St. Lawrence Tiger Moth?
Hi Guys,
We are just east of Ottawa, Ontario and we found this beauty on the brick in the front of our house, in a nice shady spot. It was very friendly and decided to come in the house with us for a quick photo shoot on our kitchen floor. We couldn’t find an exact match on your site for this one, so thought I’d ask for your identification assistance. I am guessing that it is some sort of Tiger Moth, but uncertain of which breed it might be … the closest one I noticed on the site was the St. Lawrence Tiger Moth. I know you are swamped, but when you get the time I’d love your input. PS. Thanks for being such a great help to everyone and for all of the time and patience you extend to others. Thanks in advance! Cheers,
Rhonda M. Frank
Hi Rhonda,
Your beautiful moth is actually a holarctic species, the Great Tiger Moth, Arctia caja, also known as the Garden Tiger Moth in Europe. There are several subspecies in both the new and old world. It is an even more spectacular species than the St. Lawrence Tiger Moth. According to Bugguide, it is: “uncommon to rare in North America; European numbers have been declining in recent years “
¶ Posted 02 August 2008 § ‡ ° Grape Leaf Skeletonizer???
Greetings from Palmdale, California! Located in the blazing Mojave Desert. These moths started appearing in our backyard just after it started getting warm out. I like them very much, but I just wanted to double-check my identification before I post the picture up on my website. Yes, we do have grape plants in our backyard, and a Vineyard not far from us (I know, in the Desert of all places!) Am I right?? Thanks so much!
Abbey
Hi Abbey,
You are correct but for one small detail. This is a Western Grapeleaf Skeletonizer, Harrisina metallica, not the Grapeleaf Skeletonizer, Harrisina americana, which is found in the east.
¶ Posted 02 August 2008 § ‡ ° ID this moth please
Hello-
This hug moth flew into my house tonight and I have never seen a moth this big. I am in Los Angeles. This moth is as big if not bigger than a Marnarch butter fly. Will this moth get into my clothes? The wing span is around 5 inches. Thanks
Clay
Hi Clay,
This is a Black Witch, a species common in Mexico. For some inexplicable reason, the species flies north, as far as Canada, and there are sightings from virtually all of the continental United States. The species also breeds in Hawaii. There is a report of caterpillars found on Acacia in West Los Angeles, and they are believed to also breed in Texas and Florida. They will not harm your clothes, but there are numerous superstitions concerning the Black Witch from Mexico, Hawaii and other places where it is commonly found.
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.
Please help identify
Hello,
I am from Southern Idaho (Jerome) and found these two beautiful insects feasting in my garden (well they aren’t feasting in the picture but they will probably be hungry after) anyway – I don’t know what they are? Horneyts? Flies? Squash Bugs? I didn’t write you right away because I was afraid I would receive a "boy your a dummy" response but I searched and searched and didn’t find this insect on your site. Close, but not exact markings. Can you help? Thank you so much for your time. I know you are very busy! Thank you,
Cindy Flowers
Hi Cindy,
We are going to begin by gently chastising you because we were hurt by your implication that we would call you a dummy when you have a legitimate question. It should be apparent that we answer the same question repeatedly (just look at our Dobsonfly pages) and we have even had to identify many times this month our July Bug of the Month, the Cecropia Moth, despite it being posted at the top of our home page. Your Wasp Mimic Clearwing Moths in the family Sesiidae challenged us. We found two possibilities on BugGuide that did not fully convince us, so we turned to the Moth Photographers Group where Paranthrene robiniae looked correct. Then we returned to BugGuide with that name and located the common name of Western Poplar Clearwing, but not too much in the way of information. We then found an excellent Forest Pest page that profiles your lovely moths because the larvae are borers in the wood of willows and poplars and extreme infestations can be very damaging to trees. Your photo is also quite beautiful and we would have been thrilled to receive it even if this wasn’t a new species for our site.
¶ Posted 29 July 2008 § ‡ ° Tagged: bug love California – Moth with 6-8" wingspan and headlight??
While looking for raccoons that had been eating our peaches, we saw what looked like a single eye looking back at the flashlight. As we moved in closer we thought it was some kind of fruit bat. But the wings were too straight, and it had too many legs (or appeared to – we really didn’t get that close!) My husband said it looked like some kind of moth, the boys and I thought he had to be wrong – no moth was that big – but after looking at the picture and your website, I thought he might be right. It looked like a single eye with the flash light, but the pictures looks more like some kind of reflector on the front and the eyes on the side. It’s wingspan was atleast 6”, looked more like 7 or 8”. (The peach it’s on is about 2.5”). Any ideas on what this thing is? Thanks
Marti
Hi Marti,
Your moth is a neotropical species, the Black Witch. It is now generally believed that the Black Witch does breed in Southern California, Florida and probably Southern Texas. Black Witch sightings occur from as far north as Canada. This large Noctuid moth is capable of flying great distances. The Black Witch in your photo is being opportunistic, by taking advantage of the raccoon bite in the peach which has revealed the succulent pulp. Moths cannot bite. They each have a strawlike mouthpart known as a proboscis. The headlight is a reflection of the flashlight in the eye.
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.
catarpilar
Hello Daniel,
Thanks for your answer, i found another one in the garden its the same as the first one but different collour, is it the same?? and the moth on the wall is that one of the catarpilar’s it was 5 cm Kind regards
Jeannette
Hi Again Jeannette,
Your moth is unrelated to your caterpillar. This is a Poplar Hawk Moth, Laothoe populi, and you can read about it on the UK Moth site. In the future, please limit your identification requests to one species per email as it makes our archiving and posting process difficult if multiple species are included together.
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