Family Saturniidae
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Giant Orange Butterfly
July 16, 2009
I found this bug sitting on the ground at my apartment. It is about 2 or 3 inches long. The pictures I took pretty much explain everything else. Thank you!
Katie
Cary, NC
Regal Moth
Hi Katie,
This is a Regal Moth or Royal Walnut Moth, not a butterfly. The Regal Moth only lives a few days as an adult and it does not feed. It mates and dies shortly after.
Luna Moth
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 6:42 PM
My kids found this Luna Moth today in our old barn. They were so excited, they ran to my car when I got home. (I’ve tried to instill my love of bugs in them; it makes me happy when they get fired up about nature!) Luna is on a 2 x 4 roof truss (I hooked the tape measure on the truss and had my son hold it so I could take the second picture.) reading your website, this seems a little late in the year for Luna Moths in South Florida. It also appears to be a smaller one.
Poolmantdh
Bradenton, Florida
Luna Moth
Hi Poolmantdh,
In the southern portion of the range where the growing season is longer, there are two generations of Luna Moths each year. In the extreme southern portion of the range, where the end of the season is not marked with snowfall, the two generations may even have little or no obvious demarcation. BugGuide indicates that in Georgia, sightings have occurred from March through October.
looks like a moth maybe
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 6:48 AM
this bug was on the front door all day and even when the door would be slammed shut it wouldnt fall off. i took pictures of it and we all want to know what it is. We were in Jamesport, NY (on Long island)
from ash
Jamesport, NY on Long Island
Spotted Apatelodes
Hi Ash,
Though it is easily mistaken for a Sphinx Moth, the Spotted Apatelodes, Apatelodes torrefacta, is actually a Silkworm Moth in the family Bombycidae.
what is this bug?
Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 2:15 PM
these 2 bugs were discovered 3pm july 3rd on our maple tree. They are each about 4inches across. please help us identify!
Katharine Mead
ne ohio
Mating Imperial Moths
Dear Katharine,
We are quite thrilled to post your photo of a pair of mating Imperial Moths. Just yesterday we posted a photo of a single male. Of your pair, the upper moth is the female. Female Imperial Moths have mostly yellow wings while the male has more purple markings.
Promethia or Tulip tree?
Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 6:50 PM
Hello Wonderful Bug People.
Working at a horse farm in Uxbridge Ontario, many mornings provide Moths and Bugs that need ID. I love your site and we now have a group waiting for me to go home and identify, the beautiful and strange things we see. I have my trusty camera at the ready so I can compare with your photos. Thanks for help identifying a Giant Toe Biter, and Luna Moth.
We had this visitor last week. I was hoping it was a Promethia or a Tulip Tree, but thinking it is probably Cecropia?
Thanks for the great site, and helping us appreciate (no longer so icky) bugs.
I’ll send our Luna as well. It was huge.
I hope your camping trip was only buggy in a good way.
Leslie Tunnicliff / Archer’s Grove Farm
Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada
Cecropia Moth
Dear Leslie,
Your letter arrived while we were still in Northern California at a wedding, and we are trying desperately to post as many submissions as possible. Mail really piled up in our absence and it continues to arrive in droves daily. We are going through older submissions in search of a subject line we remembered because of an unusual posting of a Purplescent Longhorn we just posted, and we thought, perhaps, that the other letter might also contain an image of a Purplescent Longhorn. Needless to say, we stumbled upon some intriguing subject lines we missed previously, including yours. We were so touched by your kind letter we decided that we needed to take the time to post your letter and photo of a Cecropia Moth. The Luna Moth photo is also quite nice.
Luna Moth
Large Moth-like bug!
Hello Bugman! My son found this out on our back deck this morning. I believe it looks like a large moth type insect. We live in east-central Indiana. Please help me to identify it and give me some other information on it! Thank You!
Megan and Kegan
Shirley, IN
Imperial Moth
Dear Megan and Kegan,
Your moth is an Imperial Moth, Eacles imperialis, a species well represented on BugGuide and in our own archives, though this is the first specimen we are posting this year. Male Imperial Moths have more purple markings on their wings, and this would indicate that your individual is a male Imperial Moth.
Big red/white(yellow?) moth
Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Hi! I found this moth this morning hanging out in my yard. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of what it could be? thanks!
Danielle
Charlotte, NC
Royal Walnut Moth
Hi Danielle,
This beauty is a Royal Walnut Moth or Regal Moth. In about September, we will begin receiving identification requests for its spectacular caterpillar, the Hickory Horned Devil.
big green moth
Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 7:01 AM
We’re in Petawawa, Onatario and recently have had several of these beautiful moths visit us. The smallest one we saw was bigger than any moth we’ve ever seen, and the largest spanned the palm of my hand.
