Big Yellow Moth… I think! Loc: Slovenia
Hi WTB
I found this unfortunate guy while in Slovenia recently. I say unfortunate because he landed in the grass near to me and was flapping around, obviously in distress. When I looked closer it appears he must have been attacked by a bird or something because he was missing a front antenna and a front leg. I thought to leave him there in the hope that a bit of rest in the sun would help, but I then noticed he was about to be swarmed by an army of giant ants! So… I (very gently) scooped him up and put him somewhere safe with some muddy puddle water. Unfortunately though, when I returned later, he had curled up his tootsies and shuffled off this mortal coil etc. etc.. So, I now have this poor creature and I still don’t even know what he is! I am torn between hoping he is rare (for the joy of finding something rare), but then again hoping he is not (because then it would be an even bigger shame that he didn’t make it! Please help give him a name! I have looked through every Butterfly and Moth page on your site but can’t find him anywhere. I have put him on a CD to give you an idea of his size. I’ve only ever seen anything this big in butterfly houses, never in the wild! Thank you very much
Scott Holmes
from North Wales, UK.
Hi Scott,
Thanks for writing your touching story of the unforgiving ways of the natural world. Your moth is Antheraea yamamai, a Japanese species introduced to Europe.
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Posted 11 August 2008
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I’m stumped! What’s this bug?!
Hi Bugman!
Thanks for such a fab site! I took these pictures of a beautiful moth yesterday in my backyard in Decatur, GA. It fluttered away shortly thereafter. I initially thought it might be a Cecropia Moth, but some of its markings are inconsistent with the pictures I’ve looked at: it is lacking the vivid body color, for example, and the white crescent shapes on the wings seem too small. I’ve poured over all your moth pictures and those on some other sites, but am still stumped! Can you help? Many, many thanks…keep doing what you do!
Tracy D. James
Decatur, GA
Hi Tracy,
This is a Tuliptree Silkmoth, Callosamia angulifera, and it the second example we have received today. The first was from Virginia.
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Posted 08 August 2008
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Saturnid Rothscgilidia
Hi Bugman
I recently followed the life cycle of a moth in the wild in Queretaro, Mexico.120 miles north of Mexico City. Two cacoons hatched 4 weeks ago and I captured them mating. I am attaching photos. I was intrigued by the comments on the Saturnid Rothschilidia reported from Brazil then challenged. Judging from my photos I seem to have an almost identical example from semitropical central Mexico. What do you think?
Clint
Hi Clint,
We have just logged onto the World’s Largest Saturniidae Site for the first time in an attempt to properly identify your mating Rothschildia species, and we must say an accurate identification is beyond our means. Hazarding a guess, we will take a stab at Rothschildia lebeau aroma. Perhaps Bill Oehlke will come to our rescue.
Daniel,
It is Rothschildia cincta guerreronis, sometimes elevated to Rothschildia guerreronis. Note strong presence of white scaling on forewing, just inside the marginal area, also some white scaling on hindwing in corresponding area. Many of the Rothschildia are very hard to id. … Thanks for sending images. Very nice.
Bill Oehlke
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Posted 04 August 2008
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Tagged: bug love
Dear Bugman,
Thanks so much for identifying the Pearly Wood Nymph for me. I received your email this morning to my great surprise. Boy you are fast. I thought it might be the Pearly from you page but didn’t know for sure. Thought you might be interested see a Royal Walnut Moth that laid her eggs on the siding of my front porch almost two weeks ago. She had lots of babies but I don’t know about the survival rate. We saw a lot of dead babies and didn’t know if it was because she didn’t lay them on a host plant that they could start eating. Not two days after all the eggs had finished hatching I had a Small Eyed Sphinx. Such velvet wings. My bug friend identified it from my pictures. Thanks again,
Peggy Scott
Hi Peggy,
Because of time constraints, we are unable to post all of the marvelous submissions that come our way. Many letters we don’t even have time to read. We are thrilled to posty your photos of a Royal Walnut Moth laying eggs and the resulting hatching of Hickory Horned Devils.
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Posted 04 August 2008
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Can you identify this bug??
Hello! I found this bug on my screen door — it stayed there for three days and then it was gone — do you by chance know what it is? I live in Virginia if that is of any help. Thank you,
Terri
Hi Terri,
This etherial beauty is a Luna Moth. We started to get photos from the South this year in early March, and by late May we were getting sightings from Maine and Canada. Your photos represent a second generation in the South. Where warm weather prevails for longer periods, the Luna Moth has a second generation that will overwinter as a pupa inside a cocoon wrapped in a leaf that falls to the ground and remains under the snow buried in the fallen leaves.
2 pictures for you
Found your email addy on the very good site you have on the web. The moth (pictures attached) was on our porch this morning at Payson, Arizona. It was resting on a (lit) lamp shade and has a wing span of 6 inches! I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of a moth it is and wondered if you can use the pic for your site or whatever else. Thanks
Reg
Hi Reg,
A few days ago, we received our first photo of this moth, Antheraea oculea, a relative of the Prometheus Moth found in Arizona. That specimen was sent from the Coconino National Forest of Northern Arizona. 50 miles north of Payson. We are copying Bill Oehlke on this reply as he is keeping comprehensive data on species distribution.
