leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Dec 1, 2020 8:38:59 GMT -8
I collected a number of UFO Sessidae this year. I sent two specimens to a friend for an ID. It is a new one for me. Paranthrene pellucida.
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Post by trehopr1 on Dec 1, 2020 11:35:22 GMT -8
A collector friend of mine has one of these fellows in his collection. That specimen was THE biggest dang'ed Sesiid moth I've ever seen from N. America !   |
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Post by 58chevy on Dec 1, 2020 13:09:53 GMT -8
I collected a couple of M. gloriosa when I was about 12 years old. Haven't seen one since, but I still have the specimens. Saw M. cucurbitae in a gourd patch this fall but didn't have a net & couldn't catch it. The best way to collect sesiidae is with pheromone traps. Leroy probably has plenty of experience using them. Paranthrene is a really cool genus, very wasplike.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Dec 17, 2020 5:39:00 GMT -8
Melittia gloriosa can be easily found and collected. The host plant is Coyote Melon (Cucurbita palmata). Coyote Melon grows in patches along the road sides throughout the arid west.
The fruit is the size of Tennis Ball and can be as large as a Soft Ball. I used a 10 foot extenion net. Poke the patch with the extension net, the moth will "pop" up. The wind will blow it away. Swing first look later. They are large Sessidae moths.
A good location is in SE Colorado is the road up to the Sand Creek Indian Massacre Historic Site. Both sides of the road have numerous patches of Coyote Mellon. You can not collect on the property of the Historic Site. However. You can collect both sides of the road up to the entrance to the Historic Site.
Coyote Mellon is a rather common plant. I have found the moth, Melittia gloriosa just about anywhere that Coyote Mellon occurs.
During one of the Lep Soc Annual Meeting in Tucson, AZ, a field trip was arranged for some Canyon north of Tucson. We arrived in the parking area and across the road was a big patch of Coyote Mellon. I walked over to the patch, gave it a poke with my net and up flew a couple of large Sessidae moths. One swing of the net got me two Melittia grandis, another species of the large Sessidae. That brought the whole group of collectors. As we drove in I noticed patches of Coyote Mellon. I walked back out the road and collected another 6 or 7 specimens of Melittia grandis.
As I walked back up the road to catch up with the group, I found a patch of small white flowers and I saw a small green Hairstreaks. I got the hairstreak, but along with the Hairstreak I collected a Sessidae moth, Carmenta mimuli. I check every patch of flowers along the road and collected 5 more specimens.
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