rss yellow and black about 1 inch long and an inch high
June 5, 2010
Insect found by the swamp in gueydan, la. 70542. south of lake arthur lake . Vermillion parish.
B
gueydan la. 70542
Heiroglyphic Moth
Hi B,
Because of the markings on its wings, this Owlet Moth, Diphthera festiva, is commonly called a Heiroglyphic Moth. You can read extensively about the Heiroglyphic Moth on the Featured Creatures website.
What’s this moth?
May 27, 2010
This handsome creature was hanging around our grapevines the other day (May 24, to be exact). It was maybe an inch nose to wingtip, not counting the antennae. Can you tell me what it is? Thanks.
Linda C
Accomack County, VA
Eight Spotted Forrester
Dear Linda,
Your Eight Spotted Forrester really is a beautiful moth. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of a few different vines, including grape. You can read more about this diurnal Owlet Moth on BugGuide.
Thought it was bird poo at first…
May 9, 2010
Dear Bugman,
I found this interesting moth today on the deck around my mother-in-law’s pool. I probably would have dismissed it as bird droppings, had there not been other moths in the area. Interesting defense mechanism, I assume?
Cassie Shaw
Cleveland, MS
Beautiful Wood Nymph
Dear Cassie,
WE are very happy that we took the time to look at our old mail dating from a brief trip to Ohio. Your well camouflaged moth is a Beautiful Wood Nymph, Eudryas grata, which can be distinguished from its close relative, the Pearly Wood Nymph, Eudryas unio, because it is: “larger than Pearly Wood-Nymph (E. unio), and the dark band along outer margin of forewing is smoothly curved on the inside, not scalloped as in E. unio” according to BugGuide.
Showy Desert Moth Takes a Siesta.
April 5, 2010
We were wandering through a carpet of yellow tackstem flowers. It was cold and windy when me wife looked down and spotted this moth hunkered down in one of the flowers. We were impressed with the sharp red lines on the wings and the crazy Afro harido…..It showed no signs of activity. Hope you have more of a clue about this character then we did. I submitted this before but didn’t put in my name and the date; please use this submission
Richard Potashin, Independence, CA
Owens Valley, Eastern California, 4000′ ft.
Owlet Moth: maybe Heliolonche pictipennis
Hi Richard,
We vowed we would not give up until we identified this moth, and we started going dizzy sorting through all the plates on the Moth Photographers Group website before we landed on an Owlet Moth plate where Heliolonche pictipennis looked like a good bet. The images on BugGuide support that possibility. Schinia pulchripennis, also pictured on the Moth Photographers Group website also looks close, and that is substantiated on BugGuide, though BugGuide also has one image of Schinia sueta that is a very close match. We really believe this takes more of an expert than our amateur status can provide, though we are confident that the Subfamily Heliothinae of the Owlet Moths which is well represented on BugGuide contains your individual. Our money would be on Heliolonche pictipennis.
Owlet Moth: maybe Heliolonche pictipennis
Furry headed moth
March 4, 2010
This was on the wall at my boyfriend’s condo around 8PM. It’s head is furry- I would pet it if I knew it wasn’t poisonous, but I wouldn’t want to hurt the bug either. Anyhow, if you could identify it, that would be great. I’ve never seen one around here before, and there are actually two of them on the wall
Michelle Miller
St. Croix, USVI
Spanish Moth
Hi Michelle,
Your moth reminds us a bit of a photo we received two months ago that was identified as a Mangrove Flannel Moth. Your moth is a different species, but we suspect it might be a Puss Moth or Flannel Moth in the same family, Megalopygidae. Karl always does a great job with difficult identifications, and perhaps he will be able to come up with a match.
Spanish Moth
Hi Daniel and Michelle:
I like the frowning face on its back when the wings are closed, and the fuzzy headgear. 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. It’s a very pretty moth – thanks.
Karl
Costa Rican Moth
January 27, 2010
Hello!
We here at the Monteverde Butterfly Gardens in Costa Rica are big fans of yours, and we have found a moth that we cannot identify. The photo should be pretty descriptive, but basically it is wearing some stylish headgear that resembles a broken twig. Your help is much appreciated!
