 Schinia villosa
This Monday’s moth is a duo of Schinia villosa (Noctuidae) resting on what I am assuming is their host plant (Erigeron sp.). I snapped this shot around 9,000 feet up on the Kaibab plateau in Northern Arizona last month. A fire must have burned the area a few years ago because the wildflowers were thick amongst charred remains of ponderosa pines and these moths were everywhere. Kushiriki hii!A month ago or so the California Academy of Sciences launched a full fledged expedition to the Philippines. Wakati pesa nyingi zilitumika kwenye meli ya kukamata na timu za kupiga mbizi, kulikuwa na sehemu ya nchi kavu. Wakati sikuweza kwenda (na kukaa nyumbani na kupiga kelele), I did talk some of my spider colleagues into collecting lepidoptera for me. Rarely do I say this, but they did a wonderful job collecting leps, and I am slowly working through their bounty (thanks to Nataliya, Vanessa and Hannah!). Here is one of the few butterflies they caught – and I’m thinking this even came into light since it was packed with the moths (which butterflies occasionally do). This stunning Lycaenidae is Catapaecilma evansi, identified by David (indowings) over on InsectNet, shukrani!  Catapaecilma evansi (Lycaenidae) Kushiriki hii! 2 maoni - (Maoni ni kufungwa)  Entomolojia  Vipepeo, California Academy ya Sayansi, Kukusanya, Entomolojia, Lepidoptera, Ufilipino Wiki iliyopita Jim Hayden guessed nondo mimi posted mara ya Australia Oecophoridae. Ilikuwa nadhani nzuri kwa sababu kuna mengi makubwa na stunning nondo katika familia hii kutoka Australia. Moja ya bora ina kuwa hii moja, Wingia lambertella (Oecophoridae), alitekwa katika Black Mountain katika Canberra Oktoba 23, 1955 (CAS makusanyo). kulisha mabuu kwenye Eucalyptus – na mimi kwa nia moja hii ilikuwa aina ilianzisha hapa. Tuna haya pesky miti vamizi kila mahali, kwa nini nondo kwenda kwa?  Wingia lambertella (Oecophoridae)
Kushiriki hii! Maoni moja - (Maoni ni kufungwa) Entomolojia California Academy ya Sayansi, Entomolojia, Spishi vamizi, Lepidoptera, Nondo, Picha GOP hii haina changamoto na ni mkusanyo rahisi wa upigaji picha za hisa. Alex Wild and others have long ago pointed out the massive failings of many stock photo sites – lakini hapa kuna muhtasari mfupi na chungu wa lep roundup kwa kutumia Google. Hatua 1: Utafutaji wa picha “nondo kwenye maua”. Hatua 2: Facepalm. Here is a caption of the first page of results. Excluding the photos that have no moths and are “moth flowers” (= Phalaenopsis orchids) – only 4 out of 18 images are correct! I might give you 6/18 if you count two obviously staged photos… but here is my list of reasons starting with 1= top left and 26 = bottom right. (list below)
1) sawa, good start! This looks like a Manduca aina (Sphingidae) feeding on a Datura flower. I’ve seen this myself in the wild – great capture! 2) Orchid 3) Downhill we go. Obviously a butterfly – Phoebis aina (Pieridae). 4) Lycaenidae butterfly – Callophrys aina. 5) Hesperiidae – skipper butterfly. 6) Another moth! Looks like an Autographa aina (Noctuidae). 7) Certainly a moth, however something I’m unfamiliar with. 8 ) Hyles sphinx moth nectaring. Blurry, but a moth! 9) Another skipper. Just because it’s brown doesn’t mean it’s a moth. 10) Orchid 11) Luna moth on flower. sawa, yes it’s a moth – but I’m sorry, a pretty obviously staged photograph. Actias luna does not have mouthparts – you’d never find one willingly sitting on a flower. 12) Yet another skipper butterfly. 13) Orchid 14) Vanessa butterfly! I thought the Painted Lady was about as obvious of a butterfly as possible. 15) Orchid 16) Orchid 17) Pieridae butterfly on a flower. 18) Orchid 19) Cisseps moth (Artiinae) – our last real moth photograph. The webpage has it identified as Pyromorpha dimidiata (Zygaenidae), however the antennae are wrong and this is most likely a tiger moth in the Ctenuchinae. 20) Oh come on, butterfly! Polygonia aina. 21) Nondo – lakini, staged… I’ve never come across a Sphingidae resting on a flower like this. While this family readily nectars at flowers, they don’t tend to sit on them like idiots. 22) Orchid 23) Orchid 24) Butterfly, Phyciodes aina. 25) Worst staged photograph ever. It’s a spread specimen that may or may not have been photoshopped onto the flower (it looks wonky). Broken antennae, torn up wings… You can also see the shadow from the camera strap on the moth’s left forewing. Yet somehow it won a medal from some group on Flickr. 26) Same butterfly as 24, in color.
