Aliens

Arriving back in Seattle the moth season was announced by a single Large Yellow Underwing settled on the light by the front door! The next day it was joined by a Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata), another 'weedy' Eurasian species which seems to thrive in suburban woody edges with plenty of nettles. According to bugguide its distribution in the US is, as yet, 'patchy and not well known'.

Small Magpie - Eurrhypara hortulata 8th June 2010


Next to show up was the familiar White Shouldered House Moth (Endrosis sarcitrella) - Zsofi found it in the house. The history of this urban moth in the New World is slightly mysterious. First recorded in California in 1902 and now present along the Pacific coast and in Nevada's towns it also has populations in in Illinois and the Northeast US. As in the UK, it is not generally recorded in natural habitats and seldom far from human habitation, so it seems likely that this is an early introduced species.

White Shouldered House Moth - Endrosis sarcitrella 8th June 2010