Moth world updates of the day

Today I learned from Greg Pohl of the sudden passing of Ian Toal (@mamestraconfigurata), who was one of the most prolific identifiers of Ontario moths on iNat -- 15,000 observations in all. He provided a valuable service to so many, and taught us so much. Sad. An obituary appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ( https://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-309457/TOAL_IAN ). His LinkedIn profile shows his wide interests and his experience inside and outside of entomology ( https://ca.linkedin.com/in/ian-toal-74697b86 ).

Also today, Chris Schmidt of Agriculture Canada provided a full identification for the Imperial Moth specimen observed by David Okines near St. Williams (Norfolk County) on July 19. Chris says it is subspecies imperialis, which has not been seen in Canada since the early 1980s (subspecies pini is the one widely observed in Ontario and western Quebec). A truly amazing find. This raises many questions. Was it there all along, but just not observed, or is this a recolonization from moths flying in from other areas? And is subspecies imperialis to be found anywhere else in southwestern Ontario?

Alan Macnaughton

Posted on August 3, 2022 01:32 AM by amacnaughton