with my flashlight before moving the moth to a container. I saw something about 10 or 11 feet up in the foliage, but couldn't quite make out what it was. I put my net under it and tapped the twig it was on. I saw it fall and when I looked into the net to see what I had, this is the face that was looking back at me. Attachments:
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