Anderson Family
Petawawa, Ontario, Canada
Luna Moth
Dear Anderson Family,
Congratulations on your Luna Moth sightings. The Luna Moth, which is native to eastern North America from Florida to Canada, is probably the most distinctive North American Moth. It is unlikely that it could be confused with any other species. The Luna Moth is one of the Giant Silk Moths that only lives a few days as an adult, long enough to mate and lay eggs. It has no functional mouth parts and it cannot eat as an adult. Your sighting is our northernmost report this year. Florida sightings generally begin in February and as mild weather moves north, so do the Luna Moth emergences. The moth has spent its metamorphosis period in a pupa encased in a cocoon loosely spun around a leaf that falls to the ground and is buried in leaf litter.
Polythemus Love
Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:13 AM
This couple was observed hanging from an impatian basket on my deck this morning in Kent, Ohio. The romance lasted all morning long.
Lifelong Moth Watcher
Kent, OH
Mating Polyphemus Moths
Dear Lifelong Moth Watcher,
We were lucky enough to see a female Polyphemus Moth on the observation tower at Fellow’s Riverside Garden in Mill Creek Park in Youngstown Ohio in early June. Your mating Polyphemus Moths are a welcome addition to our Bug Love section. Thanks for your contribution. The male with his more feathered antennae is the upper individual.
Please help us identify this beautiful moth!
Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Hey Mr. Bugman! We LOVE your website and use it to identify little critters we find around our wooden lot in North Central Maryland on the PA line. This morning we spotted this gorgeous moth, took pictures and immediately tried to identify it on your site…with out much success or time to spend looking. Please let us know if you can help us out. I have attached several pictures as it was so beautiful that I took A Lot! Thanks for all you do to provide such an educational site for us to view (we are homeschoolers, use it often and have spread the word to others)
Kindly, Valerie Corkran
North Central Maryland (Manchester)
Tulip Tree Silkmoth
Hey Valerie,
We love getting enthusiastic letters with wonderful photos like yours. This is a female Tulip Tree Silkmoth, Callosamia angulifera. You can read more about it on BugGuide. We feel confident that it is not the closely related and similar appearing Promethea Moth, Callosamia promethea.
Tulip Tree Silkmoth
Huge moth on Lounge chair
Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 8:12 AM
Hello there, I came across this website a couple months ago when I was randomly surfing the internet. I think this is a great asset because I’ve always encountered some downright weird bugs here in the tropics. I encountered this moth early one morning after waking up. I must admit, I’m a sissy when it comes to bugs so I inched my way back inside my house without even taking my eye off the moth to ensure that it wouldn’t fly at me. lol. It was pretty big, about 5 inches across and I was amazed at how pretty it was and sort of silky looking. I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me what it is or at least offer a suggestion because I have been curious about it for a long long time. Thank you!
Petra
Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies
Rhescyntis species from Trinidad
Hi Petra,
This is a Giant Silk Moth in the family Saturniidae, and the best place to identify specimens from this family from around the world is on Bill Oehlke’s private website: The World’s Largest Saturniidae Site. Since there was no way to search the species from Trinidad, we searched Venezuela. You should know that islands around the world are notorious (that is a good thing) for having endemic species and subspecies because the longer they have no contact with their nearest relatives on the mainland, the more evolutionary changes result in distinctly different populations. This is the foundation of Charles Darwin’s studies in the Galapagos Islands. We have identified you moth as being in the genus Rhescyntis and the two species found in Venezuela are Rhescyntis hippodamia and Rhescyntis hermes. Of the two, Rhescyntis hermes is the darker moth. The subspecies Rhescyntis hippodamia norax, which is found in Central America including Panama might be the frontrunner for the proper identification. We finally located an image of Rhescyntis hippodamia on the Moths of Belize website, and this was the only image of the genus we could find that has public access. It should be noted that your photo is not of the highest quality, and this might make exact identification quite difficult. Posting your letter and image has taken us over an hour due to the research and the lethargy of our long outdated computer. We really need to buy a new computer which will facilitate faster postings and enable us to post more letters per day. We have other work to do today and this may be our only posting today.
Cecropia Moths
Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 5:36 PM
I found these two in my side yard this evening. I see others have also posted pictures of them. Can you give me more information? Are they more native to the Midwestern states?
Thank you,
Sandy
Lincoln, NE
Mating Cecropia Moths
Hi Sandy,
Though we have received several photos of mating Cecropia Moths, Hyalophora cecropia, in the past, we doubt that any are as gorgeous as yours. They clearly indicate the egg laden body of the fuller female and the more feathered antennae of the male which allow him to scent out the female’s pheromones. Yes, Cecropia Moths are native to the midwest as well as eastern states. BugGuide’s Data page does not indicate any submissions from Nebraska, but there are reports from Oklahoma and Texas to the south and the Dakotas to the north. Nebraska is certainly part of the range, though probably the furthest western portion of the range. As with most species distribution maps, there tend to be fewer individuals at the edge of a range, so sightings from Nebraska might be rare. BugGuide’s information page has this to say about the range and habitat: “Range East of the Rocky Mountains, from Nova Scotia south to Florida. (3) overlaps range of Columbia Moth in southern Canada and adjacent northern states
Habitat Attracted to lights and increasingly common in urban and suburban areas “ The information page on BugGuide also indicates Robin Moth as an alternate name, though this fascinating bit of information is news to us.
Mating Cecropia Moths
