Subject: Unidentified Moths of Panama
Geographic location of the bug: Boquete, Panama
Date: 10/01/2017
Time: 01:49 PM EDT
I find amazing, striking moths and other insects every morning on the outside walls of my house in Panama. I don’t have access to a field guide to help me identify these beauties.
How you want your letter signed: Nora
Dear Nora,
This is a Flannel Moth in the family Megalopygidae, and we believe it is in the genus Megalopyge. This FlickR image of Melagopyge tharops looks very close, but we believe this FlickR image of Megalopyge albicollis is a much better match, however the same species on Moths of the Amazon and Andes looks different. Flannel Moth Caterpillars should be handled with extreme caution as many species are capable of stinging. Please, in the future, confine your submission to a single species unless there is another good reason to submit unrelated species in the same posting.