Pale Beauty at East Brunswick Moth Night

On Saturday evening I went with my friend Anita and her husband to the final session of East Brunswick Moth Night for 2011. The moth diversity was a bit lower than expected. Relatively few macromoths visited the sheet, and those that visited the moth sugar were almost all Copper Underwings. However, there were plenty of insects to keep all of the attendees occupied, including one large katydid that alternated between sitting on the sheet and spooking attendees with its loud katydid calls from a nearby tree. I will post more photos from Saturday's session as I identify the insects.

Near the end of the night, just when we were thinking of wrapping up, this moth arrived and landed on the ground in front of the mercury vapor lamp. It is a Pale Beauty (Campaea perlata), a geometer notable for its large size and pale green color. A second Pale Beauty (shown below) flew in shortly after the first. The two moths displayed noticeable differences in size and color, despite being the same species.

Dave Moskowitz, who runs the moth night series, wrote a recent post on discovering the biodiversity that lurks in suburban backyards, especially insect diversity.