Phew, horrible exercise over. Kushiriki hii! 5 maoni - (Maoni ni kufungwa) Entomolojia Mbaya Sayansi, Vipepeo, Mashindano, Entomolojia, Maua, Lepidoptera, Vyombo vya habari JIBU: Hii haikuwa rahisi – lakini nondo huyu mkubwa na mzuri alitoka Australia na yuko katika familia Xyloryctidae (Philarista sp.). We have a handful of representatives of this group here in the US and Ted MacRae over on Beetles in the Bush has a few great photographs of them. Somehow I think we got the short end of the stick because this family reaches the peak of its staggering diversity in Australia. It’s amazing to me that this animal is related to the tiny grey flower moths we have! Jim Hayden was closest with the guess of an Australian Oecophorid – which I have photographed for next week. If you’re interested in learning more about this family go check out the Xyloryctine Nondo ya Australia blog!
This week I’m going to make the moth into a challenge. Who can tell me what familia this is? Any takers on genus/species? My only hint is that this is a pretty hefty sized moth measuring in at over 53mm and it’s from the California Academy collections.
Kushiriki hii! 8 maoni - (Maoni ni kufungwa) Entomolojia California Academy ya Sayansi, Mashindano, Entomolojia, Nondo, Picha, Aina These large and interesting Lycidae beetles (Lycus fernandezi) were abundant in south eastern Arizona a few weeks ago. Constantly flying between flowers and moist sand they were making for easy photography targets. I thought to myself “here is a great opportunity to catch a beetle taking off!”. Wait for it…  Lycus fernandezi (Lycidae)
Wait for it…  Lycus fernandezi (Lycidae) Crap.  Lycus fernandezi (Lycidae) If it hadn’t been 105 degrees out and I didn’t have a cloud of flies clinging to my face I would have fixed my camera settings and waited for another chance. But this is all my patience could bear – after all it’s just a beetle! Kushiriki hii!Hapa kuna video nyingine nzuri kutoka kwa Warren! Nadhani hii ni Choreutidae kwa sababu ya jinsi mbawa zinavyoshikwa wakati wa kucheza – ingawa ni haraka sana kupata sura wazi. Ikizingatiwa kuwa inatoka kwa wanyama ambao siwafahamu kabisa naweza kukosea kwa urahisi – kwa hivyo tafadhali nirekebishe ikiwa unajua zaidi.
Kushiriki hii! Maoni moja - (Maoni ni kufungwa) Entomolojia Entomolojia, Lepidoptera, Vyombo vya habari, Nondo, Ufilipino Safi mbali mashinikizo, Miami Blue Butterfly (MBB) ni now listed as federally endangered by act of an emergency provision. Huzzah! (haki?)  Miami Blue Butterfly kutoka Butterflies ya Amerika Mawazo yangu ya kwanza ilikuwa “kusubiri, wasn’t this already endangered?”. Ndiyo, anarudi nje MBB imekuwa hali-hatarini tangu 2002 after a previous emergency petition filed by the North American Butterfly Association (Naba). This measure seemed comprehensive enough since this butterfly occurs nowhere else in the USA. But that’s not an important detail and I don’t see any real harm in federally listing another butterfly. The Florida Keys sure need every ounce of help they can get when it comes to protecting the environment. As an endangered species the Miami Blue (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri) is a northern range extension of a species that commonly occurs throughout the Caribbean. Whether or not the US immigrant is truly distinctive enough to warrant a subspecies of its own is not something I can really address since I’m not a butterfly guy in the least. I do greatly shy away from the entire idea of a subspecies, but hey, I guess these butterfly guys need something to do! It also seems logical to me that influxes of emigrating blues would naturally change in abundance over the southern coast of Florida. In the early 1950’s these insects used to be abundant up and down beaches nearly all over the state. The last 60 odd years have been cruel to Florida – development and mosquito abatement has ravaged what used to be pristine habitat. All of the butterflies are suffering. Then I realized there was something very odd about this announcement: the emergency provision is pia listing zote similar blues that share habitat with the MBB as threatened and therefore protected! Why? Because they look like the MBB. These blues include the Cassius blue (Leptotes cassius), Ceraunus blue (Hemiargus ceraunus), and the Nickerbean blue (Cyclargus ammon). Let’s get one thing straight – both the Cassius and Ceraunus blues are not in any way actually threatened nor even rare. They can both be – incredibly abundant species with a range that spans all of the Carribbean, the gulf coast west to California and inland strays to the midwest! So I ask, how could this have passed?  Gary Larson, The Far Side Oh that’s right – fear mongering brought to you by the radically anti-collecting North America Butterfly Association. NABA perceives collecting as one of the gravest dangers to butterfly populations despite the incredible lack of evidence. Ndiyo, every collector out there is sporting an evil black cape and making it their life’s work to extinguish beauty from the world. Somehow this organization has managed to convince the USFWS they have a point. I can’t do this provision justice, so here is the exact quote.
