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BACKYARD SECRET: MOTHS VISIT HUMMIMNGBIRD FEEDERS
Until a few nights ago I had never seen a moth visit a hummingbird feeder at night. Although I have spotted a few butterflies such as cloudless sulphurs and even a monarch briefly dining a hummingbird feeder but I have never spotted a moth engaged in this activity; here is what I saw.
A few nights ago, I took our family dog out. Just beyond our deck four hummingbirds hang from Shepard’s hooks. As I stood on the deck waiting to come back, a large fuzzy moth flew in and visited one of the feeders. It hovered above two of the feeding portals on one of the feeders; it remained there for several seconds. Since the moth visited the portal on the back side of the feeder, I did not actually see the moth extend its long proboscis into the feeder.
Supposedly, the moths that are most often reported visiting feeders are various sphinx moths. After watching these large moths feeding at late-blooming flowers it easy to see why they are sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds.
This surprising experience has left me wondering why I have never seen moths feeding at hummingbird feeders before. Perhaps it is because I rarely watch the feeders at night. This may be the reason why other folks also rarely see this fascinating behavior.
If you have been lucky enough to spot moths visiting your hummingbird feeders, please let me know.
LIGHTBULBS THAT ARE THE LEAST HARMFUL TO MOTHS
It has long been recognized that some forms of outside lighting are detrimental to moths. One of the ways such lighting is bad for moths is it affects the moths’ ability to navigate. As a result, they will often continuously fly around bright lights and become exhausted. In addition, the wrong forms of lighting used to illuminate places such as large parking lots have been shown to negatively impact the breeding of some species of moths.
One way that we can ensure that our porch lights and other outdoor lighting around our homes are not negatively affecting moths is to use the correct bulbs.
Yellow bug lights are excellent. Other great options include those that are amber, and red. (Many insects cannot see red light.). LEDs with warm tones also work well.
If each one of us makes an attempt to reduce light pollution, moth populations will be better for it.
ATTRACTING MOTHS ON HOT SUMMER EVENINGS
One of the reasons why moths are so underappreciated is many of them are only active at night. However, those few wildlife enthusiasts that know how to attract them can often view some of the most beautiful and unusual backyard residents.
One of the best ways to lure moths to spots where you can observe them is by luring them to places where you are able to easily them. This technique is known as “sugaring for moths.“ This involves preparing bait out of some unlikely ingredients. You can find a number of recipes for these moth brews on the internet. Here is one posted by Oklahoma State University’s Extension Office. Here is the recipe:
1 can of beer
2 overripe bananas, peeled and mashed
½ cup of grape jelly
2 Tbsp. sorghum syrup
1 Tbsp. pineapple-flavored gelatin
Mix the concoction until you form a smooth liquid paste. The paste needs to be thin enough to spread to a tree trunk but thick enough to adhere to a tree. Store the mixture at room temperature for 10-12 hours before using.
Then, just before dark, paint 12-inch patches on several tree trunks (roughly head high). Then return the bait stations as often as you like. In some cases, the best time of view moths attracted to the bait occur after 10 p.m.
Do not be surprised if the concoction attracts moths that you never knew were flying about your yard while you are inside your home watching television.
If this recipe does not work as well as you thought it would, simply alter it. You just might develop a recipe that is superior to this one.
TRY SOMETHING NEW – MOTH PHOTOGRAPHY
Recently, my wife and I decided to try our luck at moth photography. Experience has taught us that success at this endeavor is just a matter of being in the right spot at the right time, equipped with the right equipment.
Over the years, we have been photographing Carolina Sphinx moths feeding at four-o‘clock blossoms at dusk. We have several small patches of these perennial plants growing in our backyard. We planted them close to the house because we enjoy their colorful, trumpet shaped flowers and the hummingbirds and moths they attract.
On this particular night, I did not go outside until it was very late in the afternoon. In fact, hummingbirds were still feeding at nearby hummer feeders as we stepped into our backyard. This provided us with the opportunity to photograph a hummingbird feeding on the nectar found in four o’ clock blossoms before the moths arrived. Unfortunately, on this particular late afternoon, the hummingbirds were content to feed on sugar water.
My wife was equipped with a smart phone, and I carried my Nikon D-7500 35mm camera.
We had our cameras poised as we checked out patches of yellow and bright pink four-o’ clocks. For several minutes, no moths appeared. Then, suddenly a large sphinx moth flew in and began probing the flowers. Since the moth was constantly moving, it seemed that every time we got ready to snap a photo is flew away.
After vainly trying to snap photos of this month, four other moths flew in. This greatly increased the odds that we would capture one in a photograph. With that in mind, each of us just stood still near a stand of four o’ clocks and waited for the moths to come to us.
As the afternoon faded into night, we kept taking as many pictures as we could before calling it a night.
When we returned to the house, we evaluated our results. My wife was not happy with any of her photos. While most of the shots I took were not very good, a few turned out great. One of these shots accompanies this blog.
We both set our cameras on automatic. After the session was over, I found that the camera took my photos at F/4.5, 1/60th of a second, and an ISO of 2500.
We always enjoy our forays to try to photograph moths. However, next time we are going to apply insect repellent before we venture outside.
If you decide to try your hand at moth photography, don’t become discouraged it you do not immediately enjoy success. You simply have to find what works best for you. Once you discover this secret, you will find your efforts to photograph moths very rewarding.
BLACK WITCHES SEEN IN GEORGIA
When you read the headline to this blog, you will probably wonder what in the world is he talking about. Of course, I am not referring to images we associate with Halloween. Instead, this witch is a very large nocturnal moth known as the black witch (Accalapha odorata). While I have never heard of this moth breeding in Georgia, Georgians throughout the state do see it on rare occasions.
