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Underwing, we believe

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Subject:  Moth
Geographic location of the bug:  Northern Indiana
Date: 08/14/2018
Time: 05:43 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This guy has been on our garage door all day.  I can’t seem to find him online or in our books.
How you want your letter signed:  Bobbi

Underwing, we believe

Dear Bobbi,
We believe this is an Underwing Moth in the genus Catocala, so named because they often have brightly colored underwings that are hidden when the moth is at rest, but when it flies, it flashes a color that causes a predator to search for a more brightly colored prey, but when the Underwing lands on a tree, it perfectly blends in with the bark.

Dear Mr. Marlos,
Thank you for your help! I wish I could have seen him fly away last night. I would have loved to see his colors.
If he would have been on a tree, there’s no way we could have seen him.
Thank you again. What a great site you have!!

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Large Yellow Underwing

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Subject:  Unidentified moth
Geographic location of the bug:  Vancouver Island, BC
Date: 07/30/2018
Time: 04:15 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello! Here is a picture of a moth that I found on my door a couple weeks ago. I recently became a  moth enthusiast so I have difficulty IDing some of them, despite long internet searches and owning multiple moth books. What is this particular moth?
How you want your letter signed:  Rachel

Large Yellow Underwing

Dear Rachel,
This looks to us like a Large Yellow Underwing, Noctua pronuba, which is pictured on BugGuide.  According to BugGuide:  “hindwing yellow with black terminal band; forewing varies from light to dark brown to orangish to grayish, and from almost unmarked to boldly patterned; reniform spot large and either dark or barely visible; small dark patch along costa near apex nearly always present” and “Introduced from Europe to Nova Scotia in 1979, this species has since spread north to the Arctic Ocean, west to the Pacific, and south to the Gulf of Mexico.”

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Underwing Moth, but which species???

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Subject:  Catacola Verrilliana
Location:  Louisa, Va
Date: 09/03/2017
Time: 12:31 PM EDT
We found two specimens of catacola verrilliana on our place in Louisa, Va. It seems that it’s an invasive species mainly found in the western part of the US. We have raised butterflies but have no experience with moths. One of the specimens is alive, so we were wondering what to feed it. Any help or info would be helpful. Thanks, George Tyler
Your Name:  George Tyler

Underwing Moth

Dear George,
We are curious what caused you to identify your Underwing Moth in the genus Catocala as Catocala verrilliana, a species we found pictured on BugGuide.  According to BugGuide:  “Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) listed 101 species of the genus Catocala in America north of Mexico. Powell & Opler (2009) reported 110 species in all of North America.”  In our opinion, many species are very difficult to distinguish from one another, and we would speculate that you more likely encountered a species known to range in your area.  We browsed through all the species of Underwings posted to BugGuide, and we could not conclusively identify your individual.  You can try feeding your Underwing overly ripe fruit like plums or peaches.  If you break the skin, your Underwing will have an easier time feeding.

Thank you for your response.

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Underwing Moth we believe

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Subject: Largish Moff in Michigan
Location: SE Michigan
August 20, 2017 2:53 pm
Hello Doc,
I found a big moth on my van’s window frame today. That’s a good indicator of scale, right? I bet it was close to 1 5/8″ long. Do you know the Type?
Signature: -Eric B.

Underwing, we believe

Dear Eric,
We believe this is an Underwing Moth in the genus Catocala, and based on this BugGuide image, it sure looks like The Sweetheart, Catocala amatrix.  The bare spot on the thorax is a good indication that this is an older individual.  Underwings are so named because their upper wings blend in with tree bark when they are at rest, and if disturbed, they flash often brightly colored underwings, like in this BugGuide image.  Then when the moth comes to rest again and vanishes, it evades getting eaten because any sharp-eyed predator will be looking for much more brightly colored prey.  According to BugGuide:  “larvae feed on leaves of several species of poplar (Populus spp.) and Black Willow (Salix nigra).”

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Underwing

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Subject: Underwing moth?
Location: Mayfield, KY
June 7, 2017 11:29 am
I have been trying to identify this moth for some time now. The closest match I have found in my book is a Widow Underwing. This was found in Western Kentucky in May.
Signature: Janet Fox

Underwing

Dear Janet,
We agree that this appears to be an Underwing in the genus Catocala, but we do not have the necessary skills to provide a definitive species identification for you.  According to BugGuide:  “Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) listed 101 species of the genus Catocala in America north of Mexico. Powell & Opler (2009) reported 110 species in all of North America, and about 230 worldwide.”  Many of those species look quite similar.

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Fruit Piercing Moth from Indonesia

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Subject: Moth in Jakarta
Location: Jakarta
October 30, 2016 5:41 pm
Hi. This guy/gal was hanging on our patio wall in Jakarta, Indonesia, in late October. Any idea what it’s called?
Love your site. Thanks!
Signature: BT

Fruit Piercing Moth

Fruit Piercing Moth

Dear BT,
While we did not find an exact visual match online, we did find several similar looking moths which makes us feel pretty confident this is a Fruit Piercing Moth in the subfamily Calpinae, similar to these images on this Bengkulu Blog or this image from the Papua Insect site.  It seems to most closely resemble Eudocima (Adris) prolai from the Papua Insect site.

Fruit Piercing Moth

Fruit Piercing Moth

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