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The Bug Geek
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Photo Friday: Bluish Spring Moth
Posted by on April 20, 2012
I snapped these photos of this pretty little critter my garden earlier this week. Before the good people at Bug Guide set me straight, I thought it was maybe a little Azure or other Blue…but it’s not a butterfly at all. Rather, it’s a Bluish Spring Moth, Lomographa semiclarata (Geometridae).
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I bet some of you thought that I was going to post pics of a Red Admiral butterfly this week, given the incredible mass migration currently taking place in Eastern Canada. While I’ve seen unbelievable numbers of these butterflies in the past few days, I have no photos of them. I want to know how ANYBODY can take pictures of these little buggers with anything other than a telephoto lens. Seriously. They are SO flitty and skittish, there was just no way for me to get close enough to get a decent pic.
That said, I was able to contribute my observations to a great new citizen science initiative , ebutterfly. They’re looking for people to submit records and photographs of their butterfly sightings; these will be used to create species distribution maps, track migrations, and generate models to help us understand diversity and the effects of environmental change. It’s easy to sign up, so why not check it out?
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I think this moth wins the award for “Most Literal Common Name”…
LOL! So true. It’s an easy one to remember for that very reason 🙂
I got a nice pick of a Red Admiral hanging out on a Dandelion last week with just my pocket camera (in link). But I agree you had to be patient and not go chasing after them but let them come to you. Unfortunately the cold weather this past week has probably killed them here in Ottawa at least.
That’s a great pic! Thanks for pointing it out to me (and your cool blog – it’s always nice to learn from other people who live nearby and who are observing the same kinds of things as I am!) The cold weather has most definitely been hard on bugs. It’s just awful out today – I needed a toque on my morning jog!
Nice moth! And thanks for pointing out ebutterfly, awesome sight – first I heard of it (although guess that makes sense for a non-Canadian).
It’s brand-spanking new, so I’m not surprised you haven’t heard about it yet 🙂
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