This year NMW is celebrating the genus Catocala or Underwing moths. These fantastic moths may look dull at first glance, but will often reveal their showy hindwings when disturbed. They come in many colors, brown, gray, black, white, red, yellow, orange and even pink! One of Massachusett’s most splendid Catocala, is restricted to pine barrens habitats, where scrub oak grows. This moth, Catocala herodias gherhardi or Gherhard’s Underwing, is one of the pink hindwing Catocala. One of the best places to see this moth in Massachusetts, is on Cape Cod! Join me, Teá Kesting-Handly at Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture this July 31st, to attempt to find this lovely moth.
Cape Cod is one of the coolest areas in Massachusetts to moth, but due to the protected areas, it’s quite difficult to moth on. This gives everyone an opportunity to search for the moths that live in this area. We will be using a Mercury Vapor light, a UV bucket trap, and bait to find as many species as possible in this night. Once a list is generated, we will count the number of species and submit them to BugGuide to add as many records as possible.
If you’d like to attend this event, check it out at the Mass Audubon website. Feel free to register through the Audubon website, same-night registration is available. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at tea.kestinghandly@gmail.com or at 857-221-2554.
Catocala herodias gherhardi