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Post by rayrard on Aug 15, 2020 15:02:30 GMT -8
Out of curiosity rayrard do you collect some of the more notable species whilst doing all this tree tapping? I can see making a "footnote" in one's field ledger of all the common place species but, others would have to get captured if possible... Do you have any pic's to show us of some of your Catocala collection or perhaps at least some of the more interesting species ? I can show pictures when the material is set. I collect what I can get tapping but the escape rate is sometimes high. I managed to get both the insolabilis and lacrymosa though. I think I have 55-60 Catocala species but a donated a chunk of specimens to the museum to free up some drawer space. I think I only have 4 boxes of Catocala with small series of even the commonest species. Most of the eastern species are easy with the exception of the small yellow ones in the blandula/mira/pretiosa/crataegi group. Th black ones are quite easy to tell apart unless you live in the overlap zone of retecta/luctuosa |
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Post by trehopr1 on Aug 15, 2020 15:23:05 GMT -8
Thank you rayrard for answering my idle questions concerning Catocala !
I look forward to any pictures "down the road".
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Post by billgarthe on Aug 15, 2020 20:42:40 GMT -8
My species caught to date........L lights, S sugaring C. ultronia, L,S blandula,L marmorata,L ilia,L,S unijuga,S junctura,S neogama,L,S subnata,L,S innubens (reg),L,S grynea,S sordida,L insolabilis,L,S flebilis,L andromedae,L paleogama,S parta,L coccinata,L amatrix, f. nirus and selecta. S cara,L,S............actually caught my first cara ever at a light this year......usually done w S and tapping epione,L nebulosa,L,S dejecta,L,S illecta,L lacromosa,L judith,L piatrix,S amica,L residua,L,S minuta,L maestosa,S micronympha,L cerogama,S and several small orange ones I have yet to ID. Looking forward to more action. IL has had a decent season so far. Many of these I’ve caught sugaring in my backyard. Just last night I got a subnata, ultronia, amatrix, and two grynea before it rained. Add.......... relicta,S vidua,S innubens f. scintiilans, hinda, L,S umbrosa,L mira L IL action is heating up........Aug. 14th, while sugaring, got my first IL angusi (caught them before in TN and KY) along w some caras, subnatas, and a real orange HW fringed nebulosa ........37 sp. so far in 2020. Three more..... connubialis,L obscura,S habilis,S ........40 sp. to date Just got a C. retecta, S......41 sp. to date (Aug. 17, 2020) |
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Post by rayrard on Aug 15, 2020 21:52:49 GMT -8
amica lineella micronympha sordida praeclara similis ultronia serena dejecta ilia epione coccinata palaeogama maestosa nebulosa parta innubens neogama relicta connubialis residua concumbens grynea gracilis cerogama flebilis subnata habilis minuta antinympha andromedae muliercula As for 2 weeks later I added the following, including 2 species I've never collected in PA insolabilis - 1 tapping lacrymosa - 1 tapping obscura vidua retecta Up to 37 species finally saw a cara while baiting to get to 38 species. First good bait of the season after a few abysmal attempts with at most 1-2 Catocala. I had 4-5 vidua, 2-3 neogama, 1 palaeogama, 1 ilia, and 1 cara. |
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Post by mothman27 on Aug 16, 2020 7:13:36 GMT -8
First nebulosa today in a trap. Also an amatrix.
Got a nice C. serena a couple days ago.
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Post by bugboys3 on Aug 19, 2020 11:12:30 GMT -8
My catocala season has been a little slower than the last couple. Probably because I was about a week late putting up the trap and I had a week in Colorado and a week in Arizona.
I am up to about 20 species to date. The highlights include C. relicta, C. innubens form scintillans and this morning a new one for me, C. paleogama form phalanga (very striking).
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Post by rayrard on Aug 24, 2020 12:43:39 GMT -8
Saw amatrix last night at light to get to 39 species. Bait and light have been productive for Catocala lately but the new species have plateaued and it's a lot of the usual species now.
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Post by billgarthe on Aug 24, 2020 13:53:59 GMT -8
Yep......the ones showing up now are repeaters. Maybe tomorrow.
Well.....just some amatrix, neogama, and vidua tonight.....the 25th. Going out again tomorrow.
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Post by mothman27 on Aug 25, 2020 4:44:21 GMT -8
Not much lately just the usual amatrix and piatrix with another C. serena and a C. insolabilis.
Back to school this week so probably scaling back my tapping efforts.
Did anyone else have a stellar year for Sphingidae?
I collected so many more than previous years.
I got the following species:(in order of first sighting)
1. D. inscriptum
2. S. abbottii
3. A. juglandis
4. D. myron
5. P. myops
6. C. undulosa
7. A. floridensis
8. C. amyntor
9. D choerilus
10. S. jamaicensis
11. S. kalmiae
12. P. excaecata
13. P. modesta
14. E. pandorus
15. C. catalpae
16. D. hyloeus
17. H. lineata
18. M. sexta
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Post by bugboys3 on Aug 25, 2020 12:24:59 GMT -8
The Catocala collecting has really picked up this past week for me. I have had 20-30 moths at a time in my trap each morning. I am up to
24 species so far from my trap in the back yard. I also collected some in Arizona which I have yet to spread and identify. My list from soouthern
Wisconsin includes:
blandula
amica
piatrix
innubens including form scintillans
cerogama
relicta
retectca
residua
obscura
insolabilis
serena
ilia
unijuga
paleogama including form phalanga
neogama
subnata
ultronia
parta
lineela
habilis
amatrix
nebulosa
judith
cara
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Post by bugboys3 on Aug 25, 2020 12:29:19 GMT -8
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Post by billgarthe on Aug 25, 2020 13:29:59 GMT -8
It’s unijuga. I’ve been seeing dozens of this species this year including two of form ‘agatha’.
