Searching for Lepidoptera in Northern Ontario: Muskoka snakes to Elk Lake

June 15 - Balsam Lake, City of Kawartha Lakes
June 16 - Innisfil area, Simcoe County
June 17 - Bala area, Muskoka District
June 18 - From Bala to Elk Lake, Timiskaming District
​June 19 - Elk Lake to Fraserdale
June 20 - Boreal Butterflies and Woodpeckers of Fraserdale
June 21 - Smooth Rock Falls to Hearst Birding, Matachewan Mothing
​June 22 - Matachewan to Hilliardton Marsh
June 23 - Purplish Coppers in Parry Sound District

​The previous evening's mothing activities had kept me up late, and so I did not rise until after the sun. I wolfed down a hearty breakfast, consisting of a vegetarian omelette on toast along with a strong mug of coffee, all made with my one-burner stove. Feeling recharged, I grabbed my camera and headed out into the rock barrens. 

If there is one native Ontario animal that I would identify as my favourite species, I think it would have to be the Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus​). Pit vipers fascinate me, and Ontario's only venomous snake holds a special place in my heart. Despite seeing over 100 massasaugas over the years, each subsequent one brings a smile to my face. The massasaugas at this particular location have taught me a great deal over the years. 

I only found one on this morning's walk. It was in a location where I had found a female massasauga with young, several Augusts ago, and perhaps this was even the same snake. My photos are not the best since the last thing I wanted to do was harass this individual or cause it to change its behaviour, just to take a "better" photo. I will not lie, a decade ago I probably would have acted differently. I suppose as I have gotten older, maybe I have gained a tidbit or two of wisdom. Besides, I prefer photos of massasaugas in their nature habitat compared to a fake looking, posed photograph. 

Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus) - Muskoka District

Late May through June is an optimal time of year to find large numbers of reptiles in this part of Ontario. This mid-June day was hottest than normal, but I still was able to discover several other reptiles during my excursion. 
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This gravid Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) had a stump for a tail as a result of an old injury. Skinks are able to drop their tails when faced with a threat; the idea is that the still-wriggling tail will hold greater interest for the predator, allowing the lizard to scamper away to safety.

Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) - Muskoka District

Northern Ringneck Snakes (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii) are my most frequently encountered species of snake at this location, just edging out Massasaugas. I found several individuals by carefully looking under stones and other debris lying flat over the bedrock. 

Northern Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii) - Muskoka District

This young Eastern Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum traingulum​) was found in the same manner as the Ringneck Snakes. In these photos, you can see that the eyes are cloudy. This means that the snake will be undergoing ecdysis, or the shedding of its skin, in a few days time. Often, snakes found under cover objects show cloudy eyes like this. My theory is that this provides them with security - they are vulnerable at this time, with reduced vision - but these cover objects also provide increased humidity levels, allowing the snakes to shed their skin with greater ease. 

Eastern Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum) - Muskoka District

Eastern Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum) - Muskoka District

A short while later, I inadvertently flushed a large sparrow from underneath a juniper shrub. I recognized the bird as a female Eastern Towhee. It did not take much searching to discover her nest, which was filled with several chicks. After a quick photo I retreated, in hopes that I did not disturb them too much. 

Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) nest - Muskoka District

I left the area by 10:30 or so. I still had a long drive ahead of me to reach my next destination, several hours to the north. The drive to Timiskaming District was relatively uneventful and I made a few birding stops along the way. The New Liskeard lagoons produced a surprising diversity of ducks, along with some vocalizing Soras. I filled up on gas in town and then drove northwest, heading towards the Hilda Lake burn where I planned to spend the night.

My reasoning for visiting this area was three-fold. First, I had a chance at finding some "good" birds for the district which had been reported up here - Vesper Sparrow in particular. Second, it was well off the beaten path, which is my kind of place. There was an extremely low chance that I would run into any other people up here. And third, I figured that I could find a nice, open area with a variety of nearby habitats to set up my moth sheet, and hopefully attract a variety of moth species. 

The Hilda Lake burn - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Nightfall takes a while to commence at this latitude and time of year. As dusk fell, a singing Vesper Sparrow and hoards of Hermit Thrushes and White-throated Sparrows filled the air with sound. Speaking of hoards, the mosquitoes were quite ferocious, but my bug jacket kept them mostly at bay. It was only my wrists, hands and forehead next to my headlamp strap that were not spared. Oh, and my legs whenever I bent down, allowing the little bastards to bite through my jeans. 

Azalea Sphinx (Darapsa choerilus) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Since this was my very first June spent mothing in Ontario, I was blown away by the number of sphinx moths throughout the evening. The southern reaches of the boreal forest can have high numbers and diversity, and this night gave me an idea of how crazy it can be! I counted well over thirty individual sphinx moths during the night, of seven different species. Azalea Sphinx (Darapsa choerilus​), of which two are pictured above, was a new one for me. Their colours seem so strange for a sphinx moth.

