Michael,
Nice set of images. I believe your first two are incorrectly IDed. #1 is
Lithophane unimoda and #2 is most likely M. violacea. M. viatica generally
cannot over-winter, while violacea does so regularly. This moth also looks
too suffused with violet to be viatica. If you would like to confirm, you
could collect a few and send and I will compare them to the collection at
USNM.
Hugh
On Mon, Feb 24, 2020 at 8:24 AM Michael Lee Bierly <
michael.lee.bierly@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Overall, it has been a cold week, at least for much moth activity, with
the except of Sunday and Monday nights, the 16th (10 species and 22
individuals) and 17th (15 species and 148 individuals), for cumulative
total of 16 species. I thought the 17th would be a little better with a
high of 67 F, but the temps dropped too fast and there were no SB runs in
the 60’s. Highlights included a fresh Armyworm Moth, last seen on December
25, 2019 (there are Tennessee records in all months except January); the
return of the overwintering Lithophane ‘near disposita’, last seen on
November 29, 2019; and six species of Lithophanes in one night including a
new species for HC, L bethunei (Bethune's Pinion Moth).
The rest of the month is mainly projected cool to cold and the extended
forecast for my area for March is for much below normal temperatures. The
bright side of a cool spring is that it does not go too fast and you get
more time to do spring things.
Image review here
<https://instituteforlepidopteraintennessee.smugmug.com/Moths-at-Hillcrest-Castle-Dickson-County-Tennessee/Weekly-Moth-Images-Hillcrest-Castle/Sugar-Bait-Surveys-February-16-22-2020/>
.
Michael Lee Bierly, Dickson County, Tennessee