Thanks
MBG Staff
Monteverde Butterfly Gardens Staff
Monteverde, Costa Rica
Owlet Moth
Dear MBG Staff,
This is an Owlet Moth in the family Noctuidae, a very large family. There are several North American genera in the tribe Plusiini pictured on BugGuide that have a similar profile. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to be more specific in terms of a species or genus identification.
Karl does some research
Hi Daniel and MBG Staff:
This is indeed an Owlet Moth in the family Noctuidae, and I believe the subfamily is Euteliinae (sometimes included in Plusiinae or Nolinae). In the Euteliinae, the beautiful ‘broken-twig’ mimicry is achieved with cryptic coloration, a squat posture and a dramatically upturned abdomen. As far as I can tell there are fewer than 20 species in 3 genera found in Costa Rica, but they are all similar and highly variable. I suspect the genus is either Paectes or Eutelia. The closest match I was able to find on the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) site was Paectes obrotunda, but this is really just a guess. MBG Staff, if you contacted Dan Janzen at ACG he could probably give you a precise identification. Regards.
Hey Guys!
Thanks so much for your timely reply and insight! I have seen Noctuids before with upturned abdomens, but never one this drastic or with this degree of mimicry. I was actually convinced that it wasn`t his abdomen at all, but some weird ornamentation on top of the body, though when you look at it with this new perspective it makes sense. Thanks again, I will keep you updated if I find out anything more.
Keep up the awesome work!
Kyle and MBG staff. Karl
Can you identify this moth?
July 24, 2009
Dear Bugman,
My Mother who lives in Barnum, MN (located in-between Duluth and Hinckley on I-35) sent me this photo Thursday night. She lives in a very small town of about 300 people she lives on a private lake in a wooded area. The moth was hanging out on the garage at about 9:30 at night. I have spent all day Friday trying to identify it. I am having no luck. My children and I walked up to our library located a block away and got 4 butterfly/moth identification books…but this moth is still a mystery to us. I have looked in your postings of moths and can’t seem to find one that looks like it. I am now obsessed in trying to identify this moth. Can you please help me out? Thanks so much for your time,
Heidi and Family
Central Minnesota
Harris's Three Spot
Dear Heidi and Family,
We were very concerned that you might be neglecting your family or job or both in an attempt to identify your Harris’s Three Spot, so we spared no amount of time trying to research the subject ourselves. We located your Owlet Moth, the Harris’s Three Spot, Harrisimemna trisignata, on BugGuide, but there was not much information on the species which is found over much of the Eastern part of North America according to the data map on BugGuide. Lynne Scott’s Lepidoptera site has some information on the species including that the caterpillars “have been reported to feed on a variety of trees and shrubs, including viburnum, lilac, ash, willow, winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and blueberry.“
Hi,
Thanks so much for the reply. The kids (ages 9 and 5) and I have enjoyed trying to find the Harris’s Three Spot (we’ll never forget it). Actually we are having lots of fun identifying bugs in our yard this summer. We live in Des Moines, IA and have watched several Cicada’s emerge and have also watched Monarch butterflies during metamorphism and have tagged them for the migration unfortunately none of our butterflies have been recovered. We also have preying mantis and have fun finding out about them…we have lots of egg sacks on our chain link fence; of course they are all hatched now. So this was a fun dayJ I’m so glad you were able to identify it for us, hope it wasn’t too easy! We love your web site and I have also shared it with their teachers at school (they go to a parochial school). I’ll be sure to buy 3 copies of your book; one for our family, one for my parents and one for the library at school when it is published.
Thanks again so much for your time
Heidi, kids and Mom
Thanks for your kind response Heidi,
Since getting our new computer, we have been posting so many letters we have been neglecting the book, but we expect to delve into that full bore soon.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Last night, when we returned home from dinner, this Underwing Moth tried to fly into the livingroom. We shushed it back outside, and this morning, it was still on the screen door. We believe this is the Walnut Underwing, Catocala piatrix, which BugGuide identifies as the Penitent. BugGuide identifies it as an eastern species, but also indicates a sighting from Arizona. Charles Hogue describes it as a local species in his Insects of the Los Angeles Basin. We generally sight one or two individuals each summer.
Walnut Underwing
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