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Plume Moth

Posted by December 22nd, 2008 at 9:00 pm

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Plume Moths

“T”-shaped tan insect (able to fly?) with manits like head and walking stick thinness.
Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 7:36 PM
Dear Bugman,
I saw this insect on my screen door last summer and took a couple of pictures (admittedly they are not very clear). It hung around for the better part of a week and did not move. I touched it to see if the protrusions on its upper back were wings but it gave no indication of being so. It was mostly a camel color and about 2″ across at the “T” and about half that for the length as well. What you see in the picture is all that I know. I have looked extensively on bug identification sites but nothing has really come close to what it truly looks like. Is it native to Oregon? Thanks for any insight you may have.
Curious in Oregon
Portland, Oregon

plume moth oregon 300x183 Plume Moth

Plume Moth

Dear Curious in Oregon,
This is a Plume Moth in the family Pterophoridae.  You may look at many different species on BugGuide. The Pterophoridae of North America website by Deborah Matthews lists 154 species in North America.  We are not skilled enough to identify this specimen to the species level.  Many people call this a T Bug when requesting an identification.

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