The black witch is a dark moth with pointed wings. In flight, it is sometimes mistaken for a bat. It has a wingspan that ranges in size from 6 1/2 – 7 inches. This moth is the largest moth you will see in Georgia. To give you some idea how big it is, its wings are wider than a dollar bill is long. Females are larger than males. Its wings have pointed tips. Females display a pale pink scalloped band across the upper surfaces of its wings.
The breeding range of the black witch extends from the southern portions of the Southeast to Brazil. Experts believe the black witches that appear in Georgia and elsewhere throughout the South are individuals that migrated from Mexico. At any rate, for some reason, from late spring to autumn some of these huge moths take off and fly northward. As a result, black witches have been seen in most of the United States on into Canada.
Here is the Peach State they have been seen in a number of locations including Ringgold, Jonesboro, Columbus, and elsewhere. Amazingly earlier this month three black witches were spotted in Barnesville and Forsyth in just a couple of days.
The first was seen by a homeowner that lives a few miles from downtown Barnesville. This moth was resting beneath the overhang of a shed located near her home; a couple of days later she found a second black witch near her home.
In the meantime, a close friend saw one flying about his garage when the closed his garage doors late one evening. Knowing I had never seen one of these rare visitors, he called me at 7:00 am the next morning to let me know he had trapped one in his garage. I immediately jumped in the car and drove the short distance to his house. I took a number of pictures of the moth, as it remained motionless on the windshield wipers of his car. Interestingly the moth remained perched on the car even after he pulled the vehicle out of the garage. Later he told me that the moth did not leave until the sun burned through the clouds later in the morning.
I do not believe we know how common these moths are. What are the odds that the three moths were seen a few miles from one another in Barnesville and Forsyth just happened to stop in the yards of two folks familiar with moths and butterflies. If they did not know these insects were rare, their presence would never have been reported.
Consequently, keep your eyes peeled for a really big moth that appears near your outside lights or on the wall of your garage. Who knows? You might be the next person to see one of Georgia’s rarest moths.
If you have seen such a moth in the past, or happen to spot one in the future, please let me know. Simply drop me a line that includes the date of the sighting and the name of the city where it was found. Perhaps more black witches are flying about Georgia than we realize.
BACKYARD SECRET – GEORGIA IS HOME TO A DIVERSE POPULATION OF NATIVE BEES
When we think of native pollinators, it is only natural to think about moths, butterflies and hummingbirds. However, some of our most important native pollinators are bees. There are some 4,500 species of native bees in the United States; 500 of these species live in Georgia.
BACKYARD SECRET – MOTHS MAY NOT BE ATTRACTED TO LIGHT AFTER ALL
The photo shows a moth on an outside light.
We have all seen moths and other insects flying about our outside lights. It is a popular theory that light attracts moths and other insects. However, researchers now believe they have solved the mystery of why these insects fly endlessly around lights. According to the results of research reported in Nature, the insects that we see swirling around outside lights may actually be trying to fly away from the light. Yes, they are turning their backs on light.
The authors of this research report reached this conclusion employing advanced camera technology. Using this equipment the photos taken of insects flying about sources of light revealed that the insects were actually twisting their bodies to face away from the light source. This behavior is called dorsal light response. When insects display this behavior near a source of light, they become trapped end up continuously swirling around it.
THE PANDORUS SPHINX – INTERESTING BACKYARD RESIDENT
Some of our most interesting and beautiful backyard residents are animals were rarely see. A classic example of this is the pandorus sphinx (Eumorpha pandus).
Jacob Hubner named this moth a little over 200 years ago (1821). He named the moth after an archer named Pandorus that that fought in the battle of troy. His name was immortalized by Homer in the Iliad.
The pandorus sphinx is a large insect (3-4.5”) in length. It varies in color from green to brown while its wings display a distinctive pattern (see accompanying photo).
The photo was provided by Robyn Tamas.
Pandorus sphinx moths range across the entire state of Georgia. Although they seem of do well in urban settings, and suburban yards, their natural habitats include woodlands, human-altered habitats and even pine barrens.
The moth’s host plants include peppervine, grap and Virginia creeper.
The adults nectar on a variety of plants. Interestingly they are often seen nectaring at milkweed blossoms. One of the best times to see this moth nectaring is at dusk.
However, most folks see them beneath the outside lights of homes, office buildings, gasoline stations and the like. However, a good number of them turn up during the daytime on the sides of homes and other buildings.
Be on the lookout for the interesting pollinator. If you are lucky enough to spot one, have your cellphone ready as I am sure you will want to photograph it.
THE GRAPE LEAFFOLDER –- its NAME SAYS IT ALL
Unlike many animals, the grape leaffolder moth (Desimia funeralis) has a name that clearly relates to the critter. The caterpillars of this moth commonly live on grape leaves. In addition, they do fold grape leaves.
The grape leaffolder lives in all of Georgia’s 159 counties. This moth flies during the daylight hours but you can also see it at night. Your best chance of seeing one is to spot one clinging to the outside wall of your home below a security light.
Sometimes one will even show up inside your home. Such was the case with the moth depicted in the accompanying photo. My granddaughter recently found it on the wall of the hallway outside her bedroom. As she does each time she finds a plant or animal she is unfamiliar with, she sent me a picture of her discovery in hopes that I could identify it.
THE GRAPE LEAFFOLDER; PHOTO CREDIT: Anna Leverett