ינואר 31, 2024

Why moths come to light -- new research study published

This is an exciting new study providing an original and seemingly convincing explanation of this age-old puzzle. The idea is that insects are not attracted to a light source but come to it because of navigation errors. The title is "Why flying insects gather at artificial light." The publisher has posted a great 7-minute video explaining the study:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00261-y

Here is an excerpt from the Abstract of the study:

"Contrary to the expectation of attraction, insects do not steer directly toward the light. Instead, insects turn their dorsum toward the light, generating flight bouts perpendicular to the source. Under natural sky light, tilting the dorsum towards the brightest visual hemisphere helps maintain proper flight attitude and control. Near artificial sources, however, this highly conserved dorsal light-response can produce continuous steering around the light and trap an insect. Our guidance model demonstrates that this dorsal tilting is sufficient to create the seemingly erratic flight paths of insects near lights and is the most plausible model for why flying insects gather at artificial lights."

The full research study is posted at:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-44785-3

This website also contains, as supplementary information for the study, 7 additional videos showing the behavior of various flying insects around light sources.

הועלה ב-ינואר 31, 2024 08:30 אחה"צ על ידי amacnaughton amacnaughton | תגובה 1 | הוספת תגובה

אוגוסט 23, 2023

new moth book now shipping: "Ontario Moths: A Photographic Guide, Volume 4"

I received my copies last week.

This is the first volume to be published of a planned four-volume series which will cover every species recorded in Ontario. Volume 4, the first to be published, covers the macro-moth families Noctuidae, Euteliidae and Nolidae. It is called volume 4 as these are the last families of moths in the taxonomic ordering.

The authors are David Beadle (co-author of the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America), Michael King and Phillip Holder.

It is spiral-bound, so it lies flat on the desk. It is 143 pages. Species are listed in order of their P3 numbers. Most pages include six species, with one photo of each. Each species is illustrated with a photo of the adult moth in its natural resting position. with the common name just below the photo. Text below the photos covers the P3 number, scientific name, flight period, description, range and foodplants. More than one photo is provided where the species has significant variation.

For sample pages and ordering, go to:
https://mattholderfund.com/product/ontario-moths-volume-4/

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 23, 2023 06:47 אחה"צ על ידי amacnaughton amacnaughton | תגובה 1 | הוספת תגובה

יולי 31, 2023

new book: "Ontario Moths: A Photographic Guide"

A new moth book has been written by David Beadle (co-author of the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America), Michael King and Phillip Holder:

ONTARIO MOTHS: A PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE, VOLUME 4
Hawk Owl Publishing
They are taking pre-publication orders at a discounted price until August 15, 2023.
For sample pages and ordering, go to:
https://mattholderfund.com/product/ontario-moths-volume-4/

This is part of a projected four-volume series that is to cover, if possible, all moth species recorded in Ontario. By comparison, the Peterson Field Guide covered only about half of these species (since it was only one volume).

The first volume to be published, which covers Noctuidae and a few odds and ends, is called "Volume 4" because the species in the book are last in the normal taxonomic ordering. It covers 643 species and includes 800 colour photographs. Moths are shown in natural resting positions.

הועלה ב-יולי 31, 2023 02:10 אחה"צ על ידי amacnaughton amacnaughton | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

אוגוסט 3, 2022

Moth world updates of the day

Today I learned from Greg Pohl of the sudden passing of Ian Toal (@mamestraconfigurata), who was one of the most prolific identifiers of Ontario moths on iNat -- 15,000 observations in all. He provided a valuable service to so many, and taught us so much. Sad. An obituary appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ( https://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-309457/TOAL_IAN ). His LinkedIn profile shows his wide interests and his experience inside and outside of entomology ( https://ca.linkedin.com/in/ian-toal-74697b86 ).

Also today, Chris Schmidt of Agriculture Canada provided a full identification for the Imperial Moth specimen observed by David Okines near St. Williams (Norfolk County) on July 19. Chris says it is subspecies imperialis, which has not been seen in Canada since the early 1980s (subspecies pini is the one widely observed in Ontario and western Quebec). A truly amazing find. This raises many questions. Was it there all along, but just not observed, or is this a recolonization from moths flying in from other areas? And is subspecies imperialis to be found anywhere else in southwestern Ontario?

Alan Macnaughton

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 3, 2022 01:32 לפנה"צ על ידי amacnaughton amacnaughton | תגובה 1 | הוספת תגובה

פברואר 27, 2022

First record of the planthopper parasite moth Fulgoraecia exigua in Canada

This article in the Journal of the Entormological Society of Ontario documents Geoff Pekor's (@sneak-e) discovery of a new moth (and a new family!) for Canada. There is a very small link to a free pdf halfway down the page.

