red moth?
August 20, 2009
Found this moth in house. Red body and legs, black tail with light blue dots.
Thank you Jeanette
Louisiana
- Scarlet Bodied Wasp Moth
Hi Jeanette,
Most people who write in requesting and identification of a Scarlet Bodied Wasp Moth, Cosmosoma myrodora, don’t realize it is a moth because it is such a convincing wasp mimic. According to BugGuide: “These moths display warning coloration, yet the caterpillars host on non-toxic Climbing Hempweed, Mikania scandens, (family Asteraceae), a weedy vine at field margins and roadsides that can completely obscure bushes and small trees. The adult male moth extracts toxins known as “pyrrolizidine alkaloids” from Dogfennel Eupatorium (Eupatorium capillifolium) and showers these toxins over the female prior to mating. This is the only insect known to transfer a chemical defense in this way.“
Polyphemus Moth
August 17, 2009
While on vacation, i found this Polyphemus moth hanging around one of the buildings in the resort i was staying at. every morning i would walk around the buildings looking for moths. and each day i would usually find 5 or 6 large silk moths. this one was on the same building each day, but always in a different place. i saw this one for about a week and it was in good shape, so i took pictures. i picked him up every time and carried him around that building looking for more, and put him back where i found him before moving to the next building. its alway fun getting the ” wow look at that bug” or “dude you have a bug on your shirt.” moths have fascinated me since i was little. especially the larger silk moths.
Zach
Kissimmee, Florida
Polyphemus Moth
Hi Zach,
Thanks for sending us your nice letter and wonderful photograph of a Polyphemus Moth.
Big moth and black widow
August 14, 2009
My son and I had a Discovery Channel moment leaving the post office yesterday. This moth was alive, and the spider was working very hard to wrap it up. It would climb up, drop a line down, throw a couple of legs over the moth, go over to the other wing, and repeat. The moth was fluttering but losing the battle.
We couldn’t believe this was right in the middle of the sidewalk (yes, there was a brick column in the *middle* of the sidewalk) at the entrance to a busy post office in the middle of the day!
I was going to take video but could only manage a quick cell phone photo before a well-meaning man came up and stomped the spider.
I think this is a real black widow, but I’m having trouble positively identifying the moth. We see them all the time here in Georgia – as the summer progresses, the moths get bigger.
Can you help?
Patty and Gabriel
Powder Springs, Georgia
Black Widow captures Regal Moth
Hi Patty and Gabriel,
We are sorry to hear that this shy and retiring, though poisonous Black Widow was stomped before getting to enjoy its gargantuan meal. The moth is a very bedraggled Regal Moth or Royal Walnut Moth. Its appearance indicates that it was already at the end of its short adult life. Regal Moths do not feed as adults, and only fly long enough to mate and lay eggs, and possibly, like this specimen, provide a nutritious meal to a lucky predator.
moth ID
August 14, 2009
Mike again. I thought you’d like this pic. The larger moth is a sphinx, but what is her friend? They seemed to be a happy couple, but obviously of different species.
Mike
Edgewood, New Mexico, 7000′ pinion forest.
Five Spotted Hawkmoth and Nevada Tiger Moth, we believe
Hi Mike,
This photo of a Sphinx Moth and a Tiger Moth getting along is priceless. The Tiger Moth is probably the Nevada Tiger Moth, Grammia nevadensis, and you may read about it on BugGuide. Because of the angle of the photograph, the Sphinx may be difficult to get an exact ID from us and will probably require an expert, but it appears to be in the genus Manduca, probably the Five Spotted Hawkmoth, Manduca quinquemaculatus. That may be researched on Bill Oehlke’s awesome website.
Yes, I positively ID’d the hawk moth as a five spot. We have lot’s of them around here.
Mike
Owlet Moth?
August 13, 2009
This preaty fellow was hanging out a few nights ago. According to BugGuide it seems to fall into the owlet moth catagory. There are no colorful ones like this on that sight, nor any that matched on yours that I could find. It was about 1.25-1.5 inches in length. Had pale yellow and black markings on the wings, and a bright orange head. Most of the moths up here look like leaves, so this one caught my eye, I wasn’t sure if he was trying to be disgued as something, but I couldnt make out anyting in the pattern. Thanks again!
