On Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) not pine. Last two photos show hole. All are covered with bark dust
Moth night organized by the Natural History Society of Maryland. Thanks to Tim Hoen, Ranger Jen Cashell, Jayne and Bronwyn and whoever else was involved in organizing such a great event! There will be at least two more moth nights this month, so make sure to check out NHSM's calendar here:
https://www.marylandnature.org/get-involved/calendar/
This observation is from my small sheet set up near (but shaded from) Tim's mercury vapor light. I used UV "DJ" blacklights powered by USB battery packs to light my sheet. I had five going at first but some of the batteries died through the night. I tried to keep track of which sheet I was at since the frequencies were different but I may have gotten some mixed up.
Conditions: moon rose around 12AM, around 68% illumination. Humid and warm (mid 70's), winds weak.
More info about my lights/set up and video showing them in action in Big Cypress National Preserve (west of Miami, Florida) in Summer 2019:
https://youtu.be/tavmTa7WoPk
All of my observations from tonight:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2023-07-07&d2=2023-07-08&nelat=39.80061620013018&nelng=-76.59942655023083&order=asc&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&swlat=39.59870398322071&swlng=-76.80093554910168&user_id=joemdo
Everyone's observations:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2023-07-07&d2=2023-07-08&iconic_taxa=Arachnida,Insecta&nelat=39.6265937988349&nelng=-76.60263312004479&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&swlat=39.573873036217286&swlng=-76.65563088797005
Note that most species, especially the larger and flashier ones, were posted by multiple users so many species may appear more plentiful than they actually were. For example, there was only one polyphemous moth but it will appear as if there were more than five depending on how many people post it. Also note many locations are not accurate. We were near Big Fall Road at the top of a hill)
More general info about the NHSM: https://www.marylandnature.org/about-us/
(Dendroctonus terebrans) Martinak State Park, Caroline County, Maryland September 6, 2023. At UV light.
Found on a large branch that fell out of the a sweet gum tree in New Smyrna Beach