Holy Moly!

[Mike Quinn]

Hola Hugh,

In this instance, # two is far easier than # one... I don't believe there
are any geographic races of the BWM. They are pretty variable at any
location...

Brush Freeman reported on Apr 4 the first potentially migrtory (emmigratory)
BWM along the Texas Gulf Coast just north of Corpus Christi:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Brush Freeman <brushf earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, Apr 5, 2009 at 9:39 PM
Subject: FOS Black Witch Moth @ Aransas NWR on 4/4
To: TX-BUTTERFLY at listserv.uh.edu

 Subject says it all except the bird looked pretty fresh ....a male with
little wear..

---end---

There's also an Apr 5, 1968 record from the coast of South Carolina.

However, your record is *very* early. This species begins it's annual push
northwards with the onset of the rainy season in Mexico in late May. See
timeline of BWM records posted here:

http://www.texasento.net/witchna.htm#Feb

Another reason to be skeptical is that the BWM is mostly a western species.
Unlike the monarch which pours out of Mexico and primarily takes a right
turn to fill out eastern North America, the BWM mostly keeps heading
straight north out of Mexico for western Canada...

I have found/received relatively few records from the northeast (I've found
more than I've posted at my site), although there are quite a few from
southern Ontario, at least 23:

http://www.texasento.net/witchstates.htm#CAN

As for your specific question about lepidoptera wear being correlated to
distance travelled, I don't believe one can deduce *too much* from the
condition of the critter. Monarchs reach central Mexico from southern Canada
in fairly fresh condition.

HTH, Mike Quinn, Austin
On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 10:53 AM, Hugh McGuinness <hmcguinness at ross.org>wrote:

> One of my students brought me a living specimen of a female Ascalapha
> odorata (The Black Witch) found in Mastic, Long Island (Suffolk Co.), NY on
> 12 April. According to Mike Quinn's website, this would be the earliest
> northern record for the species, which heretofore was 19 May 1937 in Ohio.
>  However, the specimen is quite fresh and I wonder if it might not have been
> a hitchiker in the luggage of some Long Islander vacationing in a tropical
> land. The specimen has one longitudinal tear in the HW and a small bit of
> rubbing on the veins of one FW, but is otherwise in perfect condition.
>
> I am seeking commentary on two aspects of whether this could possibly
> represent a true migrant or whether it is more likely that its migration has
> been assisted by humans.
>
> 1. Is it possible that a truly "migrant" moth could be transported a
> thousand miles by weather and still be this fresh? (I wouldn't be suspicious
> of a fresh moth in August/September, but it seems highly doubtful that a
> pupa or a larvae could survive the hardh LI winter.)
>
> 2. Are there geographic races of A. odorata so that I might be able to
> determine the origin of this moth?
>
> Hugh
>
> Hugh McGuinness
> The Ross School
> 18 Goodfriend Drive
> East Hampton, NY 11937
> hmcguinness at ross.org
>
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