what kind of moth is this?
Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Hi,
I was walking up stairs to my apartment, and I noticed this beautiful moth in front of my doorstep. I have lived in southern California all my life and have been living in the desert city of Lancaster for about a year, and I have never seen a moth like this. It’s about an inch long and has a black abdomen with red stripe going down along the dorsal surface and a white stripe on the underbelly. Can you help me out?
Thank you, Allyson
Lancaster, CA
Mexican Tiger Moth
Hi Allyson,
We believe this is a Mexican Tiger Moth, Notarctia proxima. Several of the images on BugGuide show the pretty red underwings.
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Posted 07 October 2008
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Isabella Tiger Moth eggs, etc
Hello Bugman.
I just found your egg page and I absolutely love it! I thought you might like these photos of Isabella Tiger Moth laying eggs and the resulting larve, otherwise known as Wooly Bear Caterpillar. She laid the eggs on my door jam, and I am rearing them, at least until fall. They overwinter as caterpillars so I won’t try to keep them all winter. They are eating nettles.
Betsy
Hi Betsy,
We hope you will continue to provide us with Isabella Tiger Moth, Pyrrharctia isabella, metamorphosis images as the caterpillars grow and pupate.
Choosing the Bug of the Month each month is an enjoyable ritual, and generally we select a recent letter for the honor. Sadly, we have not received a recent letter that is appropriate since we like to select a critter that our readership is likely to encounter while the letter is posted. We have dug through the archives for a nice image of the Polka Dot Wasp Moth, Syntomeida epilais, a wasp mimic moth that readers from Florida and other southern states often write to us about. The Polka Dot Wasp Moth is not a seasonal sighting, and according to BugGuide, it can be found year round.
The Polka Dot Wasp Moth is also known as the Oleander Moth because one of the favorite larval foods is the deadly oleander. The caterpillars are known as Oleander Caterpillars and readers frequently write about the large numbers of orange caterpillars with black hairs that are defoliating their oleander plants.
Psychedelic caterpillars
Hello again. These life jacket orange with metallic blue dots and two long white hairs near the head caterpillars are decimating my stephanotis vine. The pupae are shiny brown and have strands of silk holding them on the leaves. I live in West Palm Beach Florida. Can you identify them?
Enid
Ed. Note: Caterpillars are often difficult to identify, and sadly, we weren’t much help to Enid, but as the following response shows, the caterpillars metamorphosed into a stunning little moth.
(07/19/2005) The psychedelic caterpillar becomes moth
Hello there. Remember the life jacket orange and metallic blue caterpillars? Well, this is what they become and it is called a faithful beauty and they are rare for West Palm Beach. Regards.
Enid
Hi Enid,
Your caterpillar photo was on our back burner, but we couldn’t really identify. Your Moth has a wonderful common name, Faithful Beauty, and the scientific name is Composia fidelissima. It is mostly tropical but does stray into South Florida. Perhaps last year’s hurricanes blew a few moths off course and they liked the climate. Thanks so much for the update.
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