Leave it to Denver to combine two things perfect for this blog – entomology and skepticism! If you haven’t seen these clips then take a second to watch the video above. At the very least this appears to be a real phenomenon, camera crews from the news station were able to record the very same…
That summer sure flew by, and I have to admit that being unemployed really, really turned my productivity into crap. But the good news is that I’ve just relocated to Denver for a job in entomology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science! I’ll be working on databasing and photographing insects for the Southwest…
A Monday moth in fuzzy pink – Dryocampa rubicunda (Saturniidae). These rosy maple moths are pretty common in southern Illinois, but always a stunner when they come to light.
Not an uncommon moth, but a distinguished looking one. This is Catocala ilia (Erebidae) ((formerly Noctuidae)), and it feeds on a handful of Oaks. It came into my light over the weekend in Southern Illinois, down in the Trail of Tears State Forest. As with so many other moths this widespread species has a number…
The local news for most of the eastern US and Canada has been aflutter (ha) recently with reports of the irruption of Vanessa atalanta – the Red Admiral butterfly. While this is a common occurrence every spring for these butterflies to migrate north from their overwintering grounds in the southern US, the sheer numbers…
Today’s moth is an understated brown Crambidae, Loxostege brunneitincta. While this isn’t a particularly captivating moth it does have an interesting story that illustrates the need for scientific collections and museum loans. If you read the label image you will notice the moth was originally collected in 1927 by E. P. Van Duzee in Truckee,…
On a brisk 37 degree morning in Northern Illinois I decided to dust off my camera and explore the progress of “spring”. I hit Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve by 6:30am, just in time for first light to melt the patchy frost. A week and a half ago temps were pushing the upper 80’s and summer…
Back to the Monday Moth! This beautiful insect is Stiria dyari (Noctuidae) collected on a February trip outside of Cataviña, Baja California Mexico. I believe the host plants are still unknown, but all of the moths in the genus Stiria have these brilliant yellow forewings that help camouflage them on the stem of a yellow…
Back from hiatus and back to the Genius of the Press insect-news-failure series! Fresh off the presses from last year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK was shut down for a massive infestation of clothes moths. The picture shown here from “The Nation” story is a far cry from a…
As I’m sure you’ve noticed things have been awfully quiet around here for the last two months. Most of January I was busy with a move, from San Francisco to Chicago. Unfortunately the foundation that was supporting my work at the California Academy of Sciences had some tough financial calls to make and my position…