August 16 to September 15, 2018
Hi All,
Ut oh! I just had a male luna emerge, August 19, from a cocoons spun up 2-3 weeks ago. I hope this is just an anomoly and not a harbinger of things to come. Usually lunas here are on PEI are single brooded, but I have had years in the past when a couple of cocoons yielded moths without a winter diapause. It has been extremely hot and dry here this summer.
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Larry Silenius passes on the following observations:
"One male cecropia, hanging from the female, was rocking back and forth most of the time he was mating. Polyphemus moths must have a way of communicating. I wear camouflage and move very slowly around my moths. But, they all (as many as 3) will drop at the same instant if I make a wrong move. My first brood luna larvae didn't change color to red or brown before spinning cocoons. I suspect they spin in the trees instead of walking down the trunk and spinning on the ground. I had second brood lunas eclose and mate while first brood larvae from a different female that hatched earlier were still eating. All were raised in sleeves on black walnut in my yard. I had two 2 year old male regalis emerge with perfect wings. One had a small piece of pupa case stuck on his thorax just above his right eye. The second had a piece of pupa case with the left wing case stuck above his left eye, resulting in a cupped left fore-wing (it would be perfect on a spreading board). A three year old male that emerged years ago, had a small piece of pupa case stuck on one of the last segments of his abdomen. A female regalis last year spread her wings when calling. My promethea double brooded this year: 10 males, followed by 8 females, out of 25 cocoons. The females attracted 1 wild male on august 4th at my house in Ravenna, Portage County, Ohio, USA."
Bill Oehlke: Others have also reported surprise double brooding. Maybe the extreme heat in eastern North America is having an effect on the moths.
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I am getting some interesting reports and images from Acre, Brazil, a state with little documentation. Rafael Almeida has confirmed six species from Cruseiro do Sul, anticipated, but not previously confirmed to my knowledge. I am also updating Automeris pelaezi file with larval images from Alexandre Laberge. Hope to have that completed by end of August.
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I have almost completed a Saturniini comparison table for Panama, and, as soon as that is completed and posted, I will work on a similar table for Ceratocampinae from Panama.
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Sphingidae Express
Alexandre Laberge has sent me a great set of Sphinx canadensis images with a confirmation of their need for black ash and a report on their very rapid incubation and larval development.
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Catocala Capers
Larry Gall writes, "Hi folks, Catocala season is underway in the northern parts of the USA and Canada, and Bob, Hugo, and I want to engage you and your collecting buddies to be on the lookout for several species, for differing reasons:
1. minuta – females for eggs (from any locality)
2. neogama – females for eggs (from any locality)>br> 3. praeclara/alabamae – females for eggs (from any locality)
4. praeclara/alabamae – any specimens from last 10 years (from Midwest and southern Canada)
For minuta, we are after eggs (fertile OR infertile) to produce better SEM scanning electron micrographs than what we currently have. For neogama, we are after eggs (fertile) to do more rearings to continue testing whether there is potentially a second cryptic species involved.
For praeclara/alabamae, the situation is more interesting. These two species are easily separated on wing pattern and DNA profile over most of their geographic ranges. However, in the Midwest and southern Canada we are finding specimens that one might normally consider praeclara based on wing pattern that in fact have alabamae DNA profiles. We’re trying to delimit the geographic region for this, so we can figure out more precisely what is going on. To that end, we are looking for a leg (to extract DNA) from ANY specimen taken within the last 10 years from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, western Pennsylvania, and western New York. Papered or field pinned material is fine, and although having the entire specimen would be best, if you want to retain the specimen then sending a good digital image with the leg is ok. If you have difficulty separating praeclara/alabamae, don’t worry, go ahead and send anything that look like these, regardless. And, like minuta and neogama, we are also looking for eggs (fertile) of praeclara/alabamae for rearing, as this would certainly also help with the above situation.
If Bob, Hugo, or I can reciprocate in any way, please let us know. Later this fall, as usual, I should have a list of species for which eggs will be available for rearing in spring 2019. Please pass this email along to other friends as well.
Happy catocalating!
Best,
Larry, Bob, Hugo
Lawrence F. Gall, Ph.D.
Head, Computer Systems Office &
Entomology Collections Manager
Peabody Museum of Natural History
Yale University, P. O. Box 208118
New Haven, CT 06520-8118
P: 1-203-432-9892
F: 1-203-432-9816
http://www.peabody.yale.edu
Courier Deliveries:
170 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
lawrence.gall@yale.edu

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