A few months ago a magnificent key to the Lepidoptera of Canada (all of them) was published by Jason Dombroskie – a PhD student from the U. of Alberta. The program is available for windows users only so I haven’t had a good chance to explore it yet – but the PDF is available online . . . → Read More: Key to the Lepidoptera of Canada
 One comment - (Comments are closed)  Entomology, Science News  Butterflies, Canada, Entomology, Identification, Key, Lepidoptera, Moths Gnophaela vermiculata pair
This Monday moth is an Arctiinae, Gnophaela vermiculata. These beautiful day flying moths were abundant on yellow Helianthus flowers around 9000′ in the Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. Caterpillars feed on bluebells, but the adults prefer the highest quality nectar source in the area – which fortunately makes . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! Comments are closed Entomology Collecting, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, New Mexico, Photography Trosia nigrorufa (Megalopygidae)
This Monday moth is a stunning female of the Neotropical Megalopygidae – Trosia nigrorufa. Ed Ross and Ev Schlinger collected this specimen in Peru in 1955, and I’ve heard many stories about these epic expeditions. I can’t really imagine travelling via cargo ship, being gone for six or more . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! Comments are closed Entomology California Academy of Sciences, Collecting, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Megalopygidae, Monday Moth, Moths Oops, I skipped last monday’s moth, so here are two! These are some stunners from the CAS Philippines expedition and I think I have figured out their names. If you know better, please correct me.
Parasa darma (Limacodidae)
Parotis marginata (Crambidae)
. . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! One comment - (Comments are closed) Entomology California Academy of Sciences, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, Philippines Schinia villosa
This Monday’s moth is a duo of Schinia villosa (Noctuidae) resting on what I am assuming is their host plant (Erigeron sp.). I snapped this shot around 9,000 feet up on the Kaibab plateau in Northern Arizona last month. A fire must have burned the area a few years ago . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! One comment - (Comments are closed) Entomology Arizona, Entomology, Flowers, Lepidoptera, Moths, Photography Last week Jim Hayden guessed the moth I posted was an Australian Oecophoridae. It was a good guess because there are so many large and stunning moths in this family from Australia. One of the best has to be this one, Wingia lambertella (Oecophoridae), captured on Black Mountain in Canberra October 23, 1955 (CAS collections). . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! One comment - (Comments are closed) Entomology California Academy of Sciences, Entomology, Invasive Species, Lepidoptera, Moths, Photography ANSWER: This wasn’t easy – but this large and beautiful moth was from Australia and is in the family Xyloryctidae (Philarista sp.). We have a handful of representatives of this group here in the US and Ted MacRae over on Beetles in the Bush has a few great photographs of them. Somehow I think we . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! 8 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology California Academy of Sciences, Contest, Entomology, Moths, Photography, Species Here is another wonderful video from Warren! I am guessing this is a Choreutidae because of the way the wings are held while dancing – although it’s too fast to really get a clear look. Given that it’s from a fauna I’m totally unfamiliar with I could easily be wrong – so please correct me . . . → Read More: Dancing Moth Share this!
This week’s moth is a video of a dancing micro from the Philippines (taken by Warren Laurde). As you might suspect this is a mating display that ends in a pretty spectacular headstand. There are lots of other microleps that have dancing or display behavior, but there are almost no other videos online . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! 3 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology Behavior, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Mating, Microlepidoptera, Moths, Philippines Chiricahua multidentata (Geometridae) This Monday’s moth is a spectacular species from the mountains of Arizona – Chiricahua multidentata, a Geometrid. The only known location for this species is at the very top of the Chiricahua mountains above 9,000 feet (which was just bruned to a crisp). Hopefully the fire was not . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! |
Skepticism |
