On Prospect Hill Wednesday I saw the greatest single species concentration of moths that I have ever seen anywhere. Every step through the Low Bush Blueberries flushed twenty or thirty or fifty of the small drab relatively indistinguishable moths until waves of fluttering insects preceded me like bow waves running ahead of a boat!
The moths were subtly yellowish-tan, white or gray. Each had a 1 1/4 inch wingspan. All appeared to be of the same species despite their slight color variations.
They were (probably) Speranza argillacearia called the Mousy Itame in Peterson's Guide to Eastern Moths, a species whose larvae are known to be serious defoliators of low bush blueberries.
Seeing such a concentration of moths was fun, it was interesting, it was also lightly troubling; and it made me glad that I don't grow blueberries.
John
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