Kindergartner Finds Greater Yellow Underwing Moth on North Campus

This past weekend the Museum hosted the 26th annual Bug Fair. Over the course of 72 hours, more than 10,000 people visited us. These lucky visitors got to see, do, and taste many things. At Curator of Entomology Brian Brown's table, visitors were able to see the world's smallest fly from Thailand (oh and it just happens to be a brand new species in the genus Euryplatea). On our insect stage, they could meet Western Exterminator's bed bug sniffing dogs. If people were hungry, they could head outside and taste some insectuous delights including Orthopteran Orzo, a la Bug Chef David George Gordon, or wax worm salad prepared by entomophagy expert Dave Gracer. If they were interested in hunting bugs rather than eating them, we also held bug hunts out in the Erica J. Glazer Family Home Garden.

Everyone was bug hunting

With over 300 people participating in the hunts on both Saturday and Sunday, you won't be surprised that we found a lot of insect diversity. There were many European honeybees, ladybugs, flower flies, and Argentine ants. There were also some insects that I'd never seen before, including an impressive underwing moth that was collected by Kindergartner! It just goes to show that Citizen Scientists are just as likely to make cool and scientifically interesting discoveries as our Museum scientists are. The moth is now our latest addition to the North Campus species list.

Chris Weng, age 6

 One of our newest Citizen Science converts

Check out those underwings!

The moth Chris found is a Greater Yellow Underwing, Noctua pronuba. Although you would expect the hind wings of this moth to be yellow, they in fact range in color from yellow to orange depending on the individual. This moth is native to Europe and was accidentally introduced into Nova Scotia in 1979 (the year I was born). Over the last 33 years the moth has spread throughout much of North America and can now be found here on the West Coast in many areas including Alaska, California, and British Columbia. This spread is not looked upon kindly by many gardeners and farmers, as the caterpillar is a pest. They feed extensively on a variety of herbaceous plants including grapes, strawberry, tomato, potato, carrot, cabbage, beet, lettuce, and many grasses. Over the last week, I've found many more of these moths around the North Campus. One of our Gallery Interpreters, Vanessa Vobis, also found one in her garden at home. Are they in your yard too?