Jess
Rhode Island, USA
Clymene Moth
Hi Again Jess,
We are in that “just one more” mode of posting and we really need to rush off to work. This is not an Owlet Moth. It is a Tiger Moth, Haploa clymen, commonly called the Clymene Moth. You may read more about it on BugGuide. Tiger Moths and Owlet Moths are both in the superfamily Noctuoidea.
T-shaped, 4 legs
August 13, 2009
Hello, I saw this bug sitting on a wall at a train station yesterday. It has a rigid T-shaped body, it’s wings seem to be folded up along it’s body although it didn’t move so I did not see them unfold, and it appears to have only 4 legs. I was wondering what it was.
Jennifer Galler
Caledonian Road & Barnesbury station, London
Plume Moth
Hi Jennifer,
Your Plume Moth makes a trifecta for us this morning. We have posted three images of Plume Moths in the family Pterophoridae today, and like the previous two, we explained it is quite difficult to identify many members of this family to the genus or species level. We can tell you that your Plume Moth does have six legs.
Unidentified – Plume Moth
August 13, 2009
Hello, What’s That Bug!
This morning I found a small and rather beautiful plume moth in my room, resting between two bars on the side of my bunk-bed. I have identified plume moths before using handbooks but this smaller specimen has eluded any easy identification. I tried the internet but as usual, the taxonomy is shockingly unorganised so I didn’t really get anywhere.
I have taken a series of photos but they are all terrible due to awkward conditions, but one sheathed wing is in focus and the body is sharp enough to discern important features.
Here’s some info on the insect:
Colours: mottled grey and brown (a bit lighter in real life than in the photo)
Features: wings have a small, sharp indent missing on the sides and two ‘bumps’ coming out from the undersides, they look very much like ‘outline-breakers’ which along with the bark-like colouring would suggest camouflage for a woodland species.
Also, abdomen curves upwards slightly and has a small ‘chevron’ pattern running up it.
Measurements: 20mm wingtip-to-wingtip
10mm head-to-abdomen
(these measurements are likely less than 1mm out, they are just very convenient)
Thank you for any help you could provide, I spent quite a lot of time and effort writing and researching this letter so I hope it helps you out.
PS. to atone for the dreadful quality of my specimen’s image, I have also included two marvelous cropped images of a Peacock I took on a lovely day at a campsite, in a thistle hedge.
Sincerely, Sam, aged 13
Hadfield, Derbyshire, England
Plume Moth
Dear Sam,
Sadly, we are going to fail you in the species identification department. We have problems with our own North American species and generally never identify Plume Moths beyond the family level. BugGuide states: “A distinctive family of moths, but difficult to identify to genus or species.“ If you post a comment to your own posting on our site, you will be notified if any Pterophoridae experts write in to identify your Plume Moth. We do want to thank you for writing us such a smart letter. Though we refrain from making comments regarding the matter in our responses, we are often horrified by the grammar and spelling errors in many of the letters we receive, some of which are nearly incoherent. We will be posting your Peacock Butterfly in a separate post.
P.S. Anyone of any age who uses the word atone in a sentence deserves recognition.
Daniel,
Many thanks for the hasty response and the site posting(s!), I am overjoyed to contribute a question to the site, even if it doesn’t neccesarily have an easy answer this time, as well as the photos. I will definately register for WTB and watch for comments. Again, thank you hugely for your dedication to amateur and professional entomologists across the globe with your resources.
As for the matter of writing etiquette, I believe that in a formal or public situation, even on the internet, that only the best care to writing should be given in nearly any circumstance; no excuses (short of ‘motor skill dysfunction’ and ‘two severed hands’). I’m glad you enjoyed a pleasant change from your usual quality of correspondence. 
PS. I find the plume moths an almost exclusively beautiful and interesting family and believe such a large and varied sect of the lepiodptera should be taxoned and indeed studied much more thoroughly.
Thanks again.
Could this be a water midge?
