So, what's on your spreading board ?

[vabrou]

58chevy,no chevy's here, but I was both a 68 Super Bee (motor: 383 cu.in. magnum) and a 68 Roadrunner (motor: 383 cu in)....

Regarding Melittia cucurbitae, the genus name was revised in recent years to Eichlinia. I have run clearwing moth traps 24-hours daily and non-stop since 1968 until 2024 , logging 32,500,000 trap hours just using semiochemical lures alone, and I have never captured a single specimen of any Eichlinia species using these hundreds of different semiochemicals singly or in any various percentage combinations.

Knudson & Bordelon (2010?) listed five species of this genus in Texas, but this species only from a single county in NE Texas. E. cucurbitae has no doubt been reported from various locations in N.A. but some were actually the differently marked E. calabaza which is found broadly across eastern Texas. K&B also listed these other species of the genus Eichlinia for the state of Texas: E. snowii, E. grandis, E. gloriosa and E. magnifica. Though most of these apparently captured by hand netting and not using semiochemicals.

My small series of E. cucurbitae captured in Louisiana were captured using hand netting near the larval foodplants, and a single female taken in one of my numerous dozens of automatic-capture light traps operating for the past 55+ years.

Here pictured is that single light trapped captured female taken 11-23-2007 near Abita Springs, Louisiana, USA. We have been operating clearwing moth traps across Louisiana using semiochemical lures every year since they became available to us in 1975 until today 2024.

So you can appreciate the extent of our self-funded research involving clearwing moths, I have also attached listings of the hundreds of traps and lure identities we used in just one 26-month study of the clearwin g moths of Caddo Parish, Louisiana. This kind of CW moth semiochemical research has occurred non-stop over the past 49 years across Louisiana.

and Trehoppr1, In the USA, the largest species is E. gloriosa, not E. cucurbitae. E. snowii is the smallest of the genus. Most, if not all members of this CW moth genus occurs also into Mexico. Sorry I don't have a more exhaustive answer about these, but I collect all insects and need to sleep some times.

[vabrou]

To clarify: the illustrated two specimens by 58 chevy on Aug 23, are actually Eichlinia gloriosa and not E. cucurbitae. Here is the plate from Knudson & Bordelon (2010?) showing all of the Texas species of the genus Eichlinia.

[58chevy]

Vernon, thanks for the info. I was unaware of the genus revision. Looks like I had the wrong species ID anyway. Time to make a new label. E. gloriosa appears to be rarer than I thought it was. I'm glad my specimens have survived all these years.

[Trehopr1]

Hello 58chevy and Vernon,

Thank you both for your replies regarding the picture of 58chevy's squash fine borer species. I knew immediately when I saw those two specimens pictured that they were NOT Eichlinia curcurbitae based on their size. At the time, I just could not come up with the species name from memory.

I first found out about E. gloriosa through pure happenstance. About 5 years ago a collector friend contacted me to come out and see a portion of a western collection that he had purchased. While we were looking through all of the wonderful material I spotted a singular specimen of E. gloriosa which was unmistakably bigger than any squash vine board type moth I'd ever seen.

I made sure to take two pictures of the specimen. I will post the two pictures of the specimen which I saw in my friends collection very shortly....

[Trehopr1]

Here are my 2 photographs of the lone specimen of
Eichlinia (Melittia) gloriosa which I first encountered
in a friend's collection some 5 years ago.





As you can see by the data the specimen was taken
in Kiowa Co., Kansas.

[evra]

I've found E. gloriosa to be really common in the southwest on Cucurbita foetidissima, which is a very conspicuous sprawling vine with big dagger-shaped leaves that grows along highways in patches. E. snowii also uses it and their larvae make galls in the vines of the plants, so it is really easy to know if they are present. I'm pretty sure the other species bore into the roots, so it's not so obvious if they are present, but in my experience if you find the plant, you should find at least 1 of the species. Here's a picture of 2 galls of E. snowii:

IMG_1163.jpg (178.92 KiB) Viewed 6500 times

The squash vine borer lure from Great Lakes IPM is really effective at attracting both of them in August. It also works on Euhagena emphytiformis, but that flies in October. I think that species feeds on Gaura, which is even more common throughout a lot of Arizona at elevations of 4000-7000'.

