Thursday, March 08, 2012

First Moth of 2012

Last night I put out my moth light for the first time this year. One micromoth came to the sheet before I even turned the light on and stayed there in the same spot for the two hours I left the light on. That was the only moth I saw. The moth, shown above, appears to be Battaristis concinusella, a species of gelechiid moth. Most of the reports of that species in BugGuide's database are for later in the spring, but perhaps a few came out early thanks to the warm winter. In any case, the markings towards the apex of its forewing and along the outer costa seem pretty distinctive.

The only other insects I saw last night were some midges and this crane fly.