Devin Floyd

December 6, 2010

"echo valley", "insects", "merrill lynch", "moths", "north carolina", "watauga county"

A Passion for Moths--My 2010 Moth Big Year

Devin Floyd

December 6, 2010

"echo valley", "insects", "merrill lynch", "moths", "north carolina", "watauga county"

Clymene Moth, Haploa clymene ©Merrill Lynch

Snowflakes are falling as I type. Winter has arrived in the High Country and, I'm afraid, the end of the moth season for 2010. So now is the time to summarize my season long quest to see as many species of moths as possible at a single location. I hope the following account of my mothing big year will be interesting and inspiring to those of you out there who share a passion for the nocturnal leps. (Image to right: Painted Lichen Moth, Hypoprepia fucosa ©Merrill Lynch)

I have been interested in moths for the past ten years or so (noting new species in my tattered copy of Covell) but only started keeping detailed records in 2009, shortly after moving to Watauga County. In 2010 it became an obsession when sometime in June I added up the species I had recorded for the year and was stunned that I had close to 300 species and summer had barely begun! I then set my first goal, 500 species, which seemed at the time both realistic and reasonably ambitious. When I hit 500 species in early August, I decided to just keep at it full bore and vowed to keep the lights on and check the sheets until the last moth flew (or I was evicted from the premises by my long suffering partner!). I was also inspired by the efforts of the Tennessee moth'ers who had gotten together in the spring and decided to undertake an ambitious effort to document all of the moths in their state in 2010. (Image above right: Ailanthus Webworm Moth, Atteva punctella ©Merrill Lynch)

Before I get into the details of the big year, let me just say that I find moths infinitely interesting. For one thing, they are beautiful insects that have an incredible diversity of shapes, patterns, and palettes--even the ones that at first glance appear brown and dull reveal intricate patterns and subtly beautiful colors at closer inspection. Sorry, diurnal lepsters, but butterflies don't have anything on moths! And another thing about moths. They are ubiquitous and abundant and exist in almost endless diversity filling every conceivable ecological niche. And they literally come to you--you don't have to go and chase them! Digital photography has really opened up the moth world to closer examination and has become an essential identification tool. (Image above right: Rosy Maple Moth, Dryocampa rubicunda ©Merrill Lynch)

In 2010, I recorded 632 species of moths in my backyard, starting with a Grote's Pinion (Lithophane grotei) on March 8 and ending with Acrolepiopsis heppneri (a micromoth in the family Acrolepiidae) on November 3. (Image below right: Io Moth, Automeris io ©Merrill Lynch)

Details:
Other Parts of this Article:

©J. Merrill Lynch
Echo Valley Farm
Watauga County, NC
Elevation: 3,400 feet

Devin Floyd

November 21, 2010

"echo valley", "insects", "merrill lynch", "moths", "north carolina", "watauga county"

A Passion for Moths--Equipment

Devin Floyd

November 21, 2010

"echo valley", "insects", "merrill lynch", "moths", "north carolina", "watauga county"

Dark-banded Geometer, Ecliptopera atricolorata ©Merrill Lynch

Equipment: My equipment consisted of 2 sheets lighted by one 160 MV lamp located in the front yard near a small stream; one towel mounted on the sheltered wall of the house under the porch roof, lighted by a single 15W fluorescent black light; and a porch light lighted by a 15W compact fluorescent white light. I also experimented with a sugar bait concoction that I painted on a tree in the front yard. I did this periodically throughout the season and was rewarded with at least a dozen species that never came in to my lights. (image above right is of the Ironweed Borer, Papaipema cerussata ©Merrill Lynch)

My general routine was to turn the lights on around sunset and check the sheets for 1-4 hours each night, first in the early evening between dusk and midnight and again in the early morning between 3-7am (pre-dawn), leaving the lights on all night. I tried to take multiple photographs of each moth that I did not recognize and also photos of fresh specimens of all species.for photodocumentation. (Image to the right: Skiff Moth, Prolimacodes badia ©Merrill Lynch)

All of my photographs were taken with a Panasonic GH-1 using a 45mm (90mm slr equivalent) macro lens. The images were downloaded daily into my computer where I would begin the arduous task of sorting and identifying the photos to species. The identification process sometimes took days and even weeks. I relied primarily on the images on Moth Photographers Group and Bugguide websites and also consulted moth guidebooks such as Covell's Moths of Eastern North America. Occasionally, I would send photos off for identification help, sometimes to Bugguide but also to moth experts. I took over 9,000 images during the season and have photodocumentation for about 80% of the 632 species identified. (Image above left: the Hebrew, Polygrammate hebraeicum ©Merrill Lynch)

I entered the data on an excel spreadsheet that I stumbled upon on the Internet which contained a database of over 1,600 species of moths recorded in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Over 90% of the moths I've recorded in Watauga County are in this database.

A Passion for Moths--Location

Devin Floyd

November 21, 2010

"echo valley", "insects", "merrill lynch", "moths", "north carolina", "watauga county"

Location: All moths were recorded in my yard or in a few instances at mobile light stations set up on my property within a 1/4 mile of my house. My farm is located in northern Watauga County, NC about 15 miles north of Boone and less than one mile from the Tennessee border. It is located in the headwaters of the North Fork of the New River and is about 3,400 feet elevation. Snake Mountain (elevation--5,580 feet) is the dominant local topographic feature; the summit is about 3 miles due south. Habitat is early to mid-successional mesic northern hardwoods (containing patches of older growth forest) with a narrow open riparian zone and nearby pastures. The area around my property is very rural and dominated by a mosaic of open pasture and hardwood forest with abundant small streams and springs/seepages. The only evergreens are scattered Fraser fir christmas tree plantations and planted white pine stands.

