Catocala becoming more taxonomically unruly?

[multicaudata]

Hi everybody.

It's the middle of Catocala season here in the SF Bay Area of California (heading out to collect until 1:00AM or so here in a few minutes), and I've noticed things seem to be different this year. Catocala have seemingly been increasing in abundance over the last few years (like just about everything else around here), but this year there are noticeably more "mystery" underwings around. So far, these have included a _very_ strange dark one that may be most like C. faustina allusa (which DOES NOT live in the Bay Area!), a very dark semirelicta, and two that may be faustina cleopatra but look big and generally odd (not to mention early). Also an apparently vagrant semirelicta on the "other" (east) side of the Oakland Hills, and a few very grayish C. irene that may be tending toward something else (faustina?). I haven't gotten out that much this season, but the abundance of unusual specimens is very noticeable right now, and I've been wondering why this is happening.

Could it be that, with increases in distribution and abundance, Catocala species are hybridizing more than before?

Great fun, whatever the reason!

[joee30]

That's cool to know. Never had much luck here in the west coast, as the only catocalas I've seen have been C. ahobilah, C. irene, and C. piatrix. Back in the Ft. Campbell area, and in TN, it's a catocola collectors paradise. There have been some goodies like C. sappho, C. nebulosa, and others the last time I was over there. I hope you have good luck in collecting these, and keep us posted.

[bugboys3]

I've had no luck with baiting the last two summers in southern Wisconsin. I think last summer with the extreme heat and dry killed off the catocala and many other species. This latter part of summer has been excessively dry as well. Going to upper Michigan later this week to give it one more try this season.

[evra]

Many species of Catocalas have different color forms, which makes them all the more difficult to identify. It's not as much of a problem in the west as the east, but it still can be hard. Also populations of all moths, especially Catocalas, fluctuate cyclically. During a boom time the range of some of the species can expand by quite a bit, but the population invariably crashes, probably due to parasitoids and disease. My advice would be to get them while you can, because it might be 5-10 years before they become as common again. My guess is that there is probably some parasitoid that kills many species of Catocalas and its population crashed, allowing for an abnormally high survival rate of Catocala larvae.

[admin]

Must be global warming doing this.

[multicaudata]

Evra:
We're already on the down swing, apparently. Not nearly as many C. semirelicta out this fall as there were last year. Interestingly enough, I've found two _deformed_ adult Catocalas this season, a semirelicta and an odd darkish one that could be junctura. Each had crumpled wings and was unable to fly. Could this be a disease or parasitoid, I wonder, and could it be what causes the populations to boom and bust?

Joee30 and Bugboys3:
DON'T try bait in the west! It doesn't work out here! Just find a good grove of host trees, walk through and stare at the bark of the trees until you see the roosting Catocalas. You can even train your eyes by pinning an un-spread un-wanted Catocala specimen onto the bark and memorizing what it looks like in its "natural" setting. What I tend to look for is any symmetrical patterning in the tree bark -- this usually turns out to be a roosting Catocala! - OR - you can hit the tree trunks with your net, and the moths will flush off, fly briefly, and then re-settle on another trunk. However, once they've been flushed they tend to be very alert and difficult to catch, so it's better to spot them while they're still sleeping on the bark and quietly slip a jar over them before they even know you're there.

[multicaudata]

Evra:
I believe there's another factor at play in depleting Catocala populations here on the California coast: predation by stray warblers from the East. We get lots of vagrant eastern warblers every fall, some of which hunt insects on tree bark -- unlike our native western warblers. Since our Catocalas (in particular C. semirelicta hippolyta) usually exist in small, fragmented populations associated with isolated groves of host trees, a single eastern warbler in such a tree grove could make quite a dent, especially since the birds tend to stay in one place for weeks at a time even during migration. And, many populations of semirelicta hippolyta occur in parks in coastal cities -- which is, for some reason, where most of the eastern warblers end up as well!