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Posted 25 July 2008
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help identifying this moth please
I’d love some help on this one! I live in NH and found this beauty on my house one morning around 9 am. Best regards,
Colleen L. Jones
Hi Colleen,
We believe with 95% certainty that this is a female Promethea Moth, Callosamia promethia, but the closely related Tulip Tree Silk Moth, Callosamia angulifera, is very similar. We found a Canadian Biodiversity website that has a side by side comparison of the two species. Males of the species are much smaller and darker.
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Posted 21 July 2008
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Beautiful S. Arizona moth
Hi there. I have seen the most bizarre insects since moving to Southern Arizona (almost on the Mexico border)! Thanks to your site, I’ve been able to identify most of them, except for this beautiful moth that we found on the wall near our front door this morning. Can you tell me what it is?
Many thanks!
Tamara Holcomb Page
Bisbee, AZ
Beautiful S. Arizona moth (found it!)
Please disregard my just-sent email. After a little more searching, I did find it on your site. Bill Oehlke identified it as “Saturniidae, Eupackardia calleta” On the posting I found, he had asked what county it was from. We are in Cochise County, in the Bisbee, AZ historic district. The moth was photographed on7/21/08. Enjoy the photo in my previous email (I didn’t want to burden you with another attachment)! Again, Many thanks!
Tamara
Hi Tamara,
Far from disregarding your previous email, we have chosen instead to post it with your lovely image of Eupackardia calleta. We are copying Bill Oehlke on this response so he can add your location data to the information he is compiling on this species with its limited range.
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Posted 21 July 2008
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Moth
I see you have this moth on your site. But this ones markings are a little different. We live in the Blue Ridge area of the Coconino National Forest of Northern Arizona. 50 miles north of Payson, Arizona. 6800 feet altitude.
Lynda Perkins
Hi Linda,
This is exciting news for us. According to a site we found, Antheraea oculea was declared a separate species in the 1990s. Here is what the site maintained by Hunter and Joel has to say: “Until the early nineties, oculea was considered a subspecies of polyphemus. Based on the hybridization work of Tuttle, Tuskes and Collins (see “The Wild Silk Moths of North America”) oculea was raised from subspecific to specific status. This moth occurs in Arizona and western New Mexico. At first glance, oculea looks just like a polyphemus, except darker, and with more ‘makeup’ around the eyespots.” The Butterflies and Moths of North America has a map of species distribution. BugGuide has a single photo of a mounted specimen. We are going to copy Bill Oehlke on this as he is compiling extensive species distribution information and this sighting may be of interest to him.
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Posted 19 July 2008
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what are these bugs?
Hi!
My name is Sarah. Attached are pictures of some moths that I found mating on my husband’s car. I’m in Jacksonville, Florida the beaches area. Any idea as to what they may be? Thanks!
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
When we first sent you the rather truncated response with just the Polyphemus Moth identification, we had every intention of formatting your lovely photos and posting them. We especially like that your photos demonstrate a change in position and open and closed wing views. Thanks for your lovely addition to our archives.
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Posted 12 July 2008
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Tagged: bug love
Pink Striped Oakworm Moths “Bug Love”
Species: Anisota virginiensis
Location: Gainesville State College, Oakwood, Hall County, GA, USA
Date/Time: 8 JUL 2008/1210 hrs
The last things I expected to see after my math test were these lovely pink striped oakworm moths “in flagrante delicto” about five feet up a large tree-trunk. According to www.butterfliesandmoths.org , they usually mate in the morning, but I guess these guys were late risers (or long maters!). Unfortunately, I didn’t have my digital camera with me at the time, so a friend took the picture on his phone. With the reduced image quality, the almost impossible fuzziness of the moths is lost, as well as the amazing luster of their colors. The male’s body was not dark brown, as the aforementioned site suggests, but was instead a deep red-purple and orange. Finding these moths made my day, test and all!
Jon-Jacob Deal
Photo by Brian Edgar
Hi Jon-Jacob and Edgar,
Thanks for sending us this romantic image of mating Pink Striped Oakworm Moths.
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Posted 10 July 2008
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Tagged: bug love
moth
Hi Bugman,
This moth was rescued from a bucket of water in our backyard. We live in west central Illinois. We didn’t know how long she would be with us. So she stayed with us for 3 days, laying eggs each night. We released her so my 6 yr old,Madelynn, would have to perform a moth funeral. We left for 4 days to attend my Grandma’s funeral. Ok, so here is the next dilemma. Momma moth laid all these eggs, which have now started hatching (less than 2 weeks from momma’s arrival). I wasn’t really expecting hatchlings before we got home, if at all. Since we’ve gotten this far what should we do? Thought it might be fun to witness the complete cycle for a few, and release some too. Last summer it was 5 swallowtail butterflies. Madelynn swears her butterflies come back to play each year, because she has seen them and they know where we live! So hopefully you can understand this dilemma. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank You,
Sandy in Illinois
Hi Sandy,
Raising some of these Imperial Moth caterpillars, Eacles imperialis, to adulthood is something neither Madelynn nor you will ever forget. BugGuide includes the following as caterpillar food plants: “Larvae feed on leaves of Bald Cypress, basswood, birch, cedar, elm, hickory, Honeylocust, maple, oak, pine, Sassafras (Sassafras albidum ), Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua ), sycamore, walnut. ” The caterpillars will feed on many deciduous and coniferous tree leaves, and you can search the internet for other lists that will include a tree that is available to you. Thanks for your wonderful letter.
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Posted 02 July 2008
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