Seining

A surprise in the sein net yesterday at Gravelling Point: an American eel (Anguilla rostrata). The body is slick and green--impossible to pick up with bare hands. It is a freshwater eel that comes into the Atlantic Ocean to spawn. This one was between 2 and 3 feet long.

Moths

Insect and moth ID have never been interesting to me, but today I saw two moths whose colors captured me. The Rosy Maple Moth, Dryocampa rubicunda, is perhaps an inch in length, with a downy yellow head. They feed on maples--sugar, red, and silver--and may be found from the Eastern states up to Nova Scotia.

Nearby, I saw a Huckleberry sphinx, Paonias astillas. The wings are a stunning orange-pink. They feed on blueberry and huckleberry. The females supposedly call in night-flying males with pheremones emitted from the curved abdomen.