Buck Moth - Hemileuca maia Westhampton/Stewart Avenue, Suffolk County, New York, USA October 17, 2007
New for New York.
These 4 images are from a set of photos of 4 individuals (sorry, not one individual), and I think are males - although one looks a little fatter. Glad to hear opinions on this.
I walked a regular road that goes through dwarf pitch pine and much scrub oak (Q. ilicifolia), and found these 4 on the edge of the road. They had apparently been hit by cars and stunned. They were all still alive. One was well enough to fly away after a minute, but the others probably died. Given the few cars on the road, and the number of moths that I saw fly across the road, it's a wonder that I found one individual let alone 4. I had the impression that they must have been hit relatively recently, because I didn't see any fly until about 11:50 a.m., and these photos weren't taken much later.
About 10 individuals were seen flying nearby, away from the road.
Images of this individual: tag all Contributed by Rich Kelly on 18 October, 2007 - 1:15pm |