BLACK BEARS FORAGE ON ARMY CUTWORM MOTH AGGREGATIONS IN THE JEMEZ MOUNTAINS, NEW MEXICO

We observed black bears (Ursus americanus) foraging on aggregations of army cutworm moths (Euxoa auxiliaris) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in subalpine felsenmeers (block fields) in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. Moth aggregations serve as food for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the northern Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Montana. However, black bears have not been reported to use these aggregations, nor have such aggregations been documented to occur this far south in the Rocky Mountains.