Journal #1

USA, California, Los Angeles County, Lat: 34.0368358 Long: -117.9130731, Elev: 161m, 1 April 2020, Coll: E. Antunez

Method: Hand, Pan Trap

Time: 4:00pm-6:00pm

Today I decided to take a little stroll around my neighborhood, which is right near a wilderness park. Unfortunately the park has been closed due to the current situation but I knew I would still find some cool insects around my house. It was a pretty warm and sunny day out and right when I walked out my door, I noticed SO MANY butterflies making their way west of my house for some reason (most likely painted lady butterflies). I wanted to follow them, but I sadly forgot my net in Berkeley and also my neighbor is pretty cranky and I did not want to upset her by going onto her property. The day before, I had set my pan traps close to my house on two separate grass patches but I wanted to wait a bit longer so I decided to check them when I got back from my walk. The first insect I came across was a cute little aphid that had somehow got on my hand; if only the little guy knew he was on the hand of an entomology student. I continued walking along a very vegetated hill that parallels my neighborhood and noticed that there was a huge ant problem because under every rock I flipped, there were hundreds of ants! There were also many earwigs amongst the ants. As I continued, I came across a few spotless lady beetles in a bush with waxy leaves. I also found an insect I had been wanting to catch because I used to frequent it so often when I was growing up (but had not seen in a while).. Oncopeltus fasciatus (a Milkweed bug)!! I was so saddened when I came across a pretty large honey bee on the floor, opened up one of my viles, and it was the vile with the milkweed bug in it :(.. It flew away very quickly and I have not been able to find another. Luckily I took a few photos before it flew away. When I made my way back home, I checked my pan traps and found a lot of little gnat flies, one honey bee, and a very cool Morning-glory plume moth.

Species List:
(I have yet to identify what gnat flies I caught in my pan trap)
Common black ants
Euborellia
Aphidae
Painted lady
Spotless lady beetle
Milkweed bug
Honey bee
Gnat flies
Morning-glory plume moth

Species Account:
The most interesting insect I caught would have to be the Morning-glory Plume Moth (Emmelina monodactyla) which I found in my pan trap. When I first saw it, I had no idea it was a moth because its wings looked so odd, I thought it was maybe a type of fly. It’s T-shape caught my eye because I was unsure of how it could fly with a shape like that. I was also surprised that it was the only moth I found in my pan traps.

Posted on 11 de abril de 2020, 12:02 AM by emily_antunez