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Vine Sphinx from Dominican Republic

Dominican Moths…
Location:  Punta Cana, RD
July 28, 2010 2:59 pm
Hi Bugman! We just came back from our honeymoon in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and we saw a coupld moths that really caught out attention. From looking at your site, I was able, I think, to determine the green one as I Pandorus Sphinx moth…. maybe? lol However was not able to find the others. Any ideas?
Newly Wed In Canada

2 more…
Location:  Punta Cana, RD
July 28, 2010 3:01 pm
Here are 2 more that I need help with. icon smile Vine Sphinx from Dominican Republic Thanks so much… again.
Newly Wed in Canada

eumorpha dominican 300x260 Vine Sphinx from Dominican Republic

Vine Sphinx Moth from Dominican Republic

Dear Newly Wed in Canada,
As we indicated offline, you have submitted several photos of a Black Witch, and we are nearly certain that this Sphinx Moth is a Vine Sphinx, Eumorpha vitis, though there are a few other Dominican species that look similar.  You can see information and compare your photographs to those posted on Bill Oehlke’s excellent website.

Posted 29 July 2010 § Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Butterfly Moth, not Fruit Piercing Moth

French mystery moth.
Location:  Montpelier, southern France
July 27, 2010 12:21 pm
My sister recently found this moth in her garden. She lives near Montpelier in southern France. Could you identify it please,as it is not listed in any of my moth reference books.
Thankyou.
Nigel Harland

fruit piercing moth france nigel 243x300 Butterfly Moth, not Fruit Piercing Moth

Possibly Fruit Piercing Moth

Hi Nigel,
We believe you may have photographed a Fruit Piercing Moth based on its appearance, though we are not certain if Fruit Piercing Moths are found in France.  Here is a link to an Australian species.  We are posting your letter and photos in the hope that one of our readers can supply any supporting or contradicting information.

fruit piercing moth france nigel 2 209x300 Butterfly Moth, not Fruit Piercing Moth

Possibly Fruit Piercing Moth

Karl researches the Answer
Hi Daniel and Nigel:
This was very tricky one because it does look like an Underwing or Fruit-piercing Moth – and it is in the wrong hemisphere! I was able to track it down only because it reminded me of a species of Castnia that I photographed in Costa Rica last winter. It is actually a Castniid moth (Castniidae), a small and mostly neotropical family of day-flying moths (a few species in Australia and Asia). They are also called Butterfly Moths and are often mistaken for butterflies. The species is Paysandisia archon and according to Wikipedia:  “It is native to Uruguay and central Argentina and has been accidentally introduced to Europe, where it is spreading rapidly. It is considered the only member of the genus Paysandisia.”  The larvae are palm borers and are considered a serious pest. The spread of this species is being closely tracked in France and several other Mediterranean countries and it is likely that someone may be interested in this sighting. Regards. Karl

Hello Daniel and Karl,
Thankyou both so much for getting a positive identification on this moth, it appears to be quite a rarity.
Thanks again,
Nigel Harland.

Posted 28 July 2010 § Butterfly Moths ‡ Comments (0) °

Ailanthus Webworm Moth

Repeat Visitor on my Door
Location:  Chicago, IL
July 25, 2010 7:10 pm
Hello,
I saw this species of bug about two years also on my doorway. It’s very colorful, so much so that I would like your help identifying it.
Andrew

ailanthus webworm andrew 300x279 Ailanthus Webworm Moth

Ailanthus Webworm Moth

Hi Andrew,
We must have answered 10 requests to have an Ailanthus Webworm Moth identified in the past week, so we are posting your photo so our readership can identify this pretty little Ermine Moth.

Posted 27 July 2010 § ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Nessus Sphinx

Clearwing moth
Location:  Brooklyn, NY
July 27, 2010 12:57 am
I am pretty sure this guy is a clearwing moth, the so-called hummingbird moth; he comes back to our garden every summer for this particular shade of pink dianthus–none other will do. I have gotten some pretty good bug shots of other things but this fella is hard to photograph, still, this one came out pretty decently. Just wanted to ask if you could confirm the type of moth, and to share these pix.
Buggy in Brooklyn

nessus brooklyn 300x227 Nessus Sphinx

Nessus Sphinx

Dear Buggy in Brooklyn,
The Clearwing Moths in the genus Hemaris are diurnal moths often mistaken for hummingbirds, but taxonomically they are in a different tribe than your moth, the Nessus Sphinx, Amphion floridensis, though both are in the same family, Sphingidae, the Sphinx Moths or Hawkmoths.  You can read more about the Nessus Sphinx on Bill Oehlke’s excellent website.  Your photo clearly shows the coiled proboscis even though the shutter speed was not fast enough to “freeze” the rapidly beating wings.

Posted 27 July 2010 § Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths ‡ Comments (0) °

Luna Moth

Long tail Skipper, maybe?
Location:  Atlanta, Georgia
July 25, 2010 11:55 am
My wife and I found this on our stairs last night. This thing is about 5 inches across and it didn’t seem to mind being photographed. The photo was taken at around 2:45am on July 25th 2010. It was still pretty warm out. Thanks!
D. Ruffin

luna ruffin 300x264 Luna Moth

Luna Moth

Dear D.,
Though the Long Tailed Skipper has extensions on the hind wings similar to your insect, your Luna Moth is a much larger insect.  Additionally, Skippers do not fly at night, unlike the Luna Moth, arguably North America’s most distinctive looking moth.

Dear Daniel,
Thanks for the speedy response! We were amazed when we saw this insect and were anxious to know what it was. I’ve never head of the Luna Moth, but there was a full moon out last night; any correlation to that? Thanks again, you guys are great!
Damon

Hi Damon,
We are not certain if Luna Moth flights are in synchronicity with the moon, but we like the idea.  Perhaps one of our readers knows of a study.

