March 1, 2019

February 2019 Moths

The 2019 moth season in Plainsboro, NJ, got off to an early start with a Spring Cankerworm Moth early in the month and a Gray (as yet unidentified) towards the end of the month.

The cankerworm is definitely running early; I normally get them in mid-March, though I have had them in February before. I've even seen them in December and January! That was during the very mild winter of 2011-2012, which led to a very early spring for a number of moths locally. By contrast, Smith's NJ insect list (published in 1910) says of this species, "Moths in April or May." I've seen Spring Cankerworms in the last week of March but not so far in April, never mind May.

Other moth species I've seen in past Februaries include The Half-wing, Small Phigalia, and Green Cloverworm Moth (February has a very short species list).

Posted on March 1, 2019 02:48 PM by jenniferwhanson jenniferwhanson | 2 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 17, 2018

Introduction

I'm a relative newbie when it comes to iNaturalist. I started as a birder, but have gotten into moths. I have been making an effort to photograph moths since August 2006 and have amassed a large number of photos from my local area (Plainsboro, New Jersey), as well as occasional moth nights elsewhere (particularly in the New Jersey Pine Barrens). iNaturalist seems like a good place to display them (I'm also on Flickr).

In 2018, I am trying to post images of all moths I see this year, at least in my local area. Much of my "yard" mothing is done at existing building lights rather than a proper moth light setup. Sometimes moths perch well out of decent camera range, but I try to photograph them anyway, so some of my photos are not as good as closeups taken at a moth sheet.

I'm posting my photos here at iNat as a way of showing the local range of moth species and also as a way of getting feedback on my identifications. I've been doing this long enough that I've picked up some moth ID knowledge, but moths are a difficult group and I make plenty of mistakes. I appreciate being corrected as I am always trying to learn more about about moth ID (including what species and species complexes I should just not even try to identify!).

I also take photos of animals and plants other than moths, so those will show up here as well.

Posted on May 17, 2018 11:58 AM by jenniferwhanson jenniferwhanson | 2 comments | Leave a comment

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