Nice clearwing, Merrill! It will be interesting indeed to see what your yard produces sesiid wise. I ordered my lures last week, as you know, and look forward to sampling what the central piedmont has to offer. I had a very fresh Cecropia Moth this morning at one of my stops. He wasn't too happy when I gathered him up and put him in my car as I continued my perusal but the crows I saw scavenging at the base of the wall yesterday were hanging around waiting for the light to come up just a little bit more before gorging on the offerings. I just couldn?t let him meet such an end. I rolled down the window a short way down the road and out he flew. I'm a little curious why I don't see more of this species around here. I added Ceratomia amyntor and Paratrea plebeja to my list of sphingids on the year bringing the total to five. It's hard not to be impressed and pleased when this group starts showing up. Certainly the most interesting observation this morning was a major appearance of Loxostegopsis merrickalis this morning. While not uncommon, I typically only see them in ones and twos, and far from nightly. This morning I saw several dozen in two locations, exceeded several fold the total number I've seen over the past several years combined. I'm a little on the late side reporting it but a couple of weeks ago I came across a fresh Eutelia pulcherrimus, a species I don't see nearly often enough (see attached). It's gonna be a productive week this week, me thinks. Lep on, everyone! Parker -----Original Message----- From: ncsc-moths-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ncsc-moths-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of J. Merrill Lynch Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 12:50 PM To: ncsc-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ncsc-moths] Sesiid Success! I put up my clearwing borer (family Sesiidae) pheromone lures for the first time yesterday afternoon. Purchased them from Great Lakes IPM. Within a hour I had a lifer: Ash Borer (Podosesia syringae) 2589--a pretty cool paper wasp mimic! Can't wait to see what else is lurking around my yard. I figure there are potentially at least a dozen spp I could catch. Also, had my best night of the season--at least 62 spp, including 16 FOY and 3 lifers. One of the lifers was Eriocrania semipurpurella 0005 (Purplish Birch-Miner), a member of the primitive family Eriocraniidae. Photos of both are attached. Merrill -- J. Merrill Lynch Echo Valley Farm Watauga County, NC Elevation: 3,400 feet
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Eutelia pulcherrimus - 2012-04-02 Chatham Co NC, Goldston -1 COPY.jpg
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