leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Sept 4, 2020 13:46:51 GMT -8
I just returned from checking my Bait Traps at Grand River WA. I have six(6) Bait Traps set out. I brought home 22 specimens. I mounted 19 and pitched the others. All of those I mounted are beginning to show signs of age/wear.
I also collected three Papaipema nebris.
Collecting in Killdeer WA is proving to very rewarding. The Plusiinae were abundant. I collected several Diachrysia balluca that were stunning. I also collected several Megalographa biloba, another stunning creature.
I have a new 40 Watt 368 QBL 18" Light Bulb. I have one Light Trap with the new bulb. Most of the Plusiinae were taken in the Light Traps with the new bulb.
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Post by bobw on Sept 5, 2020 5:29:54 GMT -8
Bobw, Thnx for the clarification. Are the three then just variations of unijuga? The HWs, although not narrower, are reduced compared to the rest of the unijugas. Thoughts? I have no experience with semirelicta......any further ID features to note would be most helpful. Thnx. I would say that they are unijuga. When the HW black band doesn't reach the anal margin in unijuga there is still a hint of a black smudge in the gap, as there are in your specimens. in semirelicta there is always a gap which is completely filled with the red ground colour. There aren't many specific features I use to separate these species, just comparisons with known specimens. Apart from the black band, unijuga are usually larger than semirelicta, and semirelicta usually has much more white in the forewings. I generally find that I can identify most Cats just from overall impressions and comparisons; if I get really stumped I ask Larry.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2020 6:22:33 GMT -8
Thnx bobw. I’ll adjust accordingly. I, too, ID from the gut some as well.....like w retecta vs luctuosa for example. I just have no experience w semirelicta. Maybe someday.
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 5, 2020 10:26:03 GMT -8
Here I have a photo featuring just some of the variation present in Catocala lacrymosa. I have had a couple of good nights with this species and I still have others to still work up. The two on the far left column are "typicals" whilst all the others are variants or named forms.
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 5, 2020 10:32:08 GMT -8
If you like these moths than it could be said "one can never have too many catocala"; their forms/variations just make them too infectious to collect !
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Post by bobw on Sept 5, 2020 14:18:49 GMT -8
Nice lacrymosa, and in remarkably good condition for wild collected specimens! I managed to get a couple of the forms you show in the series I bred (in the same drawer as the semirelicta I showed).
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 5, 2020 23:22:58 GMT -8
It could be said that American catocala enthusiasts no doubt have a few particular favorites which stand out from the many species we have been graced with. Of coarse, those species which are generally seldom encountered or otherwise quite localized such as (C. marmorata, C. sappho, or C. atocala); always command a certain reverence. Yet, a few others are simply "striking" species in their appearance and they can make the "heart skip a beat" when found... One of these "grand dames" is our standout species Catocala relicta (White or Relict Underwing). Below, I am posting a photo of 2 of the named forms of this species to show they're distinct appearance. Beyond, these forms there exists "singular" variants which on occasion are picked up; as well as other possible named forms I am unaware of... The photo below, shows a most unique (male / C.relicta) collected by a friends father (for me) in northern Wisconsin some years ago. If this specimen does have a form name than please let me know gentlemen. Otherwise, I will presume I have a unique variant of the species.
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 5, 2020 23:39:39 GMT -8
I thought I would post a photo of one of our Western Catocala species. A friend of mine did some work in Lupton, Arizona for a period of 3 years. One of the few moths he ever collected me (while there) was this pair of Catocala verrilliana (which showed up at his porch light one evening). The species size-wise is on par with C. ultronia and its hindwing color is salmon (though my photo may not convey it properly).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2020 9:16:55 GMT -8
I, too, love this blk and wht lep a bunch. Now.....as you can tell from my recent semirelicta debacle/error, I’m not an expert, but my take on relicta is that form clara has as little black as possible in the basal, subterminal, and terminal areas. Thus, imho, rows 1-7 are the ‘regular’ forms w variations....some lighter and some darker. Row 8 is my opinion of clara with row 9 being form phrynia. The right most one in row 8 has some yellowish/creamish tint to it. That’s why it’s set apart from the others. One could argue that several in rows 1-7 might also be clara.....could be......I just go with the whitest ones being form clara.
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Post by rayrard on Sept 6, 2020 10:19:55 GMT -8
Testing the image: C. cerogama normal versus all dark
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Post by rayrard on Sept 6, 2020 10:22:50 GMT -8
Palaeogama forms
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Post by rayrard on Sept 6, 2020 10:23:46 GMT -8
unijuga versus meskei
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Post by Paul K on Sept 6, 2020 14:48:57 GMT -8
I like C.relicta too, I have all one specimen in my collection!!!! Somehow I can’t find them here in Ontario.
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 6, 2020 14:51:52 GMT -8
Hey Billg, I just saw the photograph of your relicta drawer. I noticed that the third and fourth row from the bottom all seem to be the form of that one off odd one that I posted. You have 11 specimens of that form and I was wondering would you know if that is a named form. It looks very distinct from Clara or Pyrynia.
Spectacular drawer by the way !
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2020 15:44:05 GMT -8
Thanks. It’s my understanding that those are indeed the ‘regular’ forms and not a special one, striking though they are. As I know it, just phrynia and clara exist as forms. Oddly, the whitest of white one eluded me some years ago......like it had no blk on the FWs at all....darn it. I, like a dummy, starred at it a moment too long as I was in awe.
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