The Mystery Moth demystified

Here's our mystery moth of August 30, 2008:



Davie Rolnick, one of the founding members of the Central Park Mothers [rhymes with authors] who was seven years old when we first convened at the Moth Tree, has just started his first semester at MIT. It's amazing that he still has a moment to check out this website. But somehow he has managed it, and wrote in to identify our mystery moth:

Could the photo on your website that you suggest is Callima [Epicallima] argenticinctella be instead the Japanese introduced species Promalactis suzukiella? Photos of both species (Hodges numbers around 1046) are available on the Moth Photographers' Group live moth pages.

Wow, what a whiz kid! I did exactly what he suggested, checked it out on the Moth Photographer's Group and found the picture below: our moth. It's troublesome to know that it is an exotic species. We are seeing more and more of another non-native moth --the Large Yellow Underwing [Noctua pronuba] and now this one. How will this affect native moth populations? Can't be good news.


Promalactis suzukiella