InsectNet forum

I was recently in Hawaii and surprised by the large numbers of black witch moths. They were frequently seen dayflying, and would come to fruit bait or lights almost as soon as the sun set. They appear to host on the introduced and ubiquitous mesquite trees, so they don't lack for food.

Which island were you on?

Molokai

I am going to Kauai in late January, I will look for the black witch there.

mothman55 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 8:14 pm I am going to Kauai in late January, I will look for the black witch there.

Any luck finding them on Kauai?

Didn't see any, I wasn't out searching for them, but didn't see any at all, saw very few leps in general. Saw a couple of citrus swallowtails, monarchs, gulf fritillary, and a few blues.

Oddly enough, I've never seen black witch anywhere in Hawai'i, and I've spent an aggregate year of my life there.

I went looking for white monarch at the University on Oahu, and saw nothing- despite the trees being stripped. That said, on Maui I found thousands of adults, pupae and larvae on one tree. The adults were "dusky" not white, and certainly not like our CONUS monarchs.

Keep in mind many species are seasonal, even in Hawai'i where we mainlanders think it's endless summer. Also, every island has a wet side and dry side, so depending on the species it could be all over one side of the island and completely missing from the other side.

I didn't know about the white monarchs...quick google search fixed that. Now I have a new goal next time I visit Hawaii. I did catch a few monarchs on Molokai and they appeared identical to mainland USA forms to me.