August 12, 2009
I found this on the inside of my screen door this morning (outside Chicago) and was wondering what it was. It was not very active and took me about 20 minutes to coax it to fly out the door. It measured about 1/2 of an inch long and about 3/4 of an inch side-to-side (I don’t know if those are antennae or not). It appeared brownish in color, though the picture looks a little green. It was the only one I saw so there was no swarm. Do you know what it might be? Thanks.
Like It Bugless Inside
Wheaton, IL
- Plume Moth
Dear Like It Bugless Inside,
We get numerous requests to identify the T-Bug, and it is actually a moth and not a midge. This is some species of Plume Moth in the family Pterophoridae. We only rarely attempt a species identification since so many members of the family look so similar to one another. You may read more about the family and its members on BugGuide which states: “A distinctive family of moths, but difficult to identify to genus or species.”
Fur covered looking moth
August 12, 2009
This moth stayed on our front porch for two days, left and came back the other night but left again. It is so interesting I posted it to Facebook and asked if anyone knew what it was. A friend suggested I try here. Any ideas?
Curious in Clearwater
Clearwater, FL
Tersa Sphinx
Dear Curious,
Your marvelously streamlined moth is a Tersa Sphinx, Xylophanes tersa. We also just received and are about to post a photo of a Tersa Sphinx Caterpillar.
Luna Moth
August 11, 2009
I found this moth outside my home in Auburn, Alabama. It stayed in the same place for 2 days then disappeared. It is so beautiful that I made it my background on my computer.
Jessica
Auburn, AL
Luna Moth
Dear Jessica,
Thanks for sending us your lovely photo of a lovely Luna Moth.
Sphinx moth
August 11, 2009
Dear bugman; I have been trying to get a photo of this moth for 4 days . I think it may be a Hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe). Today I decided to catch and cool it in the freezer for 3 minutes. When I took him out he wasn’t moving. I thought I killed him. I was dreading the thought of (UNNECESSARY CARNAGE) or worse yet, involuntary bugslauter. I put him (or her) in the sun hoping he might come around. I took over 30 photos, when he started to flutter, and dropped to the ground. I picked him up and put him back on the flower. he didn’t move for another 10 minutes. Then he just flew strait up, about ten feet and turned, and flew off.
I was browsing through the local library on Saturday, when I came across a book titled KAUFMAN Field Guide to Insects of North America. I’ve owned the Kaufman Birds of North America for many years now, and thought, if this book is half as good as the bird book it will be great. When I picked it up I saw the author was Eric Eaton. I started reading, and almost forgot to stop for lunch. The only problem now is they are going to want it back. Keep up the good work, and write that book!
Terry Sincheff
Mound, MN
Hummingbird Clearwing
Dear Terry,
We do not as yet have a tagged category for Involuntary BugSlaughter, but that would not be quite as serious a matter as our current Unnecessary Carnage tag. We do not consider accidental deaths to be cause for tagging a letter as Unnecessary Carnage. A recent example was the chilling to death of a Gold and Brown Rove Beetle. Since your Hummingbird Clearwing, Hemaris thysbe, survived, this is all a moot point. Your intention in chilling this specimen was to take photos and then to release the moth, as opposed to recent postings where the intention was to dispatch of a perceived threat. We will state again that it has never been our intention to vilify readers who out of fear kill a benign creature that was perceived as a threat, but to educate our readership in the event of future encounters with frightening but harmless creatures.
With regards to the KAUFMAN Field Guide to Insects of North America, it sounds like after taking the library copy for a test drive, you may need to buy your own copy. We are quite certain Eric Eaton would appreciate that. Eric is highly entertaining in print and we are quite thankful that he contributes so much to What’s That Bug? when we need correction or clarification in our identifications.
You may read more about the Hummingbird Clearwing on Bill Oehlke’s wonderful website.
Hummingbird Clearwing
What is this
August 9, 2009
Seen this winged insect sitting on an oak leaf, it looked like it had fur on its hind legs.
T. Dunn
N. Illinois
- Squash Vine Borer
Dear T. Dunn,
This is a Clearwing Moth in the family Sesiidae. This family is characterized by wasp mimicry of its members. Your moth is a Squash Vine Borer, Melittia cucurbitae. The larvae bore in the stems of squash, pumpkins and related plants.
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