I’m honestly speechless. Vizuri, maybe I can manage a few more words. Go ahead and mow down your patch of habitat and then spray herbicide on it. But you better not dare to collect a single blue… the USFWS is watching. They also turn out to be rather paranoid. hakika, poaching does happen every once in a while no matter what species you protect. Whether it be for profit or food, a few odd animals will be picked off. But is there any real evidence to support this level of craziness? The majority of citations in the registrar are from cases, not peer-reviewed journals.
Oh I do love quotes: (source)
Don’t get me wrong – additional funding and protection for a rare species might be helpful as long as the habitat is safeguarded. It seems however that the vast majority of funds tend to go into captive breeding programs which doubtfully do much good. If the butterfly is vanishing from the islands then releasing clouds of them will only make for pretty photographs and not a saved species. I will be submitting a solicited comment and I suggest you do the same. Comment here before October 11, 2011: Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. [FWS–R4–ES–2011–0043]. Or write to: U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. [FWS–R4–ES–2011–0043]; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042–PDM; Arlington, mapenzi 22203.. Kushiriki hii! 9 maoni - (Maoni ni kufungwa) Entomolojia, Wasiwasi Mbaya Sayansi, Vipepeo, Uhifadhi, Entomolojia, Samaki na Wanyamapori, Sheria, Lepidoptera, Naba, Wasiwasi, USFWS
This week’s moth is a video of a dancing micro from the Philippines (taken by Warren Laurde). As you might suspect this is a mating display that ends in a pretty spectacular headstand. There are lots of other microleps that have dancing or display behavior, but there are almost no other videos online and few as high quality as this one. I am thinking this is a Cosmopterigidae, something approaching the genus Ressia. I am unable to find confirmed records of anything near this genus from SE Asia (and nothing in the Microlepidoptera of the Philippine Islands) – but doing a google search I did find another image of what might be this same moth!  Cosmopterigidae - Melvyn Yeo (source) Kushiriki hii! 3 maoni - (Maoni ni kufungwa) Entomolojia Tabia, Entomolojia, Lepidoptera, Kupandisha, Microlepidoptera, Nondo, Ufilipino  Chiricahua multidentate (Geometridae) Nondo Hii Jumatatu ni aina ya kuvutia kutoka milima ya Arizona – Chiricahua multidentate, Geometrid. eneo inajulikana tu kwa aina hii ni saa ya juu sana ya milima Chiricahua juu 9,000 miguu (ambayo mara tu bruned kwa crisp). Hopefully moto haukuwa makubwa kabisa na idadi ya watu duta katika miaka ijayo. Kabla ya 2009 nondo hii ilikuwa inajulikana kutoka chini ya 10 vielelezo, kila alitekwa katika mwinuko kidogo chini juu ya vitunguu Saddle katika Chiricahuas. Katika spring ya 2009 upatikanaji wa gated barabara kuongoza na ukusanyaji wa kadhaa ya mifano katika usiku moja. Wote wa kumbukumbu uliopita alikuwa strays nadra kuwa alikuwa flown chini ya 8500′ – lakini kitendo rahisi ya kuendesha gari juu ya ziada Unaweza pia niliona mara kwa mara posting ya Jumatatu nondo – Nimekuwa nje katika uwanja kwa wiki mbili mwisho na alikuwa na mkusanyiko wa posts imepangwa. Mimi lazima kuanza kuchanganya mambo up zaidi sasa! Kushiriki hii! |
Wasiwasi |
