Mothapaloosa

This year’s Niobrara Valley Preserve Butterfly Count was held June 30. Chris Helzer, Eric Strehlow, Mark Brogie, his wife Ellen and myself showed up a day early to check out the local nightlife. Mark and Eric set up their sheets and mercury vapor lights and Eric and I drove around and set up about 20 of his bait traps. Then we sat back and waited for nightfall. Just before dark a short light shower rained on our parade, but we persevered. Boy were we rewarded!! That night Mark stayed up till 4:00 am taking pictures of moths. He found around 120 species, over 90 of which had not been recorded from the Preserve. We found two different Saturnids (Io and Polyphemus), 9 species of Sphinx Moths and four different Underwings. Clinton’s Underwing, generally considered rare, was numerous. Mark has posted his findings on BugGuide. To view his amazing list go to BugGuide.net. Then click the Search box in the upper right hand corner. On the next page click on the Advanced Search option. Select Nebraska from the dropdown options and type Brown into the County box. The first 160+ photos are from June 29-30. Truely a night to remember. My personal favorite is Schinia simplex, a small flower moth whose larvae feed on Bush Morning Glory flowers. View Mark’s amazing photo gallery, select a favorite and send us a comment letting us know your selection.