Two New Moths

Saw two “new-to-me” moth species tonight under the back porch light. Lacinipolia renigera: a bristly cutworm moth, of the family Noctuidae ~ and Cyclophora nanaria: a dwarf tawny wave, of the family Geometridae. 

Lacinipolia renigera: a bristly cutworm moth

Cyclophora nanaria: a dwarf tawny wave

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Nature Walk - June 7th, 2014

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On today's nature walk, along the Mica Mine Trail and at Connected Lakes, we saw a black-throated gray warbler, yellow warblers, and several other regularly seen seasonal birds. This morning's highlights were a pair of wood ducks, several species of butterflies, a reddish-colored weevil, and a bullfrog.

A reddish weevil on the Mica Mine Trail.
Possibly a Rose Curculio (Merhynchites sp.)
Or more simply... a Rose Weevil.

Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii),
Spotted on the Mica Mine Trail.

The water in the Connected Lakes area has risen
dramatically over the last few weeks.

A young, small bullfrog spotted in the Connected Lakes.

A blue damselfly at Connected Lakes.

A pair of wood ducks in Connected Lakes.

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Police Car Moths on Turkey Flats Trail

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Today my friend Scott and I went for a nature hike on Turkey Flats Trail, near Glade Park, Colorado. We discovered a "new-to-us" moth, which turns out to be a Police Car Moth (Gnophaelia vermiculata). At first I wasn't sure that this was a moth and not a butterfly. It has a relatively delicate build, apparent during its clumsy flight, and looks more like a butterfly while flying. Upon landing, however, its resting delta wing pattern and characteristic moth-like antennae give it away. This moth features bold black and white coloring, along with bright orange coloration of the frontal thorax region, which could be reminiscent of two police car siren lights when viewing this moth head on.

Police Car Moth

Short video of a police car moth.

Can you find all three?

A female is on the left, a male to her right.
You can tell by looking at their antennae.
The male's antennae are more feathery and broad.

Police Car Moth - showing bright orange frontal thorax region.

Head on view showing the thorax "lights" of the police car moth.

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Cool Moth Spotted in Ohio

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My sister spotted this cool looking moth in Bellefontaine, Ohio. It was resting on a pumpkin leaf. I have no idea (for the moment) what kind of moth this is. I'm guessing that someone out there will know. The moth is characterized by its "beefy" front legs, clear to iridescent wings (depending on the viewing angle), a tuft on its rear abdomen, and the raising of its abdomen while resting. Any suggestions?

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Hummingbird Clearwing Moths on Turkey Flats

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We saw quite a few hummingbird clearwing moths on Turkey Flats Trail in the Grand Mesa National Forest this afternoon. I like to call them "bumble moths."

Here is a short (not-so-hot-quality) video of a clearwing moth"bumbling" around a flower.

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Tobacco Hornworm in the Driveway

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This past Tuesday, I spotted this tobacco hornworm  ambling across our driveway in Grand Junction. 

I've always thought of these as tomato hornworms, but when I looked this one up to verify the identification, I discovered that the tomato hornworms (Manduca quinquemaculata) are actually a little different. This one is a tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta). 

It was out looking for a spot to dig into the ground and pupate. I took a few pictures and then put it into the snake terrarium. Within 30 seconds it had already dug itself into the ground. Hopefully we'll see a tobacco hornworm moth in a few weeks.

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Sphinx Moth Caterpillar Eats and Grows

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The caterpillar on Thursday July 5th, 2012

Look at the bottom of this page for day by day progress pics.

The caterpillar eats quite a bit daily.

Monday, July 9th 2012

Tuesday, July 10th 2012

 Note: On Wednesday, July 11th 2012, this caterpillar dug down into the soil at the bottom of its cage to get ready to enter its next stage. We'll see what appears after a while.

Wednesday July 18th

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Sphinx Moth Caterpillar in Grand Junction

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We found a sphinx moth caterpillar in our driveway in the Redlands this week. This one appears at first glance to have an "eye" near its rear end on the top of its body. It's head can also appear a bit oversize and flattened because of the way that it almost tucks it back into the front portion of its body.

It is similar in appearance to pictures of the Achemon Sphinx (Eumorpha achemon) that I've found online.

It is also somewhat similar to the Satellite Sphinx Moth (Eumorpha satellitia). So for now I'll just call it a Eumorpha sp. (even though I think that it is most likely an achemon).

Assuming that it is an Achemon Sphinx caterpillar, you can find pictures of the moth that it will become here ~ http://bit.ly/NbQ54q

You can clearly see the "eye" towards the rear of the caterpillar (all that remains of the caudal horn, which is lost after the 4th instar). Apparently these caterpillars are extremely fond of grape leaves, Virginia Creeper, and other similar vines.

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Bike Trail to 32 Road Today

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The view between 29 Rd and 32 Rd on Thursday

Short video of a little red spider that crossed my path

Couldn't resist getting another shot.

Today was definitely a spider kind of day on the trail.
Here is another one, much larger than the first.

View from the path

Video of the view of the Bookcliffs and Mt. Garfield.

I saw a lot of grasshoppers like this one
(most still had their hopping legs).

There were ants in the area where I found the grasshopper.
Many were hunting for wounded insects in the area.

A video I took of a white butterfly,
mainly worth watching for the trail sounds.

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Tuesday 29 to 32 Rd

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The stretch of bike trail between 29 and 32 Rd. has some nice views.

Clouds behind the Bookcliffs.

Beetle on the water's edge.

My guess is a red-femured milkweed borer,

Possibly Tetraopes femoratus?
Definitely Tetraopes sp. 

Grasshoppers were everywhere along the trail today.
We saw a very large green one on the Audubon Trail yesterday;
it was about twice the length of the one pictured here.

First wooly bear caterpillar I've seen since moving to Colorado.

Do you think it will be a long or a short winter?

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