Unknown Mexican Moth is Acraga coa

Orange Furry Moth
Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 7:35 PM
I saw this moth on my kitchen window at night in Jocotepec, JAL, Mexico. He was about one inch long. The first photo is him on a piece of white paper and the second photo is him on a piece of glass, shot from the other side.
David Brownell
Jocotepec, JAL, Mexico

Unknown Mexican Moth
Unknown Mexican Moth

Hi David,
Your photos are spectacular. We don’t know what this moth is and we don’t have time to research at the moment as we must dash off to work, but we are posting and hope someone can provide an answer. Here is what Julian Donahue, our neighbor the lepidopterist had to say: “It’s in the family Dalceridae. The expert on the group is Dr. Scott Miller at the Smithsonian Institution. You might want to send him the photo to get a species name. Julian”
With that information, we located a mounted specimen of Acraga coa that looks promising, but the mounted specimen lacks all the charm of David’s photographs.

Unknown Mexican Moth
Unknown Mexican Moth

Spectacular picture!  It is a Dalceridae, and the species is Acraga coa.
Dr. Scott Miller
The Smithsonian Institution

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