urbpan: (dandelion)
urbpan ([personal profile] urbpan) wrote2014-09-01 07:07 pm

Urban Nature Walk Special Event: Moth Night at the Zoo!

Instead of our usual type of event (go someplace, walk in one direction for a couple hours) the latest Urban Nature Walk meetup was a moth night. Instead of meeting at 10 a.m. on the last Sunday of the month we met at 10 p.m. and stayed up until 1 a.m.

We met up at Franklin Park Zoo, set up some lights to attract nocturnal insects, and went around photographing what we found. Fortunately several people had great photography set-ups (compared to my little point and shoot) so there will be lots of great photographs to look at. Meanwhile, here's my set:

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This is a Macaria moth.



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This one is a "master's dart" Feltia herilis, a widespread and abundant species whose caterpillar feeds on dozens of crops and weeds.

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A somewhat blurry male mosquito casts a long shadow.

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On the hardware of the light stand itself sits a Tortricid moth--their larvae are caterpillars that create shelters by rolling or folding the edges of leaves.

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This "little underwing" Catocala micronympha has had a patch of its scales rubbed off, resulting in a shiny bald spot.

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Moths weren't the only creatures coming to the lights. There were several of these tiny Syrphid flies (hover flies or flower flies).

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Our headquarters was a picnic area under a tent. There were creatures there as well, such as this great big crane fly, family Tipulidae.

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A nearby structure (a sign) provided a scaffold for this cobweb spider and her eggs. I think this is Parasteatoda tepidariorum

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