Bait Traps and lots of Lep's

[Leptraps at aol.com]

I have 14 bait traps out in Scott, Fayette and Franklin counties here in 
Kentucky. I am looking for Catocala moths, however, I have noticed a huge 
increase in the number of butterflies, especially Vanessa atalanta, Polygonia 
comma and Asterocampa celtis. The weather has been unseasonably cool for 
early summer, and normally this does not bode well for bait traps. Vanessa 
atalanta has become a pain, today I removed 216 individuals from a single 
trap. In the same trap were 122 Polygonia comma and 81 Asterocampa celtis. 
The most amazing species, just by volume, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Army Worm), 
there have been several hundred, if not more, in every trap. When I first 
disturb the trap, the startled P. unipuncta go into the escape frenzy and the 
scale dust pours from the trap. 

On another note, the Kroger Supermarket in Georgetown, Kentucky, has a large 
selection of potted plants for the garden in front of the store under the 
overhang. Today I saw my first Phoebis sennae of the year on a potted Pentas. 
As I approached for a closer look, I saw several Phyciodes tharos on a daisy 
and 3 Amphion floridensis flying about the potted plants.

One more time. My wife made a stop at the local nursery/garden shop (An 
almost daily event for her) and purchased several Ligustrums that were 24 
inches tall and full of blooms. As I was preparing to plant them (She gets 
the easy job!) in a garden at the back of the lot, I noticed a Parrhasius 
m-album on one of the flowers. Several hours after they were planted and 
watered, with net in hand, I went for another look, and there were four more. 
I made a dash for the garden shop for a dozen more plants, but the place was 
closed. 

Tonight just before dark I found numerous moths buzzing about the flowers. 

It has been a good year to date. It just needs to warm up a bit. It was only 
69 degrees today. I have wondered if the weather was hot, what would be 
attracted to the Ligustrum flowers?

Cheers,

Leroy C. Koehn
202 Redding Road
Georgetown, Kentucky
USA          40324-2622
Tele.: 502-570-9123
Cell: 502-803-5422
E-mail: Leptraps at aol.com

"Let's get among them"
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