Monday, March 02, 2009

Mothy Monday 2: Unidentified Noctuid


First Moth of 2009
Originally uploaded by ammodramus88
On this snowy, blustery, not at all springy March day, it's probably appropriate to post the first moth of the season. It's a Noctuid, perhaps from the Eupsilia genus, but beyond that I dare not go. Moth identification makes Empidonax flycatchers look easy (because Emps sing and call, at least). The first moth of the season is still a sign of spring, though, just as much as the Red-winged Blackbirds setting up shop on the creek out back.

2 comments:

Rick Wright said...

Moths are the single greatest argument for simply admiring creation without attempting to affix names! They sure are pretty, though.
r

Jennifer W. Hanson said...

Hi Rick,

I know what you mean...sometimes it's quite the victory just to get to a group name. I'd never have delusions of trying to name all of them, but at this point, my moth life list is over 100 species (out of the thousands that call North America home), so that's something. I guess one of the reasons I like them is that they present identification challenges and are so convenient, too. Talk about working the local patch...