A Passion for Moths--Summary

Devin Floyd

November 21, 2010

"echo valley", "insects", "merrill lynch", "moths", "north carolina", "watauga county"

Summary: I kept track of the nights that I actually checked the sheets and photographed moths, by month. The tally (monthly species total followed by mothing nights) is as follows:
(image to the right, The Herald, Scoliopteryx libatrix ©Merrill Lynch)

March: 9 spp; 7 nights;
April: 55 spp; 20 nights;
May: 146 spp; 20 nights;
June: approx. 200 spp; 15 nights;
July: 272 spp; 30 nights;
August: 214 spp; 28 nights;
September: 187 spp; 24 nights;
October: 87 spp; 22 nights;
November: 7 spp. 2 nights.
Grand Total: 632 spp; 168 observation nights.

The first moth of the season was Grote's Pinion (Lithophane grotei) seen at my sugar maple sap buckets on March 8 (with a foot of snow still on the ground!). Moths were few and far between until the first really mild nights of mid-late April when species diversity and numbers increased substantially. My first exciting find was an Immigrant Pinion (Lithophane oriunda) seen at my sugar bait station in early April. Recognizing its rarity, I sent off pics to various experts who corroborated the identification and confirmed the first record for this species in North Carolina! May and June brought an endless number of new species including many micros and many geometers. They also brought the first big boys, the larger sphinx and saturn moths. July was the peak month of moth diversity with 272 species recorded. August brought the first of the fall flying moths such as the borers (genus Papaipema) and September/October heralded the arrival of various noctuids collectively known as darts, pinions, and sallows. One of my favorite moths, the Large Tolype, made multiple appearances during these months. The final moth of the season was Acrolepiopsis heppneri, an interesting micromoth in the obscure family Acrolepiidae, noted on November 3.

Of the 632 species, 209 species were the so-called micros- families such as the torts (Tortricidae), grass-veneer moths (Crambidae), pyralids (Pyralidae), and plume moths (Pterophoridae)--122 species of geometers (Geometridae), 13 sphinx moths (Sphingidae), 24 prominents (Notodontidae), 19 tiger moths (Arctiidae), and 221 species of owlet moths (Noctuidae). One of my favorite groups, the Underwings (genus Catocala), were represented by 16 species. (image above left: Locust Underwing, Euparthenos nubilis ©Merrill Lynch)

I should mention that I missed a number of day-flying moths that are not attracted to lights such as the wasp mimics in the family Sesiidae, some of the day-flying sphinxes such as bumblebee clearwing, and many others. I also do not claim that my list is 100% accurate--in fact, I'm sure there are some mis-id's. I tried to be conservative and only record those species I was reasonably sure about and in some cases I left the identification at the genus level. But moth identification can be very challenging and there are many pitfalls one must traverse in the process: bad lighting or angle in the photograph can obscure important details; many species can only be identified by genitalic dissection and are visually inseparable; many species are not represented by photos (or the photos are low quality) on the various websites; some species are highly variable and come in many different color forms; many moths that are worn and have lost many of their scales simply cannot be identified; etc. I'm guessing that of the total number of moth images that I took over the season, unidentified images amounted to about 5-10 % of the total. (image above right: Giant Leopard Moth, Hypercompe scribonia ©Merrill Lynch)

To put my record in perspective, there are probably at least 2,400 species of moths in North Carolina; however, no one knows for sure because there is no official published list (although I hear rumors that Steve Hall at the NC Natural Heritage Program is working on this). This compares to 174 species of butterflies known in the state. Parker Backstrom, an avid moth'er in Chatham County, has recorded, I believe, around 700 species in and around his property over several years. Bob Patterson in Maryland probably holds the record for the most moths recorded at a single site--1000+ species-- but his record is cumulative over many years. I am not aware of anyone who has attempted a big year for moths but I'd be interested in hearing about it if anyone knows.

I should also say that I don't think my location is particularly exceptional in terms of moth diversity. I am fortunate to live in the country and have an abundance of natural habitats around me but I think my number could easily be duplicated (or exceeded) by anybody dedicated and crazy enough to devote the necessary time and energy required. Dave Beadle, the author of the upcoming field guide to moths, tells me that he has recorded over 500 species in his tiny backyard in downtown Toronto, Canada that is less than 100 square feet!

I want to thank Bo Sullivan, Parker Backstrom, Dave Beadle and Steve Hall for their inspiration, camaraderie, and identification assistance. Special thanks go to my partner, Gabby Call, for her infinite patience, understanding and encouragement. Thanks also are due all of the folks on the North Carolina and Tennessee moth list serves who provided much inspiration and encouragement.

Looking back on the year, it has been a thrill to observe and learn about such an amazing diversity of creatures, literally at my doorstep. Beauty and the diversity of life exemplified by tiny creatures that are right in front of us but we know so little about. I've developed a greater appreciation for the small things and hope that others will too. Moths are just cool, period. I hope that all of you out there who are already bitten will share your passion with others. And for those of you who have not paid much attention to moths, I hope you will give them a second look. I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of Dave Beadle's moth guide due in 2012-- think back ten years ago when butterflying took off after publication of Glassberg's guide. And there is so much potential for folks to make contributions to science by simply observing and keeping records of these creatures; even basic life history information (flight season, food plants, etc) for many species is not known. And you never know, you may have a new species unknown to science waiting to be discovered right in your backyard. I can't imagine anything more exciting than that possibility. And finally, the most important thing to remember is that moths (and most other insects) exist in such profusion because of their long and intricate co-evolution with the plant kingdom--the conservation of biodiversity is the most important task and responsibility that we humans face.