[ncsc-moths] Re: ID help, please

-----Original Message-----
From: "J. Merrill Lynch"
Sent: Feb 20, 2011 8:10 PM
To: ncsc-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ncsc-moths] Re: ID help, please

Harry,

 

Just out of curiosity, I did a little research into Rhyacionia to try and learn a little more about species distribution.  In some technical forestry papers online, I found several papers describing damage done by two species to loblolly pine plantations in the southeast:  R. rigidana and R. frustrana.  The type locality of frustrana is Virginia (not sure where the common name Nantucket pine tip moth came from).  I could find no mention of any other Rhyacionia in the southeastern coastal plain except for subtropica which occurs in Florida.  If somebody forced me to put a species name on your moth, even though it's not a perfect match, I think there is a pretty good chance it is frustrana ( and an appropriate name given your difficulty with it!).

 

Merrill

 

On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 7:54 PM, Harry Wilson <harrywilson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Moth-ers,

I have decided that moths should be required to carry identification with them. That way there will be some hope for me to maintain my sanity.

Last night I took the attached photos, and many others, of a micro moth that is giving me a headache. One problem is that my sheet was not anchored as well as it should have been, so I had a constantly moving target. After searching through MPG and BugGuide, I believe that the closest match is an unlikely candidate, #2887.1,Rhyacionia duplana or Summer Shoot Moth/Elgin Shoot Moth. It resembles Tom Murrays photos from Groton MA at http://bugguide.net/node/view/382988 and http://www.pbase.com/image/123416460. This is a European and Asian moth that has been documented in the US only in MA, as far as I can tell. I have included information on host plants and distribution to show why I discount my tentative ID. I hope that someone may bring me back to my senses with a better, more logical, ID.

Host plants: Pinus sylvestris (Scots Pine), Pinus contorta var. latifolia (Shore Pine, a common tree in western North America), Pinus thunbergii (Japanese Black Pine, Japanese Pine, Black Pine – native to Japan and S. Korea), Picea sitchensis (Sitka Spruce – from AK down coast to n. CA).
Distribution: Northern and Central Europe to Eastern Russia and Japan. Also recorded from Korea, but Byun et al., 1998, have not found any specimens.
In the UK, this species is represented by the subspecies Rhyacionia duplana logaea , where it is also known as the Elgin shoot moth; in Japan the subspecies Rhyacionia duplana simulata Heinrich occurs.

Harry Wilson
Zebulon, NC

--
J. Merrill Lynch
Echo Valley Farm
Watauga County, NC
Elevation:  3,400 feet