Hepialiae

[jhimmel at connix.com]

Hi Mike - It would mean alot more to those reading this if we had an idea of at 
least what state you lived in.  I had one S. argentomaculatus show up to my 
light station on June 13, 1996 here in Killingworth, CT.  It wasn't actually on 
the light sheet, but on a tree within ten feet of it.  Was it trapped by the 
light, or just coincidence?  I don't know.  But I immediately knew I had 
something special.  I would love to find a colony at dusk!

Have you noticed that the Yellowjackets pick the moths of the sheet and 
disappear with them, while the Bald-faced Hornets bring them to a nearby branch 
and strip off the wings first?  Sometimes, they do it while flying to their 
nest.  Last week, I followed a trail of moth wings that went on for about thirty 
feet to a new nest on the side of my house.  They were mostly the wings of 
Campaea perlata and Nadata gibbosa(which are abundant this year).  I put an end 
to THAT nest.  

Best - 

John

On Fri, 05 Jun 1998, Mike Soukup <mikayak at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>Last night, while checking my lights, I caught my first ever Hepialid
>(Sthenopsis argentomaculatus).  Now, everything  I've read says that
>they are not attracted to light.  But, neither is  the occasional
>butterfly, yellow jacket, or Bald-faced hornet (I REALLY hate those
>guys!) that also shows up.  I think I was just "extremly lucky".  At any
>rate, I live up a hill from a swamp....which does contain alder (larval
>host).  First, has anyone else had them show up at lights?  And, second,
>I am thinking of roaming the swamp at dusk tonite looking for "a
>colony".   Anybody have any hints??  Or, do I just go out with me, my
>net, a jar, and at least 2-3 gallons of DEET (lest I become the prey in
>the hunt)?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Mike S.
>
>
>
>
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John Himmelman
Killingworth, CT USA
jhimmel at connix.com
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