Subject: Mystery Moth in Florida
Location: Gainesville, Florida
November 1, 2012 7:51 pm
I saw this beautiful moth this morning in Paynes Prairie State Preserve in Gainesville, Florida. It was small, maybe about 1” long. I’ve never seen one like this before, and hope someone can help me ID it.
Signature: Krista

Red-Waisted Florella Moth

Dear Krista,
We really didn’t know where to begin searching for the identity of this lovely little moth, so we did an image search for “spotted moth Florida” and one of the images that came up is this FlickR posting of a Red-Waisted Florella Moth, Syngamia florella, also called an Orange Spotted Flower Moth.  We verified that identification on BugGuide where it states “The diurnal moth is also attracted to lights.”

Thank you for your prompt reply and your good searching skills!

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Subject: Small pink moth
Location: Southern Indiana
August 7, 2012 10:01 am
Dear Bugman,
Your website is really amazing. This is the first time I’ve had to utilize it personally. I can’t seem to identify this moth. It is very tiny. I was thinking something in the genus Pyrausta (species possibly laticlavia) but I am not certain. What do you think?
Signature: Stumped BugGirl

Coffee-Loving Pyrausta Moth

Dear Stumped BugGirl,
We believe you have nailed the genus Pyrausta, but we believe we have found a better species match.  The part of the wing that attaches to the body is pink on your moth, and all the examples of Pyrausta laticlavia on BugGuide have a more orange color in that area.  We believe Pyrausta tyralis, the Coffee-Loving Pyrausta Moth, is a closer match based on the images posted to BugGuide which includes numerous photos of moths visiting similar composite flowers during daylight hours.  You can also compare your individual to the photos on the Moth Photographers Group and there are many beautiful images on Steph’s Virtual Butterfly Garden that were taken in Florida.

Dear Daniel,
Thank you for the quick response and for the work you put into this website. It is a great tool!
Sincerely,
Elaina

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Subject: What this moth or butterfly?
Location: eastern ontario
July 26, 2012 7:27 am
I did found this moth or butterfly and this is pretty neat and I did check out on your site and you might don’t have this picture or name of the moth so you can share this picture to others.
I am just want to know this name please.
Signature: M.O

Desmia funeralis

Dear M.O.,
At first we thought this was an Eight Spotted Forrester, but we quickly realized that it is a different species.  In our estimate, this is a Crambid Snout Moth, Desmia funeralis, a species that lacks a common name.  According to BugGuide:  “Also note resemblance to Forester moths (Owlet Moth family [Noctuidae], genus Alypia). This is probably a mimicry complex, since these moths and the Foresters are day-flying. Perhaps they both are mimics of a wasp?”  Brightly colored diurnal moths are frequently confused with butterflies.  This is a new species for our website. 

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Winged White and Brown
Location: Cebu, Philippines
February 10, 2012 2:21 am
Hey WTB, we’ve found this bug some time ago, and it really piqued my interest since this is the first time we’ve seen something like this in our place. Thanks, and more powers to this site!
Signature: Roi

Cucumber Moth

Dear Roi,
The distinctive brown and white markings and tufted abdomen make the Melonworm Moth, Diaphania hyalinata, unmistakeable.  According to BugGuide:  “Larvae feed on cucumber family plants: cucumber, melon, squash. Can be pests. “

Correction Courtesy of Karl
Hi Daniel Roi:
Since the location is in the Philippines I think it is more likely a related Asian species in the same genus, probably the Cucumber Moth (Diaphania indica ). This species does occur in the Philippines and its larval diet is very similar D. hyalinata. Regards.  Karl

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Moth?
Location: Mission, TX
August 16, 2011 9:36 pm
Took this photo at NBC Butterfly Park in Mission, TX. He is about 1/2 ” wide and long.
Signature: Troy Zurovec

Unknown Diurnal Moth

Hi Troy,
We had time to do this last post this morning, but no time to identify.  We did not find it on the Texas Entomology site of Diurnal Moths.  Perhaps one of our readers will take this identification on today.  Is the NBC Butterfly Park open air or a closed pavilion will all imported species?  Is this a wild moth or a cultivated moth?

NBC is an open air park, there is no enclosed environment.  It is right on the US/Mexico border.  This is a wild moth.  To my knowlege nothing has been introduced to the park.  To my knowledge all plant life in the park is native to the area.

Got an answer today – Orange-spotted Flower Moth, Syngamia florella

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strange moth
Location: near Macon, GA
August 4, 2011 3:39 pm
I saw this moth outside my house yesterday (Aug 4 2011). I’ve never seen one before (having lived in the area for nearly a decade) and was hoping you could help me identify it. The back part of it is especially odd to me; it reminds me of a spinal column almost. The pictures are cropped to limit size, but hopefully they offer enough detail for you to be able to tell.
Signature: J

Unknown Moth

Dear J,
We tried and we failed.  Perhaps one of our readers will have better luck trying to identify this unusual moth.

Unknown Moth

Thanks to a comment, we now know that this is a Erythrina Borer, Terastia meticulosalis, and we verified that on BugGuide, but other than a food plant for the larva and a range that includes some southern states, we did not learn much else.  Erythrina is the genus name for a group of trees we have always called Coral Trees, and since some species are native to the warmer states, the moth might also be native.  We also located a link to a technical paper written in 1922 by O. H. Swezey, entitled The Erythrina Twig-Borer (Terastia meticulosalis) in Hawaii (Pyralidae, Lepidoptera).  Here is a citation from that paper:  “Dyar, in Journal of the New York Ent. Soc, IX, 21, 1901, describes the larva from Erythrina herbacea in southern Florida, and says: ‘The larva is an internal feeder, boring in the younger stems which it completely hollows out, killing them. When the plant is in early flower, the young flower heads are often killed and webbed up into a foul mass by this larva. Spins a large webby cocoon in the ground.’”

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Bushy-tailed Moth
Location:  Hawaii Island northeastern side
September 6, 2010 7:46 pm
Hello,
I have an odd moth that has ended up alive in my moth collecting jar. It has a bushy or furry type abdomen ending that is always moving like its alive or could be for mating(?). The wings have two see-thru panels in each wing. The fur is yellow brown on the top side. The moth has a 3/4in long body. I apologize in advance for the poor photo quality. Thanks for your help regarding this moth identification, I started to look but there are many.
Good day,
Signature:  k

Melonworm Moth

Dear K,
This is a Melonworm Moth, Diaphania hyalinata.  According to BugGuide:  “Larvae feed on cucumber family plants: cucumber, melon, squash. Can be pests. Many generations (3?) in south, disperses northward in fall, does not persist there.“  We suspect it is an introduced species in Hawaii.

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