Black Witch Moths and Tropical Storms

I often receive reports of Black Witch moths near where hurricanes or tropical storms came ashore,
but only storms Claudette and Cindy generated BWMs reports in the 100s to 1000s range.

The eye of Hurricane Claudette hit Port O'Connor, Texas on July 15, 2003.
Here's Brush Freeman's account:

The following report, just now coming in, is from Grand Isle, LA where the eye of Tropical Storm Cindy hit on July 5, 2005:

The eye basically passed directly over us. We had tremendous rain, substantial wind then about 2 hours of calm. Then it hit, winds from the North at 70-80mph..

I wound have to say thousands, as I have been seeing numerous moths everywhere I go. And the people on the island keep calling. They think they are butterflies that escaped when the Grand Isle Butterfly Dome was destroyed in the storm. I am the editor of the local paper, and did an article on black witches, after a smaller fallout last year. I am having to educate people numerous times every day, explaining that they are not butterflies or BATS.

Both reports were made right where the eye of each storm came ashore

Arrows indicate direction and point of landfall that the eye of each storm took

Note that both Claudette and Cindy crossed Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula,
the probable source of the BWMs deposited in the U.S.A.

Dots on (clickable) maps show the track that the eye of each storm took

Note that TS Cindy continued to the northeast and hit southern Mississippi

Post Tropical Storm Cindy BWM Reports Follow the Path of the Storm

Mississippi	Harrison Co.	Gulfport	05 July 2005	fresh female, clipped male, pix (seen by MAQ)
Mississippi	Jackson Co.	Ocean Springs	6-8 July 2005	~10, photos of many (seen by MAQ)
Louisiana	Jefferson Parish	Grand Isle	07 July 2005	"Thousands" at eye of TS's landfall
Mississippi	Harrison Co.	Long Beach	07 July 2005	male observed
Mississippi	Harrison Co.	Gulfport	05 July 2005	2 males, 2 females, in fig tree, pix (seen by MAQ)
Mississippi	Harrison Co.	Biloxi	08 July 2005	"multiple males and females"
Louisiana	St. Bernard Parish	Arabi	08 July 2005
Louisiana	Plaquemines Parish	Buras/Venice	7-8 July 2005	Two in two days
Louisiana	Jefferson Parish	Marrero	08 July 2005
Louisiana	Orleans Parish	New Orleans	08 July 2005	male, photo (seen by MAQ)
Mississippi	Harrison Co.	Pass Christian	10 July 2005	female, photo (seen by MAQ)
Louisiana	Orleans Parish	New Orleans	11 July 2005	2 males, in Business District Downtown
Louisiana	E Baton Rouge Pa.	Baton Rouge	16 July 2005	worn male, photo (seen by MAQ)

News article on the BWMs in MS associated with TS Cindy

Black Witch Moths Popping Up

Prior to TS Cindy, this is the singular BWM record from Mississippi that I have specific data for:

In 34 years of continuous light trapping in Louisiana, Vernon Brou (2003) collected
about 25 Black Witch specimens, with most records collected in September.

Brou, V.A., Jr. 2003. Ascalapha odorata (L.) and Thysania zenobia (Cram.) in Louisiana.
Southern Lepidopterists' News 25(3):91.

Both TS Arlene and Hurricane Dennis made landfall on the northern Gulf Coast

before and after Tropical Storm Cindy in 2005 yet no BWMs were reported

	Landfall		Max	# of
Storm	Location	Date	Winds	BWMs
TS Arlene	Florida	11 June	70	0
TS Cindy	Louisiana	05 July	70	1000s
Hurr. Dennis	Florida	10 July	150	0

The storm tracks of Arlene or Dennis both missed the Yucatan Peninsula

further suggesting that Mexico was the origin of Claudette's and Arlene's BWMs

Dots on (clickable) maps show the track that the eye of each storm took

Illustrations of Hurricane Wind Dynamics:

Request for Help

Please report new BWM county records to mike.quinn@tpwd.state.tx.us
Please include date, location (distance to nearest town) & county of record.
Also please include sex, condition of moth & prevailing weather conditions.
If you find a new county record, please send a low resolution photo if possible.
Thanks, Mike

Black Witch Moths (Ascalapha odorata)
in the Eyes of Tropical Storms

Both reports were made right where the eye of each storm came ashore

Arrows indicate direction and point of landfall that the eye of each storm took

Note that both Claudette and Cindy crossed Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula,
the probable source of the BWMs deposited in the U.S.A.

Dots on (clickable) maps show the track that the eye of each storm took

Note that TS Cindy continued to the northeast and hit southern Mississippi

Post Tropical Storm Cindy BWM Reports Follow the Path of the Storm

News article on the BWMs in MS associated with TS Cindy

Black Witch Moths Popping Up

Prior to TS Cindy, this is the singular BWM record from Mississippi that I have specific data for:

In 34 years of continuous light trapping in Louisiana, Vernon Brou (2003) collected
about 25 Black Witch specimens, with most records collected in September.

Both TS Arlene and Hurricane Dennis made landfall on the northern Gulf Coast

before and after Tropical Storm Cindy in 2005 yet no BWMs were reported

The storm tracks of Arlene or Dennis both missed the Yucatan Peninsula

further suggesting that Mexico was the origin of Claudette's and Arlene's BWMs

Dots on (clickable) maps show the track that the eye of each storm took

Illustrations of Hurricane Wind Dynamics:

Request for Help

Black Witch Moths (Ascalapha odorata) in the Eyes of Tropical Storms

Both reports were made right where the eye of each storm came ashore

Arrows indicate direction and point of landfall that the eye of each storm took

Note that both Claudette and Cindy crossed Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the probable source of the BWMs deposited in the U.S.A.

Dots on (clickable) maps show the track that the eye of each storm took

Note that TS Cindy continued to the northeast and hit southern Mississippi

Post Tropical Storm Cindy BWM Reports Follow the Path of the Storm

News article on the BWMs in MS associated with TS Cindy

Black Witch Moths Popping Up

Prior to TS Cindy, this is the singular BWM record from Mississippi that I have specific data for:

In 34 years of continuous light trapping in Louisiana, Vernon Brou (2003) collected about 25 Black Witch specimens, with most records collected in September.

Both TS Arlene and Hurricane Dennis made landfall on the northern Gulf Coast

before and after Tropical Storm Cindy in 2005 yet no BWMs were reported

The storm tracks of Arlene or Dennis both missed the Yucatan Peninsula

further suggesting that Mexico was the origin of Claudette's and Arlene's BWMs

Dots on (clickable) maps show the track that the eye of each storm took

Illustrations of Hurricane Wind Dynamics:

Request for Help

Black Witch Moths (Ascalapha odorata)
in the Eyes of Tropical Storms

Note that both Claudette and Cindy crossed Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula,
the probable source of the BWMs deposited in the U.S.A.

In 34 years of continuous light trapping in Louisiana, Vernon Brou (2003) collected
about 25 Black Witch specimens, with most records collected in September.