Posted 25 July 2010 § Luna Moth - Rare Specimen ‡ Comments (1) °

Bumblebee Moth

Don’t you love it when people bug you?
July 22, 2010
Dan,
I have never seen this bug before but I am sure you have??? It
is about 1/3 longer than a bumblebee and the same color but its wings
are different and go about 1,000 times a second. The pic shows it with
a bumblebee.
These pics were taken July 17,2010o, in Lawrenceville,GA
Thanks. Have a great day,
Ferd Hall

bumblebee moth ferd 300x235 Bumblebee Moth

Bumblebee Moth

Hi Ferd,
There are three moths in the genus Hemaris that Bill Oehlke lists as ranging in Georgia, and they all look similar and we sometimes have difficulty distinguishing them from one another.  We are going to take a bit of artistic license and say that your individual is a Bumblebee Moth or Snowberry Clearwing, Hemaris diffinis, based on comparisons with the images posted to Bill Oehlke’s excellent website.  We are also amused that you have a photo of the Bumblebee Moth with a Bumble Bee for comparison.

bumblebee and bumblebee moth ferd 300x179 Bumblebee Moth

Bumble Bee and Bumblebee Moth

Posted 23 July 2010 § Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths ‡ Comments (1) °

Pandora Sphinx

Sphinx Moth
Location:  Round lake IL (north of Chicago)
July 21, 2010 7:20 pm
The other night I stepped out onto my deck to see this beauty sipping nectar. The red flowers are Nicotiana and are 2 inches across. Definately larger then the Ruby throated Hummingbirds that also visit my yard. Later I saw it feed at my petunias. Is this a Carolina Sphinx? the patterns look wrong to my eyes, it can’t be a satellite sphinx, we are way to North.
Tom Helmka

pandora sphinx flying tom 300x241 Pandora Sphinx

Pandora Sphinx

Hi Tom,
Your photos are great at capturing the amazing mobility of the aerodynamic flight of a Sphinx Moth, but they are not ideal for identification purposes.  Nonetheless, we are relatively confident that you observed a Pandora Sphinx, Eumorpha pandorus, and you can read more about this lovely moth on Bill Oehlke’s excellent website which thankfully has a view of the undersides of the wings for comparison with your only image that has the features of the wings visible.

pandora sphinx tom 300x215 Pandora Sphinx

Pandora Sphinx

Thank you so much for your time! I really appreciate the effort you put into this. Your ID looks spot on.
Thanks again
Tom Helmka

Posted 21 July 2010 § Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths ‡ Comments (0) °

Small Magpie Moth

Small Magpie Moth, top & bottom
Jul 16, 2010
Location:  Edmonds, Washington
Hi Daniel, a few days ago I sent these 2 pics to you asking for ID help (I think I called it a butterfly at that time). I finally got lucky on BugGuide and have identified it as Eurrhypara hortulata, Small Magpie Moth, an alien species in the U.S. from Eurasia. I did not see that you had any pics of this moth so thought I’d resubmit them to you (with the ID this time). Hope they are useful. It is very small but rather a pretty little thing. What amazes me are the spikes on the legs, which I did not notice until I looked at the photos on my computer. I did let the moth go after taking the pictures because I did not know whether it was friend or foe to my organic garden, but didn’t feel good keeping it in the jar too long. I have seen several of these over the past 2 months, in my garden, which is where I caught this moth on July 10th.
By the way, I really like your new format, especially the links across the top instead of having to scroll down and down thru interesting but already-read material. Very nice!
Cheers, Dee

small magpie moth dee 300x204 Small Magpie Moth

Small Magpie Moth

Hi Dee,
Thanks so much for taking the time to resubmit your images with an identification.  We have been very busy lately and we are intolerably behind in responding to identification requests.  As always, we are only able to answer a small fraction of the mail we receive.  This past week has included several personal and professional commitments that have further impacted our ability to write back to people.  We needed to spend July 15 working on the final pass of the designed pages of the book, and that needed to be submitted by Friday morning.  To further complicate our lives, we bought three young Aracauna hens, seven weeks old, to put in the chicken coop we have been building this summer.  We have been spending time with our chickens when we could be typing on the computer, but somehow, the outdoors is so much more appealing right now.  There might soon be a chicken blog on WTB? as well as the Aquarium blog.  We stumbled across your letter while searching through some backlogged mail because we were trying to locate a letter with a Golden Buprestid subject line that we did not open, and your letter was a pleasant surprise.  We are thrilled to post these images of a Small Magpie Moth, Eurrhypara hortulata, and we will link to the BugGuide information page on the species.

small magpie moth under dee 300x208 Small Magpie Moth

Small Magpie Moth

P.S.  Thanks for the compliment on the new website format.  Our webmaster has been working overtime making things more efficient.

Small Magpie Moth – and your hens
Daniel, Glad you found the pics of interest.  I know you folks are busy, so I didn’t mind resubmitting, especially since I didn’t need ID help anymore and didn’t want you to waste time when you got around to it.  Congrats on acquiring your chickens…Blue Eggs and Ham??  Now you won’t be the only ones at your house that are interested in bugs… but seriously, that’s really nice.  Our town just this winter okayed letting people keep a few hens, so maybe some day.  If you blog about them, I’ll be interested to follow your experiences.  Cheers, Dee

OK Dee,
I think it is time for the Official WTB? Mt. Washington, Los Angeles Blog with subcategories of aquaria and chickens as well as the few insects I have actually photographed myself on the WTB? website.

Posted 19 July 2010 § ‡ Comments (0) °

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