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Royal Walnut Moth

Royal Walnut Moth
Location: Tennessee
July 22, 2011 3:47 pm
Just wanted to add this picture i took.
Signature: ?

Royal Walnut Moth

Thanks for adding to our archive of Royal Walnut Moth sightings this year.

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¶ Posted 23 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Great Peacock Moth Caterpillar from Greece

What caterpillar is this
Location: northern greece
July 22, 2011 7:47 am
Location: mountains of northern Greece. Hot 95 degree day. Found in our backyard. Under the olive trees and well watered grasses
Date: July 2011
thank you !!!
Signature: mom and kid

Great Peacock Moth Caterpillar

Dear mom and kid,
This is the caterpillar of the Great Peacock Moth, Saturnia pyri, and you may verify our identification by viewing it on Kirby Wolfe’s website. Vincent Van Gogh did a painting of the adult moth which you can view on this Van Gogh Gallery website. The adult moth and caterpillar are both depicted on this Czechoslovakian postage stamp.

Great Peacock Moth and Caterpillar on Postage Stamp

add Great Peacock Moth Caterpillar from Greece

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¶ Posted 22 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Royal Walnut Moth

is this moth poisonous
Location: maryland
July 22, 2011 12:21 am
It looked like it had a stinger
Signature: ?

Royal Walnut Moth

Dear ?
Your moth is a Royal Walnut Moth and it does not have a stinger and it is not poisonous. We find it interesting that you would suppose that it is a venomous species upon seeing the adult, because it is the fearsome looking caterpillar, the Hickory Horned Devil, that generally elicits such a supposition. The frightfully spiny Hickory Horned Devil is also perfectly harmless.

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¶ Posted 22 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Newly Metamorphosed Polyphemus Moth

What is this thing???
Location: Mid Missouri
July 20, 2011 8:44 pm
My cousin found this bug or whatever it is in the bed of her truck. I nor anyone that I know have never seen anything like it?
Signature: Crystal

Newly Metamorposed Polyphemus Moth

Hi Crystal,
This is a newly metamorphosed male Polyphemus Moth whose wings have not yet fully expanded and hardened.

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¶ Posted 21 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Polyphemus Moth

Unknown moth
Location: Eastern Pennsylvania
July 12, 2011 2:56 pm
My father found this moth out back while he was cleaning up after the moth and took a few pictures on his camera. When I woke up, he went to get me and told me all about it and I got some myself. It’s a large brown moth with a huge backside. I’m assuming it was pregnant. It’s about mid July so it’s summer and it’s almost 4 PM. I’m not sure when he spotted it.
Signature: Dana

Polyphemus Moth

Hi Dana,
This beautiful gal is a female Polyphemus Moth, and we are quite happy that you have provided us a view of the wings closed as well as opened. You can tell she is a female by her full body and smaller antennae. The antennae of the male are bushier or more feathered, and he uses them to sense the female’s pheromones. We are post dating this submission to go live over the weekend while we are out of the office.

Polyphemus Moth

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¶ Posted 16 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Royal Walnut Moth

Thick Bug
Location: Western Pennsylvania
July 13, 2011 2:24 am
This bug was outside of my work place. I saw one similar to this last year in the same spot. What is this? It’s so weird!
Signature: Riss

Royal Walnut Moth

Hi Riss,
Your moth is a Royal Walnut Moth, the adult of the fierce looking, but harmless, Hickory Horned Devil caterpillar.

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¶ Posted 13 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Mating Imperial Moths

Weird bug
Location: 40° 54’ N/ 90° 17’ W
July 10, 2011 3:23 pm
I was wondering if you knew what kind of bug this is.. I live in central Illinois and It’s summer time. This bug was on my staircase outside and I have never seen anything like it.
Signature: Sincerely, Curious

Mating Imperial Moths

Dear Curious,
These are mating Imperial Moths. The male on the bottom is the smaller, more purple member of the pair.

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¶ Posted 10 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: bug love

Giant Silkmoth from Trinidad: Rothschildia lebeau amacurensis

Trinidad Moths
Location: Trinidad
July 10, 2011 1:35 pm
Dear Bugman,
I found your homepage by chance when I tried to identify 3 very large moths we saw two weeks ago in Trinidad.
No1 is probably a white witch (picture taken at Asa Nature Lodge); No2 should be a Rothschildia taken at the ladies restroom in the visitor Centre of the Caroni swamps. No3 is a large silkmoth (at least 10cm wingspan)we had at the Radio and Tropospheric Scatter Station at Morne Bleu (670m high in the northern range). It would be nice, if you could help me with identification and/or confirmation of the three species.
Signature: Harald (Heidelberg, Germany)

Rothschildia lebeau amacurensis

Hi again Harald,
We learned on the World’s Largest Saturniidae Site that your Giant Silkmoth is Rothschildia lebeau amacurensis. Your specimen appears to be a male of a subspecies of Rothschildia lebeau which is also found in Venezuela. The Encyclopedia of Life website has a photo of the female.