Like most clearwings though, without the lure it's pretty hopeless.

[vabrou]

Trehopr1, I cleaned up one of your (Ron Huber, coll.) Eichlinia gloriosa images. Feel free to save it to your files.

Vernon

[Trehopr1]

Thank you very kindly Vernon !

[Chuck]

I see so many rare, beautiful leps (online & even here on this site) with huge (Japanese style?) gaps... &... yes I cringe!...

I used to mount in the style you prefer, but then when identification and morphology became more important to me I have largely shifted to the "low hindwing" style. I've become accustomed to it, and in some cases actually prefer it.

[boghaunter1]

As I clearly stated before... "yes I cringe!... again, my opinion only... everyone can do as they like..."

[evra]

Here are a few of the Saturniids I've caught in the last couple of months that are drying on my boards right now.

IMG_1285.jpg (175.17 KiB) Viewed 6167 times

[58chevy]

Nice haul, Evra!

[kevinkk]

Herald moth.jpg (75.19 KiB) Viewed 5928 times

Not exactly on the spreading board, but close. This is a new species for for me. Scoliopteryx libatrix,a larva found on my willow while sleeving
other caterpillars, I brought the cocoon indoors, put it in my beetle cage to see what would happen, I found the moth in an adjoining room and eventually
figured out where it came from. Image search. That thing works well, at least so far.

[wollastoni]

A striking Taenaris dimona I caught in the Cyclops Mts (Papua).

IMG_0252.jpg (234.27 KiB) Viewed 4958 times

A rare Delias bornemanni recently bought that I respread.

IMG_0238.jpg (321.7 KiB) Viewed 4958 times

[boghaunter1]

Hi kevinkk,

Just collected, in one of my M.V. traps, a nice fresh specimen of the same Herald moth (Scoliopteryx libatrix); the night was cool (low of +3.5 C = +38.0 F), calm & clear. This moth is common up here in Sask. & overwinters & will be seen again next spring/early summer. Also found in my traps, 2 spp. of underwings... worn singletons of C. briseis & C. relicta. Last Saturday afternoon (05 Oct... daytime high was only +5.0 C = 41.0 F) we had, following 8 hrs. of steady rain, 2 hrs. of heavy, wet, sleety SNOW! Fortunately it melted as it hit the still warmer ground. Daytime temp. today, 08 Oct., is supposed to hit +20.0 C = 68 F... yesterday was +19.0 C = 67.0 F... crazy temp. swings... winter is not far away... !

John K.

[martellat0]

A recent highlight of mine is this Noctuid moth, Episteme darocana. I believe this is to be an uncommon species (at least where I live) as prior to this, I've only caught a total of two other individuals in quite sorry condition. This one is pristine, a male, and with a wingspan of just over 7 cm mounted.

[58chevy]

When & where was E. darocana collected?

[martellat0]

Caught E. darocana on 1 - X - 2024 on Cebu Island, Philippines. I caught it right outside my house, actually - it happened to be nectaring when I pulled into my driveway at about 4 PM. Naturally, I ran into the house (to grab my net) and right back out again.

[Chuck]

I ran into the house (to grab my net)

I keep one in the car. And one on the boat. And one for travel. These collapsing nets are great.

[martellat0]

As it happens, I've got one too! Fully extended, it's about 2.6 meters long, with the ring about 25 cm in diameter. I keep it in my schoolbag most of the time - not sure as to why I didn't have it just then. Here's a picture of it accompanying me to some field in rural Norway - I had improvised it just before going on that trip, thinking I'd be able to collect my own Aglais io from the wild - no such luck, my quarry consisted of only small moths and the occasional Coenonympha, along with an assortment of beetles and bees. I suppose it was too early in the season or something, as I never saw any Lep larger than those mentioned.



Those of us that are truly obsessed will take any and all opportunities to collect
I like the look of your net though - the foldable net head is always a plus!