National Moth Week was the biggest ever for iNaturalist.org this year, according to their “July News Highlights,” with more than 30,000 participants, sharing more than 200,000 observations, representing nearly 10,000 species. I came in 30th in most observations at 482; more importantly, I observed 200 species of moths during the week of National Moth Week, which was July 20 – 27, 2024.
I was going to write about the oddities of moth week, but I’m still getting record number of moths and discovering more new-to-the-yard moths, so I didn't stop after July 27.
Sunday, I uploaded a nightly record of 58 different species of moths to iNaturalist.org that had gathered on the moth sheet – that was not including the several tiny moths that were smaller than an eighth of an inch.
During Moth Week there was an explosion of a few species of moths. No matter where the moth sheets were set up, whether Quinta Mazatlán, my yard outside of San Benito in Cameron County or other mothing enthusiasts in McAllen, and other areas of Hidalgo County.
Ebolina moths, Toxonprucha excavate and Frederickia nigricomma moths seemed to show up in droves during the week.
Around my yard and still going strong are goodly numbers of Spotted and Hawaiian Beet Webworm moths.
An oddity, and mystery, is a moth that visited my set up on July 27. When I uploaded it to iNaturalist via my phone app, the initial message stated, “we are not confident enough to make a recommendation . . . .” The proffered options didn’t fit my photograph. To give it a place marker, I chose Velvet Armyworm Moth out of the mix. The next day I had a note from one of the more learned moth identifiers who added a note, saying, “iNat has no clue as to what this might be, nor do I,” which was fun, getting such a candid remark from a highly rated expert. The identifier placed my moth in the Superfamily of Noctuoidea, Owlet Moths and Allies. I’m awaiting other ideas as it goes through the identification process.
One of my favorite moths made appearances for a couple of days, the Erastria decrepitaria, a Geometer moth. It’s big and bold, yellow with cinnamon hued trimmings; wingspan is about one and one-half inches. Another Geometer visited, too. a Dark-edged Eusarca.
One morning, I had eight Carolina Sphinx moths on the front of the moth sheet and two on an impromptu table I had set up in the courtyard.
Just when I thought I’d observed all the varieties of sphinx moths that luck has brought my way, a new-to-the-yard sphinx, an Ello Sphinx, visited for several days. The larval host plant is wild poinsettia, Euphorbia cyathophora.
The Moonseed moths were more prevalent this year. In addition, whilst wandering the yard during the daylight, I found a couple of Moonseed moth caterpillars on their host plants of Mexican snailseed vine.
The first day of Moth Week, I had wandered around the yard just after sunup. On the Texas Mountain Laurel, at eye-level, but not readily noticeable and looking much like a stem was a caterpillar. No matter how I researched it, it came up as Wax Myrtle Wave moth caterpillar; if that’s true, their host plants are primarily Morella species, (wax myrtles, bayberries) and oak.
A moth sheet and black light set up is such an easy way to observe some beautiful nature that rarely gets seen. As a writer, I always hope my enthusiasm spills out and entices the reader to do his or her own investigations, so what follows is a gallery of some of the fun observations of the past month.
Remember when the fascinator hats were popular? Frederickia nigricomma atop a Vine Sphinx.
A couple of days past the National Moth Week event, I nearly stepped on a moth blending in with the driveway pavement. I photographed it, and then gently prodded it to get a shot of the open wings before encouraging it to move from the pavement. It was another new-to-the-yard sphinx, an Alope sphinx moth. Interestingly, its larvae feed on papaya plants and nettlespurge (Jatropha), among other plants; adults forage for nectar at a variety of flowers. (BugGuide.net)
Ornate Bella moth is one of the most beautiful moths I believe I've ever come across. It happens to be a day flying moth. I discovered it around 9:15 one morning. I was so lucky it was still resting on the barn. The larvae feed predominantly on legumes in the genus Crotalaria, commonly called Rattlebox.
Isogona scindens is a tropical species with ranges to Texas and southern Florida. At first glance, they’re just your typical dull brown moth, but with some light on their wings, they display a rich tapestry of hues. Caterpillars may feed on spiny hackberry, as do their cousins, Isogona Texana.
Euchaetes bolteri a dull dirty-dishwater ho-hum moth – until it opens its wings to show off its pretty coral body.
Dichogama coloth is another really unexpectedly striking moth when looked at up close. Its range is South Texas and South Florida and south to Costa Rica; 14 have been documented on iNaturalist.org from South Texas and 16 in South Florida and the Keys.
Depending on the light when I photographed this new-to-the-yard moth, iNaturalist.org identified it as golden looper moth or soybean looper moth. Either can be in Texas. The larvae feed on a wide range of plants including Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Solanaceae, Nicotiana to name a few; the Mexican free-tailed bat may feed on the soybean looper. (Wikipedia)
Hieroglyphic moth, larvae feed on pecan, Carya illinoinensis, throughout Texas and in the Rio Grande Valley they use pyramid bush, Melochia tomentosa, also called woolly pyramid bush, teabush, broom-wood, malva de also cerros. (Page 197 and 113, Weber, Jim and Weber, Lynne; “Native host Plants for Texas Moths, A Field Guide” Texas A&M Press.)
Heterocampa astartoides, also new-to-the-yard, is a Notodontidae family moth, one of the prominents. Only about a dozen have been documented on iNaturalist.org from the Rio Grande Valley.
Last year, Joseph Connors, our chapter Webmaster, mothing enthusiast and macro photography expert, wrote a fun exposé about bird-dropping moths. I added a new-to-my-yard bird-dropping moth for the Moth Week count, although Joseph observed one previously: the pretty bird-dropping moth.
Be sure to review Joseph’s most excellent and fun article at this link: https://www.stbctmn.org/post/what-is-a-poop-moth
And the moth that started it all for me, the Coffee-loving Pyrausta moth comes at least once a year to my moth sheet.
Joseph had shared a photo of his Coffee-loving Pyrausta moth with me one year when I designed a flyer for a presentation he was giving to the Rio Grande Valley Chapter, Texas Master Naturalist. I fell in love with the moth's colorful design. After thinking about the beautiful and wonderfully named moth for a year or so, Joseph taught me, via a few e-mails, how to put together my own set up to attract things that fly in the night. Thank you, Joseph!
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