Blinded Sphinx (Paonias excaecata) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Northern Apple Sphinx (Sphinx poecila) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Modest Sphinx (Pachysphinx modesta) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

The rarest sphinx moth of the night was this beauty: my first ever Wild Cherry Sphinx (Sphinx drupiferarum). As their name implies the hostplants include cherry (Prunus sp.), as well as apple (Malus sp.), lilac (Syringa vulgaris) and hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). At this latitude, the species presumably feeds on Pin Cherry (Prunus pensylvanica) or Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana). 

Wild Cherry Sphinx (Sphinx drupiferarum) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Of course, the rather drab and ubiquitous Northern Pine Sphinx (Lapara bombycoides) was the most common sphinx of the night. This was not a great surprise, given all of the tamarack and pine found throughout the area. 

Northern Pine Sphinx (Lapara bombycoides) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Giant silkworm moths were also well-represented, with four species and eight individuals. My highlight of the night were two Columbia Silkmoths (Hyalophora columbia). This species is absent from southern Ontario and far northern Ontario - most records seem to be from the southern Boreal forest. It is generally uncommon to rare, but can be locally common in some areas at the right time of year. Columbia Silkmoth caterpillars feed mainly on tamarack (Larix laricina), a frequent species within the area where I had set up my sheet. 

Columbia Silkmoth (Hyalophora columbia) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Columbia Silkmoth (Hyalophora columbia) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

The most common giant silkworm moth species of the evening was, as expected, the Cecropia Moth (​Hyalophora cecropia). This is a widespread species that is not picky when it comes to its foodplants.

Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Rounding out the giant silkworm moths, one each of Luna Moth (Actias luna) and Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus​) were tallied. It was sometimes hard to find and photograph the smaller moths on the sheet due to all of the pandemonium caused by the sphinx moths and giant silkworm moths!

Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Luna Moth (Actias luna) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

The big moths all vied for my attention. This was no surprise, given that I had never experienced such diversity of sphinx moths and giant silkworm moths before. However, I tried to find and photograph as many of the smaller moths as possible as well. Given the relatively limitied moth sampling that has occurred in this part of Ontario, it was no surprise that I found a few rare, or at least, relatively unknown species. 

Quadrate Dagger (Acronicta quadrata) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

At the time, I recognized the above moth as a type of dagger (Acronicta sp.) but it was one that I had never laid eyes on before. Once I had returned home, I was able to identify it as the Quadrate Dagger (Acronicta quadrata), a species found mostly in the southern part of the boreal forest. Few photos of this species are available (mine was the first adult posted on bugguide.net), and I cannot find out too much information about life history. One source mentions that cherries (Prunus sp.) seem to be the predominate foodplants for this species.

Quadrate Dagger (Acronicta quadrata) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

The other rarity of the evening was this relatively drab species, a type of crambid moth called Udea inquinatalis. It is a poorly known and rarely recorded moth found in the boreal zone of Europe/Asia and North America. It appears that birch (Betula sp.) is preferred a a foodplant.

Udea inquinatalis - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

I spotted this recently deceased Masked Shrew (​Sorex cinereus) while walking between the moth sheet and my car, late at night. It was the first time that I had identified this species before. Masked Shrews are not particularly rare, but like most shrews, they are hard to find unless you set up pitfall traps. 

Masked Shrew (Sorex cinereus) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

I love the name of this next moth: the Dubious Tiger Moth (Spilosoma dubia). Like many moths featured in this post, it also feeds on cherries (Prunus sp.). Again, Pin Cherry or Choke Cherry are the most likely foodplants in this environment. To date, this is the only Dubious Tiger Moth that I have seen.

Dubious Tiger Moth (Spilosoma dubia) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Ontario has fifteen species of Zale moths, given our current knowledge. This is one of the uncommon species, known as Green-dusted Zale (Zale aeruginosa). Oak (Quercus sp.), blueberry (Vaccinium sp.) and spruce (Picea sp.) are listed as foodplants. Unfortunately, this individual was rather worn!

Green-dusted Zale (Zale aeruginosa) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

The Shadowy Arches (Drasteria adumbrata) is another rarely reported species in Ontario. Again, this is likely a function of the relatively infrequent moth surveying that has been completed in this part of the province, and not a reflection of its true status. 

Shadowy Arches (Drasteria adumbrata) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

The next few moths are relatively common or widespread species, but attractive in their own right.

Pink-washed Leafroller Moth (Hedya separatana) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Variable Antepione Moth (Antepione thisoaria) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Doubleday's Baileya Moth (Baileya doubledayi) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Finned-willow Prominent (Notodonta scitipennis) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

I will finish this post with two more infrequently observed moths in Ontario. First, a Brown-bordered Geometer (Eumacaria madopata), followed by a Northern Pitch Twig Moth (Retinia albicapitana).

Brown-bordered Geometer (Eumacaria madopata) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Northern Pitch Twig Moth (Retinia albicapitana) - Elk Lake area, Timiskaming District

Unfortunately, my powerbank battery ran out around 1:00 AM, forcing me to call it early. The sheet was still rocking at that hour and I would have stayed out for another few hours. Oh well, next time...