Helpfully, all the early records are on iNaturalist, here is a the first observation: https://inaturalist.ca/observations/56085703
Other authors: @stevepaiero @jasondombroskie @tompreney @josh_vandermeulen @basilconlin

הועלה ב-פברואר 27, 2022 04:57 אחה"צ על ידי dkaposi dkaposi | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

אוקטובר 30, 2021

Interesting read on variability of lichen moths

This journal post on iNaturalist was prepared by Chuck Sexton (@gcwarbler). He reviews the regional variations in Painted Lichen Moth (H. fucosa) and Scarlet-winged Lichen Moths (H. miniata). There appears to be less ambiguity in the Ontario records, but he presents some interesting variations across the continent.

Hypoprepia lichen moths: What a mess!

הועלה ב-אוקטובר 30, 2021 04:34 אחה"צ על ידי dkaposi dkaposi | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

אוגוסט 6, 2021

Opportunity to participate in the LepSoc conference

The Lepidopterists's Society annual meeting is online this year - consider it an upside of Covid. Members and non-members are welcome to participate for a small fee. The schedule is now available so that you can see if any of the sessions are of interest:

https://www.lepsoc.org/sites/all/themes/nevia/lepsoc/Lepsoc_2021_Schedule.pdf

The schedule for the combined annual meeting of the LEPIDOPTERISTS’ SOCIETY, SOUTHERN LEPIDOPTERISTS’ SOCIETY, ASSOCIATION FOR TROPICAL LEPIDOPTERA, and SOCIETAS EUROPAEA LEPIDOPTEROLOGICA has been posted on the Lepidopterists' Society website.

Registration information is available here:

https://www.lepsoc.org/content/2021-annual-meeting

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 6, 2021 01:40 לפנה"צ על ידי dkaposi dkaposi | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

יולי 11, 2021

Invasive moth in Maine - Browntail Moth

While Ontario is suffering through a Gypsy Moth explosion, other regions have their own invasive moths. Maine and nearby states are suffering from a recurrence of the Browntail Moth. It was introduced to North America in 1890, then suffered a collapse and is now making a comeback.

The article is in The Atlantic, which does allow 3 free article per month:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/maine-caterpillar-itchy-poisonous-browntail-moth/619376/

הועלה ב-יולי 11, 2021 04:01 אחה"צ על ידי dkaposi dkaposi | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

פברואר 23, 2021

Moths of North America north of Mexico series now available digitally

The Moths of North America north of Mexico (MONA) series are an absolutely incredible resource for Lepidopterophiles - if you've ever seen one of the fascicles you'll know there is no better source of detailed information about our moth species.

Until now, the series was only available in hard copy and each issue was rather pricey - many $100+ and with over 30 fascicles to date (and growing!) it would cost a small fortune to acquire each, mostly putting it out of reach for many of us.

Well, wait no longer! The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation has made most available for free on their website:

http://www.wedgefoundation.org/publications_paypal.asp

Just click the "Free PDF" button next to the "Add to Cart" button to begin downloading each file. Note that many of the files are very large (the biggest is 500 mb and the whole set is about 6 gb) so you need a decent internet connection.

The colour plates suffer a bit in quality compared to the printed versions but otherwise the digital versions are a huge resource.

הועלה ב-פברואר 23, 2021 07:30 אחה"צ על ידי mikeburrell mikeburrell | 5 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

פברואר 4, 2021

New online checklist of the moths of Ontario

An online checklist of the 3,248 species of moths recorded in Ontario is now posted on the TEA website:
https://ontarioinsects.org/mothchecklist/

A key benefit of this checklist is that for every species, most of the online information about that species is provided in one place. Using the Luna Moth as an example, there is a link to its iNaturalist page (showing the number of records and a map), its BugGuide page, and its Moth Photographers Group page. The number of iNaturalist records as of the end of January (research-grade only) and the page number in the Peterson Field Guide are also shown.

The species table is fully searchable. For example, entering "2020" in the search box will display the 25 moths species first documented in Ontario in this past year.

The table is available for download, so anyone can change it to suit their own needs -- perhaps as a basis for keeping their own records of species seen.

An instructions page explains how to use the table:
https://ontarioinsects.org/mothchecklist/instructions.html

Another way to find it is to look at the menu bar on the left of every TEA page and click on "Moth Checklist" (click refresh on your browser if you don't see it).

The list of species has been provided by David Beadle, Mike King (@mhking) and Phill Holder, and is an update of the list included in their 2020 publication Ontario Moths: A Checklist (Hawk Owl Publishing, Newcastle, ON). That list, in turn, is an update of the Pohl et al. (2018) Ontario list. The computer work was done by Alan Macnaughton in collaboration with Chris Cheatle, Ross Dickson and Bev Edwards. A similar list maintained by Ken Sproule (@kens18) for the High Park Moth Study Group was the inspiration for this effort.
Please send comments, questions and suggestions for improvement to Dave Beadle (@dbeadle) and Alan Macnaughton (@amacnaughton).

הועלה ב-פברואר 4, 2021 08:14 אחה"צ על ידי dkaposi dkaposi | 3 תגובות | הוספת תגובה