For example, one of my favorite fall warbler locations is Albany Hill Park in Richmond, CA. It's got a nice stand of willows and poplars that seems perfect for Catocala irene and semirelicta, but it's always overrun with migrating warblers, including occasional eastern strays. And there are NO CATOCALAS! EVER! In a seemingly perfect habitat! I do suspect that the warblers have something to do with this...

I also think that various forms of habitat destruction in the East may cause these warblers to stray. For example, if a warbler's nest tree is cut down and a disoriented, too-young warbler tries to migrate because its habitat is gone, it might easily go the "wrong way" and end up in coastal California.

[admin]

Sept 13, 2013 19:59:15 GMT -8 multicaudata said:

Evra:
DON'T try bait in the west! It doesn't work out here!

Hey, I have been saying that for years and nobody believes me.

[oehlkew]

It is an interesting observation that Catocala in the west (California) do not respond to bait. Perhaps it is not a traditional bait that would attract them, but they must feed on something??? that could be used as bait.

I do have a report from Josephine County, Oregon, of a female ophelia feeding on a ruptured plum.

The Catocala are readily attracted to fermenting fruit in the east, and as a boy I often saw them nectaring on fermenting oak tree sap in New Jersey.

Maybe there are flower species in the west that serve as a major energy source??

I am hoping someone from the west coast will report on feeding observations for Catocala.


Bill Oehlke

[evra]

I successfully bait the willow feeding species all the time, but at traps. Sugaring trees doesn't work well because the low humidity dries out the bait within an hour or two. The oak feeding species like C. aholibah, violenta, and ilia don't come to bait as well. I have great success at lights for almost all species. The diversity is somewhat lacking, but the numbers are good. It's not uncommon for me to get 30 Catocalas at my lights in 4-5 hours, but usually only 2-3 species.

Try hanging bait traps 10-20 feet up in a tree. At eye level they usually aren't effective.

[oehlkew]

Thanks, Evan,
Can I post your comments, credited to you, to the California Catocala page?
Bill Oehlke

[admin]

Actually there is one guy here in SoCal who is successful catching Catocala with bait. Watch this video clip for his bait recipe:
www.insectnet.com/videos/people/lesmeeting-9.28.07/catshow/catshow.htm


I tried all this but was unsuccessful.

[jshuey]

This is secondhand information, but John Peacock always told me that bait works fine in the west. He uses an "old-time" recipe, that ferments for weeks, and uses pureed fruit (apples I think) black-strap molasses, and ferments for weeks, if not months before using. John used to make big month long swings through the west, camping and trapping exclusively for Catocala - with great success. Based on what he told me, he would simply use this bait in traps hung in appropriate stands of hostplants, and then got a good nights sleep.

John's love in life is Catocala, and he has about three cabinets of what must be one of the coolest collections of the genus in private hands. He also has a pretty solid butterfly collection, in part because he "had to do something during the day" (my impression at least).


I will try and track down his bait recipe and post it here.

Shuey

[evra]

Everyone seems to think there is some magic recipe for bait, but I don't think that's the case at all. Myself, and everyone else I know who baits basically just take whatever they have and throw it in a bucket and let it ferment for at least a few days. You can tell if you have effective bait or not if flies and bees are attracted to it or not.

I think the location of the trap is much more important than the exact composition of the bait. I have a theory that Catocalas generally spend most of their time in the canopy. They will come down low, but it requires unusual conditions (like extreme heat), which is why tapping and other techniques are so hit-or-miss. It also explains why I never got any Catocalas in low-hanging traps. The aromatic compound that they are attracted to in the bait certainly has a high molecular weight, so when it diffuses through the air, it settles toward the ground. So if the bait is already down low, the Catocalas above are never able to smell it.

[oehlkew]

Thanks, Evan,
Can I post your comments, credited to you, to the California Catocala page?
www.silkmoths.bizland.com/Californiacatocala.htm

Bill Oehlke