Pink and black moth from Brazil
Location: Araraquara, Sao Paulo, Brazil
October 2, 2011 11:24 am
Hello bugman!
I have a voracious eater coming to visit my little garden in Araraquara, SP, Brazil. The larva is black with white spots and sparse black hair. It’s head is red. (I’ll try to get a photo the next time I see them.) They ate all of one type of plant in my garden (I don’t know what it is/was because they ate it all before I could see it bloom. I suspect it’s an iris or tulip of some sort. Bulbs! They’re growing back now.) I gathered a couple of the pupa and hung on to them until they emerged into this very awesome little moth. All of this has happened in our winter months.
ps. Sorry if this is a re-post! I felt my initial images were too large.
Signature: – Irisless Gardener

Spanish Moth adult and pupae

Dear Irisless Gardener,
We recognized this moth as a submission from several years ago, but we could not remember its identity.  We searched our archives and found the Spanish Moth.  Here is what Karl, who frequently contributes to our website had to add:  “This is actually an Owlet Moth ((Noctuidae: Hadeninae), specifically a Spanish Moth (Xanthopastis timais). The species is extremely widespread, ranging from New York to Argentina and including all of the Caribbean. The background color ranges from white to bright pink but the rest of the markings are fairly consistent and distinctive.”   The University of Florida Featured Creatures posting states:  “Host Plants  Spanish moth larvae mainly feed on spider lilies and other Amaryllidaceae, plus Iridaceae and Liliaceae …  in lab rearings. Host plant records in Amaryllidaceae include amaryllis, Clivia, Cooperia, Eucharis, Haemanthus, Hippeastrum, Hymenocallis, Narcissus, Pancratium, Polianthes, and Zephyranthes; in Iridaceae, Iris; and in Liliaceae, Crinum, Leucojum and Lilium.  Damage  Spanish moth larvae cause damage by chewing gregariously on leaves, bulbs, and rhizomes of the host plants. ”  That supports your observations that the larvae eat your iris.

Spanish Moth

Butterfly/Moth
Location: Zwolle, LA
April 4, 2011 7:16 pm
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I was camping this past weekend (april 1-2) in Toledo Bend State Park in Zwolle, LA. My 4 yr old daughter coaxed a butterfly (or moth) onto her hand. He stayed there for several minutes which we found unusual and crawled all over her. My friend and I became concerned when we noticed that the butterfly had orange ”pods” on it’s legs. I apologize that the pics are not the best but, the focus of my shots at the time were my daughter. Could you please tell us the species of this butterfly and if we should have been concerned that it was crawling on her? Thank you again.
Signature: Thank you, Meghan

Eight Spotted Forrester

Hi Meghan,
The diurnal moth, and Eight Spotted Forrester, will not harm your daughter.

Daniel,
Thank you so much for responding to me.  I had no idea that a website like yours existed.  I have learned a great deal, just in the reading I did yesterday.  I find that I am going to have to revise my bug rules.  The rule I have taught my daughter is that under no circumstances is she to kill a bug outside…that is their home.  Unfortunately, inside our home, all bets were off.  I have learned that quite a few bugs are very useful and from now on, I will make every attempt to relocate any bugs outside.  Just so you know, this moth did not become unnecessary carnage, although we were admittedly freaked out by it’s legs.  We coaxed it onto a branch and gently laid the branch on the ground (away from rambunctious kids).
Thanks again for your time,
Meghan

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