What happened here?

Moved

Moved from Unsolved Bug-related Mysteries.

… Charley Eiseman, 22 February, 2013 - 8:49am

Nighthawks?

Nighthawks feed on moths. Also consider other nightjars, swifts and swallows.

… Steve Nanz, 30 July, 2011 - 7:02am

Wings???

Look like Flower pedals to me.

… imaxfli, 14 October, 2010 - 8:54pm

Wings

They are definitely wings. Perhaps Carmen could provide another image with a close up of a small section to show the structure of the wings clearly.

… Beatriz Moisset, 15 October, 2010 - 7:21am

none are worn out if they are

none are worn out if they are wing all similar color some seem to have a curvature like some petals I do not thing they are wings some would have scale remove and be transparent ??? but some have split at end so some scale would be removed it does not seem so but photo not to high quality I think we can use our time doing something else

… Martin Turgeon, 15 April, 2011 - 12:51am

They are definitely Lepidoptera wings

(at least most of them, if not all). You can see the veins on the wings, and in fact we can probably figure out what family most of them belong to if we try. There is at least one that is bigger and rounder, and perhaps belongs to a white or pale yellowish butterfly.

… David J. Ferguson, 15 April, 2011 - 4:57pm

Moved

Moved from Frass.

… Carmen Champagne, 30 September, 2010 - 8:28am

As Usual

I'm for keeping it. While identification is a necessary foundation for "nature study", BugGuide's mandate is much broader. Putting this in Unsolved Bug-related Mysteries will allow the thread to continue.

… David Moll, 29 September, 2010 - 11:57pm

Frassed

Moved from ID Request. I started a forum topic here.

… Carmen Champagne, 28 September, 2010 - 11:54pm

Look like moth and maybe a few butterfly wings to me.

Odds are they were attracted to lights, and the bodies were eaten by something. They may have been eaten under a light over the water, or they may have been eaten by something like a mouse and blown into the water (????). Just guessing. I get piles of wings like this outside of my house sometimes, but there's no water, and the culprit is always a pocket mouse.

It's also possible that no light was involved, and that something (or several somethings) are eating the moths over the water (as perhaps sitting in a tree branch or under a pier?) and letting the wings drop.

… David J. Ferguson, 22 September, 2010 - 3:29pm

Or perhaps someone was cleani

Or perhaps someone was cleaning out the dead insects from inside a light?

… Jonas Insinga, 24 January, 2012 - 9:32am

No lights near the lake, but...

... I think you're right about something eating the moths over the water, maybe multiple somethings; we have tons of dragonflies, birds, and long-jawed orbweavers that hang out near the lake's edge to name just a few potential culprits. Also, it occured to me that wind could have concentrated the wings along one edge of the shore.

Do you think this photo has any potential value for the Guide, or should I just frass it?

… Carmen Champagne, 26 September, 2010 - 12:06pm

Bats!

Bats eat moths bodies, clipping the wings off as well as a pair of scissors. They don't need lights to see or find the moths but since lights attract moths, you get the large collection of wings under the lights.

… Sandra Sherlin, 30 December, 2010 - 11:38pm

Moth wings and bats

I agree with the bat theory. It would be interesting to find out what species of moth the wings are from. Some moths emerge similar to mayflies, all at once. This may have been that. It would be interesting to know if the moon was reflecting off of the waters surface, which may have attracted the moths. Whatever happened, the bats had a field day. (Or should I say, "field night"?)

… Richard L. Hayes, 12 November, 2012 - 9:28am

i would Frass, or post in Forum

This is more of a Forum topic than an ID kind of thing. I suppose you could post it over there. I don't know if you'd get more thoughts on it or not. Let's see what David has to say.

… Andrew Williams, 26 September, 2010 - 12:11pm

I don't see a lot of value in it for

the Guide pages, there's no help in identifying anything here; so, from that perspective, I'd say it's not needed. As a curiosity it is interesting, and it would be fun in a forum to see what other might have to add.

… David J. Ferguson, 27 September, 2010 - 2:18pm

Personal opinion...

I'd move it to Unsolved bug-related mysteries. Others may feel that it has little value, but I've never seen a concentration of moth wings like that before.

… Ken Wolgemuth, 26 September, 2010 - 12:11pm

Bug related mysteries

is a good place for this. I think that it is worth keeping.

… Beatriz Moisset, 29 September, 2010 - 12:20pm

David's answer looks better than my idea. They do look more like moth wings than ant or termite.

… Andrew Williams, 22 September, 2010 - 11:40am