Nebraska Lepidoptera Blog
Two New Moths for the State
Back on August 11 Colin Croft found Glena nigricaria (sorry, no common name) in the Wildcat Hills south of Scotts Bluff/Gehring. This moth is western in distribution with Colin’s Nebraska record the easternmost in the United States The larvae feed on pines and are cryptically colored to blend in with pine needles (click on the…
More New Moths for the State
Two more moths have been added to our state’s ever growing moth list. The two latest additions come from opposite ends of the state, one from Lincoln and the other from the Scotts Bluff area. On August 11 Colin Croft found a neat Geometer Moth (Glena nigricaria) in the Wildcat Hills south of Scotts Bluff.…
More new moth records
Many thanks to contributors who continue to submit moth records. This past week Jen Corman verified a Snowberry Clearwing record from Rock County. That makes 44 counties with records for a species that occurs statewide. More work to do. Good job Jen! Mark Brogie continues to amaze. In the past week he has added two…
New Moth Records
Several new moth records have come in. On July 19 Olivia DaRugna found a Clearwing Sphinx (Hemaris sp) at Ash Hollow State Historical Park. Two Hemaris species are found in the state, widespread H. diffinis (Snowberry Clearwing) and much rarer H. thysbe (Hummingbird Clearwing). After some deliberation it was decided that Olivia’s specimen was H.…
Eastern Tailed Blues from western NE
I was browsing the website the other day when I noticed there were three counties in western Nebraska where Eastern Tailed Blues had not yet been recorded. So I contacted Colin Croft who resides in the area to see if he could remedy this situation. As usual Colin came through, searching his database to find…
Niobrara Valley Preserve 35th annual butterfly count
On July 10th ten individuals gathered at the Niobrara Valley Preserve to conduct the 35th consecutive annual butterfly count. Participants included Neil Dankert, Jonathan and Bennett Nikkila, Jen Corman (NE G&P), and Jojo Morelli, Krystal Church, Sanketh Menon, Kevin Meyer, Paul Stofferahn and Chris Helzer, all of the Nature Conservancy. This year’s count was held…
Blaine County Records
Last Sunday (July 9) myself, Jonathan and Bennett Nikkila drove to the Niobrara Valley Preserve to do the annual butterfly count the next day. On the way we stopped at the North Loup River just north of Brewster in Blaine County to stretch our legs and check out some wet highway ditches that have been…
Citizen Science Opportunity
I recently received this via email. It is an opportunity to contribute to a USGS research project. Note that no Lepidoptera are to be killed. They are only interested in larger (2″ wingspan) already deceased butterflies and moths. I asked about roadkill (roadside and car grill) and they said those were ok to send in.…
Three More County Records
I’m still kind of in catch-up mode after spending much of the spring/early summer finishing up the moth addition to our website. Back in April Lori Tomes found a Gray Comma (Polygonia progne) in Saunders County where it had not previously been found. Thanks and congratulations Lori Several new county records for Zebra Swallowtails (Eurytides…
White-M Hairstreak Found
Yesterday afternoon Steve Spomer found a male White-M Hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) in his yard in Lincoln. This is the third record of this butterfly for the state, the other two coming from Fontenelle Forest. Larvae of this species feed on oaks. Steve said there are a few ornamental oaks nearby, but he suspects the butterfly…
Moths, Moths and More Moths
A grant from Nebraska Game and Parks Watchable Wildlife program has enabled us to add several major moth groups to our website. With the assistance of Steve Spomer from UNL we (Jonathan Nikkila and myself) have been able to gather up records and specimens for Silkworm Moths, Sphinx (aka Hawk or Hummingbird) Moths and Underwing…
The curious case of Anisota stigma (or is it manitobensis?)
One of the more rewarding aspects of photographing/collecting Lepidoptera is the occasional discovery of a species new to an area (and/or well outside it’s known range). Such is the case with Spiny Oakworm Moth (Anisota stigma). Or is it the Manitoba Oakworm Moth (A. manitobensis)? Both of them belong to the Lepidopteran Family Saturnidae (discussed…
Nebraska Saturniidae
This is one of the moth groups we will be adding to our website later this spring. Moths in the Lepidopteran Family Saturniidae are commonly called silkworm moths although the moth used by the Chinese to make silk is actually a member of a closely related family (Bombycidae). Nonetheless many Saturniid Moths spin cases of…
New for 2023
I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. We have great news for 2023!! Through the Watchable Wildlife Program, Nebraska Game and Parks has funded an expansion of our Nebraska Lepidoptera website that will enable us to cover species from three of the more conspicuous and/or identifiable moth groups found in our state.…
Cedar County Bonanza
Recently Steve Spomer (UNL) came in contact with an amazing moth enthusiast in Cedar County. It turns out that Eric Strehlow had a childhood interest in insects that was rekindled around 15 years ago. Since that time he has been hugely successful in developing and refining bait traps to attract moths in the oak woodlands…
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