I was guessing a bit at the date; it would have been between April 15 and April 24. We loved the cicadas, they were fascinating and my kids still miss them. How are the moths related to the ciacada's appearance? Presumably something about food, but what part of the moth's lifecycle eats what part of the cicada's lifecycle? A web reference is fine!!

.... Patrick Coin has provided an excellent reference on his Guide Page for Periodical Cicadas. Moths have nothing to do with their disappearance. The pupae emerge in a fairly syncronous manner, eclose, mate, lay eggs and die (all in about 6 weeks or so). They overwhelm all predators (mainly a few birds and mammals, moths are not one of them) by their sheer weight in numbers. Approximately 300 species of moths appeared at my lights during the ~ 6 weeks the cicadas were present. The only interactions that I observed involved moths being ousted from resting positions by cicadas that bumped into them, quite at random. Too little space, too many bugs. I hated the cicadas. During the peak 5-6 days when they swarmed my lights, walls, sheet, driveway, etc., my nightly addition of new moth species sank to near zero (from about 10 per night). Some of these were no doubt seen later. But a good percentage of all species (perhaps 1/3 or more), are seen on only one or two nights during the season. So, I have something to look forward to this year when we will be blessedly without the cicada horde.

I didn't mean to imply that the moths had anything to do with the cicada's *dis*appearance; I was just wondering if it was coincidence that I saw this moth for the first and only time during the emergence of the cicadas. I thought that perhaps the cicadas attracted the moth.
Sorry to hear the cicadas complicated your mothing; we found them fascinating and the fact that it's only once every 17 years makes it that much more enjoyable I suppose :-)

Maybe since this was the first time you have seen this type of moth does relate to Brood X cicadas you experienced last year.

Since the predators that probably normally prey on this moth also prey on other insects as well, ie; birds, moles and other small animals, simply were not interested in eating this moth. Their appetite was temporarily satiated due to the abundance of Periodical Cicadas last year.

Predator satiation is a true effect and is a key component that helps Periodical Cicadas survive to carry on the next brood. Actually it has been theorized that only 1% of Periodical Cicadas survive long enough to mate.

There's no reason that insects of other species benefit from Predator satiation as well. So it wasn't because the Cicadas attracted the moth but that it was probably due to predators that normally prey on the moth just weren't interested in eating it because they were full up on Periodical cicadas. :)