I have been completely blown away by the amount of moths, and the variety I have managed to get just in the past month. I have had 290 species since the last update for the year, and 83 lifers. There are more than a handful of candidates for increasing both of those numbers that currently sit at a higher taxonomic ID level. I initially came up the goal of passing 800 lifetime, and 600 for the year. The former is probably a low number, and the latter about right for a stretch. Currently sitting at 785/430. There are 2 more potential first Michigan records sitting in those numbers also since last update.
I ended up purchasing some cheap 10w blacklights, and they dramatically improved my numbers. This convinced me to go more in, and I purchased 2 Entolights. The effect they had is 10-fold. There are some nights it was hard to get out the door. I've had to adjust my setup to move the entolights away from the door so I don't have to fight through a cloud of bugs. I have a myriad of pics below that I've used as placeholders for posting on other sites, so they are a bit random. I will try to do better with the next update of some narrative order to their placement. We haven't even gotten to prime moth time yet and I've already seen more lifers than last year. An early warm up certainly led to this, as well as some less ambitious birding on my part. One highlight was the potential find of a 1st Michigan state record for an entire genus, Asaphocrita. A little more on that later.
Tax Day on 4/15 turned out to be an amazing night for lifers. From left to right in each row are the 6 lifers seen on 4/15: Siederia walshella, Virginia Pseudexentara Moth (not super confident in the ID), Intractable Quaker, Transfigured Hydriomena Moth, Coleotechnites Flower Moth, and Distinct Quaker. The next 2 days brought 3 more lifers with Mediterranean flour moth on 4/16 (first two photos) and on 4/17 Norman's Quaker and Columbia Pug
Just like my lack of motivation with birds, same with bugs to some extent this year. I didn' get my canvas up as there was a Robin's nest right near the door I use for moths. I'm also a bit lax on keeping up with what Moth Lifers I've added this year. It has been a handful. Here are some pics I've managed though.
Still haven't ID'ed this moth yet. Pretty sure it is new though. The two candidates I have are pretty liimited to the NorthEast. Quite the mystery as of now. For now just wanted to plop some photos down here that I took with my new Laowa 25mm 2.5-5x, along with 35mm extension tubes x2.
Crazy chaos this week, but still managed a handfull of macro shots. A ton of moths this week too. I need to do some catchup on those. Seems like a lifer at least once a day. More Scorpionflies Just missed the jump on this Tan Jumping Spider taking out a Polymorphic Pondweed Moth Still practicing stacking, and I think this was a 9 photo stack for a flower ![]() This cicada was cooperative enough to try some photo stacking also. Still plenty of the "pretty" mosquito. Had at least 10 individuals one night this past week. I'm wondering if I shouldn't have gotten black canvas instead of white. This Pale Beauty landed on a stick on the roof. With the flash insuring a solid back background every part of this moth pops, but especially the antennae. I got a deal on a focusing rail, and a pristine condition 28mm Canon FD lens for reversing on top of the 100mm macro. Played around a little bit with some dead bugs. Software is my weakness. Looking forward to messing with it some more.
I feel like I am taking more pics now with macro lens then I was taking with the 100-500mm zoom. Really enjoying this type of photography, and I can barely keep up with all the moths I have been seeing. Just this week I've had at least 14 lifers out here. But also have nabbed some of my favorite macro shots. I'll be working on a custom diffuser for my 3 light MF12 flash setup. The factory ones are giving me some bad reflection I need to overcome, which is hard to do with the way the MF12 are set up. Hopefully I can figure something out.
One of my favorite pics I've ever taken is this Tan Jumping Spider. I prefer this shot over the head on shots. Something about this makes it look more like the predator it is, instead of a fuzzy, multi-eyed Teddy Bear. See second photo for what they are capable of doing.
Scorpionflies are also becoming a fast favorite of mine. Wish they weren't so skittish though. It looks like a mad scientist mashed together a Deer Fly, Scorpion, Horse and decided a Predator mouth would be awesome too.
This Roundneck Sexton Beetle was absolutely infested with mites. So much so I finally managed to catch it and put in fridge to try to cool them off it. Turns out, after little research while they all chilled, it is a non-parasitic relationship. They just hitch a ride to the next meal. Still doesn't stop the creep factor!!
I managed a ~12 pic stack of the "pretty" mosquito (Uranotaenia sapphirina)
Just a few other macro shots taken earlier this week. As I mentioned I hope to get a diffuser made for the MF12 and have a couple other things coming in that I hope will give me some more flexibility with my macro shooting.
I was fascinated by this little mosquito that had reflective blue scales on it. First iNat record for this species in Michigan - Uranotaenia sapphirina Some other macro shots from this week. The small moth in the 2nd pic is a 3 pic stack. Not perfectly post-processed, but haven't focused on that side of things yet. Just being snap-happy.
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June 2024
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