Subject: Camouflaged Moth
Location: West Hollywood, CA
November 28, 2012 12:13 am
Hello from your neighbor over the hill,
I was in West Hollywood today and almost walked past this beauty. I had to do a double take at the ”fuzzy” wall when I realized it was a very well hidden moth.
Any idea wheat he/she might be? The furry legs are different from what seems more common around here.
As far as size goes, I’d say about 1.25” from head to tip of abdomen. A bit longer if you consider the wing tips. For such a neutral color I thought it was quite beautiful.
Signature: joAnn Ortiz
Dear joAnn,
We are in agreement that this moth is quite lovely in a very subtle and nuanced way, but alas, like many moths, it is rather small and drab and we are not the best at discerning these differences when it comes to their identification. Noted entomologist Julian Donahue once said that chances are good that most moths that can’t be identified, and we very loosely paraphrase his words, likely belong to the families Pyralidae, the Snout Moths or Noctuidae, the Owlet Moths. We are going to post this as unidentified and then head outside to do some gardening before the sun rises. We returned from Ohio with some corms from a yellow calla lily as well as some Fellow’s Favorite daffodils. Since we spent the Thanksgiving holiday away, the garden and the website have not had much attention. Right now we are relishing the thought of witnessing the southern California dawn and the crepuscular wildlife that might be about. Perhaps one of our readers will take a stab at identification.
P.S. The legs remind us of the way the Pearly Wood Nymph carries its body at rest.
Thank you Daniel,
I had a feeling it was going to be either really easy or a needle in a haystack to identify this one.
I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving away as well as your return to our lovely fall weather.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I’m sure I’ll have more images to send your way in the coming months.
Kind regards,
joAnn Ortiz