My year w Sphingids has been pretty good and I’m likely not to add any more for this year. 27 Sp. will have to do.
P. modesta,
M. sexta,
C. amyntor,
H. lineata,
E. pandorus,
E. achemon,
M. jasminearum,
C. hageni,
S. kalmiae,
C. undulosa,
D. hyloeus,
P. plebja,
L. bombycoides,
C. catalpa,
L.. coniferarum,
P. myops,
P. exaecatus,
S. jamaicensis,
L. juglandis,
P. astylus,
D. versicolor,
S. abbottii,
X. tersa,
D. myron,
D. pholus,
D. inscripta,
M. rustica
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Post by rayrard on Aug 25, 2020 13:30:18 GMT -8
it's a melanic unijuga
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Post by billgarthe on Aug 25, 2020 13:35:06 GMT -8
With all due respect, I do not think it’s a melanic unijuga. The melanic form is form agatha. I’ll take a pic of one shortly and post.
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Post by billgarthe on Aug 25, 2020 13:44:44 GMT -8
 The bottom four are ‘agathas’  Closeup of melanic ‘agatha’. |
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Post by bugboys3 on Aug 25, 2020 19:53:03 GMT -8
Thanks for the confirmation Bill.
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Post by mothman27 on Aug 26, 2020 12:37:43 GMT -8
Got a Catocala habilis today at the sheet. I've always thought habilis and palaeogama were difficult to distinguish until I collected my first actual palaeogama when I realized I was actually having more difficulty separating C. habilis and C. serena.
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Post by billgarthe on Aug 26, 2020 13:25:14 GMT -8
 Tim, this might help. Honestly, I have to think harder w habilis and paleogama than habilis vs serene. serene 1. Rather solid white outer vertical line at teeth serene 2. No dash on lower FW edge *** habilis 3. Often has basal dash, but not always habilis 4 all have dash along lower FW edge *** serene 5. No basal dash serene appears to have no noticeable subreniform spot |
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Post by mothman27 on Aug 27, 2020 3:31:43 GMT -8
Well this is interesting. I will post photos later because I am clearly confused. I would have said the lower 2 "habilis" in your photo are palaeogama. The specimens I have which I think are habilis are not as large as palaeogama and the forewings are a little lighter than those of serena, much like the top specimen of your "habilis." To me that specimen looks distinct from the two below it in size and pattern/color. I do agree that your serena look like mine. Anyway, I will post photos a little later and see if that helps. Thanks for the comments and photo Bill.
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Post by mothman27 on Aug 27, 2020 5:44:53 GMT -8
Serena, habilis and palaeogama(I think) Closeup of my "habilis"
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Post by billgarthe on Aug 27, 2020 10:53:49 GMT -8
My bad........yes, the bottom right one is paleogama. I must have gotten it out for comparison of the three and forgotten. Sorry abt that. You seem to have a good grasp on these guys.
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Post by trehopr1 on Aug 27, 2020 16:01:56 GMT -8
A very good comparison of the three species indeed Tim !
It's nice to see someone do a comparative photo of some species which may be perplexing to others...
I should like to see someone make a comparative photo as well of meiskei, unijuga, junctura, parta, and any other very similar pink species.
I know I could learn something because a few select pink ones are problematic for me !
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Post by rayrard on Aug 27, 2020 22:04:11 GMT -8
parta is very distinct as it has dark streaks on the wing that are lacking in the others
unijuga and meskei are easier to tell with HW shots as the median band is thinner in meskei, and the white "squiggle" on the distal FW is much more conspicuous in unijuga
junctura looks much more brown and gray rather than gray
What I have a tough time with is separating the darker and grayer eastern semirelicta from meskei/unijuga, but I've never collected semirelicta
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Post by mothman27 on Aug 28, 2020 3:49:53 GMT -8
Since we are on the topic, perhaps you could offer an opinion on these. I initially though I had a meskei in my collection but I now think they are all junctura. Let me know if you would agree. The interesting thing is that they are all from different places. Also, as you can tell they are different sizes. Data: Top: Allen County, Indiana 2nd: Boulder County, Colorado, USA 3rd: Steuben County, Indiana, USA Bottom: LaSalle County, Illinois, USA  And now for the daily report, I got one habilis and one maestosa today and a female Manduca sexta, all at the sheet, none in the traps. |
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Post by trehopr1 on Aug 28, 2020 10:12:34 GMT -8
Well, this is indeed a good example of the dilemma I come across with 3-4 of these large salmon colored species. Your specimens Tim look just like some which I have as well. I had one collector say o'h that's C. meiskei and yet another collector said on another occasion o'h that's C. junctura.
Then someone else will likely come along and say o'h that's C. unijuga.
I'm beginning to wonder if anyone really knows how to tell these apart except the noted expert Larry Gall.
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