Friday Night Lights at Sylvan Solace Preserve (28 July 2017)

In about three weeks high school football season kicks off here in Mid-Michigan.  Last week the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Sylvan Solace Preserve was host to its own version of Friday Night Lights.  But instead of football, this version involved insects - specifically moths.

Six amateur lepidopterists (people who study moths and butterflies) gathered at Sylvan Solace with the goal of attracting and identifying some of preserve's many species of moths (and other insects).  This purpose of this event was to celebrate National Moth Week.  This is not the first time the CWC has celebrated National Moth Week, but unlike past attempts this one did not get cancelled due to weather.

There are many ways to attract moths.  One of the simplest ways is to go out into the woods (or other habitat) with a bright light source and a light colored sheet.  Suspend the sheet between a couple of trees and shine the light on it - the moths will be attracted to (or confused by) the bright light and land on the sheet where they can be identified at your leisure.

Setting for this activity was the (relatively) easy part.  However, Sylvan Solace Preserve does not have a source of power so one had to be brought in.  My lepidopterists will use deep-cycle marine batteries to power their lights.  I don't have any batteries handy, but I did have access to a small generator.  So in addition to the sheets and lights, the generator had to be hauled into and out of the woods.  No one wants to sit right next to a loud, smoky generator while they are trying to enjoy nature - so I also hauled about 300 feet of extension cords so the generator could be placed further away.

Once the lights were turned on and darkness fell, the moths began to arrive almost immediately.  Moth identification can be challenging in the woods, especially since so many of the species are small and nondescript (brown, grey, with few distinguishing marks). We did our best, but were only able to positively identify a couple of the more distinctive species in the field.

Several hours of poring over my photographs and field guides led to these identifications:

Gray Half-spot (Nedra ramosula)

Bog Lygropia (Lygropia rivulalis)

European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nibilalis)

Sweetfern Geometer (Cyclophora pendulinaria)

Painted Lichen Moth (Hypoprepia fucosa)

Banded Tussock Moth (Halysidota tessellaris)

There is a possibility that the above moth is not a Banded Tussock Moth, but rather a Syacamore Tussock Moth (H. harrissii).  However, I do not know of any Sycamore trees in the immediate area of Sylvan Solace Preserve.  Without this host plant, I think that it is more likely the Banded Tussock Moth.

Dark-banded Owlet (Phalaenophana pyramusalis)

Oak Leafroller (Argyrotaenia quercifoliana)

Sigmoid Prominent (Clostera albosigma)

Subgothic Dart (Feltia subgothica)

Common Grey (Anavitrinella pampinaria)

These were not the only moths that came to the party.  A few more hours of effort should probably lead to several more identifications - if I identify more species I will add them in a separate posting.  If you notice any errors in identification, please let me know.