Moths are not the only insects drawn to UV lights. A broad range of insects from several orders may appear on a sheet on a good night. Here are a few from East Brunswick's moth night last Friday.
The highlight by far was a Reddish-brown Stag Beetle (
Lucanus capreolus) that stayed near the mercury vapor lamp for most of the evening. This beetle, also known as the pinching bug, has smaller jaws than its southern relative,
Lucanus elaphus, but it still looks quite fearsome. Another large beetle present appeared to be some sort of dung beetle.
June bugs (
Phyllophaga sp.) are regulars at UV lights.
Several caddisflies landed on the sheet.
The mothing sugar drew some interest as well. On one tree wood roaches (
Parcoblatta sp.) were sipping at the sugar. The same tree featured a lot of isopods. Other trees were visited by harvestmen (order Opiliones), also known as daddy-long-legs. I was not surprised by the presence of roaches and isopods at the sugar, but I did not realize harvestmen liked sugary foods as well.
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