#butterfliesandmoths

[paledoptera]

Glad you liked the snowberry clearwing suggestion! Big flashy ones like a lot of saturniids are somewhat hard to come by here (one of the more notable instances I've been able to find is the time someone found a cecropia cocoon in the woods and it ended up on the news because nobody who saw it initially knew what it Was lmao), so we've got a lot of smaller, less distinct (or at least less well known) ones - That clearwing is probably the most unique of them, but there's some others that are relatively notable, I think!

We've got a few sphinx moths - While at the mall this past summer, I had an encounter with a lettered sphinx, namely one with a reddish spot on the back like the one in sighting 1347349 on butterfliesandmoths (dot) org, but I would argue the one that leaves the most impression after the clearwing is the white-lined sphinx! They're another one that's fairly commonly referred to as a hummingbird moth, despite not being closely related to the hummingbird hawk-moth of Eurasia - A lot of sphinx moths around here have similar sizes and flight patterns to hummingbirds and also tend to hover around flowers when feeding, so they're all largely lumped in as "hummingbird moths" by casual observers, but the white-lined sphinx is probably the one most commonly referred to as such.

Outside of the sphinx moths, a REALLY distinct family we have here are the plume moths - They have a frankly bizarre shape to them, with a long, thin body almost more resembling a dragonfly than a moth in shape, and long, thin wings near the front of the body, so that, when at rest, they form an almost T shape. There's a few different species here, but the most common one I've seen is the morning glory plume moth - There's usually one or two hanging out on my front door during the warm months at night! Weird little dudes, they give me robber fly "what the fuck is that??? what IS that?????" vibes.

As far as smaller, less distinct moths go, there's a few here that are better known for their status as caterpillars than the moths themselves - We have both Isabella tiger moths and Virginian tiger moths here, better known as the wooly bear and yellow wooly bear in their larval forms, respectively! There's also the American dagger moth, which has a rather nondescript appearance as an adult, but a very distinct one in its larval form! As caterpillars, they've got a very dark face, and are covered in pretty vivid yellow yellow hairs, with a few black tufts that resemble spikes - There are some reports of skin irritation from their hairs, but they're seemingly non-venomous!

Another moth larvae that causes skin irritation, this time due to their hairs being toxic to humans, is the brown-tail moth! They're not native to the US, but there is a population in New England after they were introduced, and they've been particularly widespread where I live for the past decade - In 2018, the front wall of my then-workplace was absolutely COVERED in the adult moths, which are white with, as the name implies, brown tails (sometimes bordering on reddish). A few of them actually made their way into the building, and I brought them back outside - Interestingly, they lose the toxins in their hairs after they pupate, so adults don't cause a rash the way the caterpillars do! They used to be significantly more widespread through eastern North America, but they've declined for... not-fully-clear reasons, but one theory suggests that their population was suppressed by parasitic fly species introduced to counter ANOTHER introduced moth, the spongy moth (Whose scientific name is lymantria dispar! The name spongy moth is a relatively new one for it, so you may find more documentation using its scientific name than its common one. It was formerly known by another common name, but that name also happens to include a slur, so! I'm gonna make the choice to Not include that here 👍👍👍)! They've got some neat sexual dimorphism going on - In addition to the relatively common antennae size difference, males are a light brownish color, while females are a rather bright white with sort of rippled brown striping on the wings! I personally think the females stand out as more flashy than the males, which is neat to see, as someone who also gets a kick out of birds, where the opposite is often true - Usually in birds males are the ones with the more flashy plumage, or at the very least, females tend to have more spotted or mottled colorations in species with dimorphism, to help keep them more hidden while nesting. Even species with relatively little dimorphism beyond size tend to display this pattern - Common barn owls, for instance, can often be differentiated by spotting on the breast and the color of the feathering around the facial disc, where females tend to have heavier black spotting than males (whose breasts are often white with no spotting at all, though they get speckling occasionally) and also have darker facial disc feathers. (I follow an artist in the UK who has livestreams of the raptors that use the nest boxes in his garden, and he works alongside a rehabber who visits when their hatchlings get old enough - Some of the species he has are hard to differentiate even as adults by visual alone, but for barn owls, those are the standard ways of sexing owlets when they're getting their ID rings. But that's getting a bit off topic lol)

Anyway, the male spongy moths veer a bit in to LBJ territory, to borrow a birding term (LBJ stands for "little brown job" and is sometimes used by birders to refer to those fairly common brown birds that are difficult to distinguish - Trying to tell sparrows apart at a glance, for example), which is where a lot of the other moths here fall into. A lot of them aren't especially distinct, often various browns and greys - I'd say even that lettered sphinx I mentioned at the start probably falls into that territory if you're not as Normal About Bugs And Birds As Me. We do have one seemingly-LBJ moth that stands out off the top of my head, though - Amphipyra pyramidoides, or the copper underwing of the US (a distinct species from the copper underwing of the palaearctic), looks like a pretty unremarkable LBJ when its wings are folded up at rest, but as the name implies, the underwings have a distinct copper color that can be seen with their wings outstretched! Underwing moths have a bunch of species with that trait of colorful lower wings, highly recommend poking through them if you have a chance.

Anyway, that's a bit long, so TLDR: I'm Just A Touch Autistic and had a bit too much time at work with the snow this morning keeping customers away and yelling about moths is how I opted to spend the slow day, I suppose bfnfngmdngndn No pressure to read all of that if you haven't already, or to respond to it, naturally! I just get a kick out of cramming excessive amounts of words about bbugs (and bbirds) through my ISP's wires haha. Thanks again for the moths, and I'm glad to hear you're recovering well! And I gotta say, even if they're intended as a sort of quicker and easier, tiding things over while you're sick solution between the more detailed pieces (which are Very Good, for the record), I also love the ms paint moffs tbh. Iconic.

i don't know who you are anon but i love you thank you for putting an entire ass essay about moths in my inbox i knew about a lot of these species (because i'm a nerd who does a lot of research about shit) but i didn't actually know about plume moths!! they look really cool, def gonna draw them at some point.

they remind me of like, dragon wings or bat wings

[soniabigcheese]

Today's art prompt is butterflies and moths #30daysketchbookchallenge2020 #butterfliesandmoths #butterfly https://www.instagram.com/p/B63xK5VlqEV/?igshid=z9tp7rd85a02

[neginmf]

My Butterflies and Moths pattern, Now in Dusty Lavender 💜 Merch Available in my @Redbubble shop! (Link in bio) or visit: 🛒 NeginMf.Redbubble.com . . . . . #Redbubble #dustylavender #printandpattern #dustylavenderpattern #RedbubbleArtist #RedbubbleArtists #butterfliesandmothspattern #butterfliesandmoths #moth #pattern #patterngram #laptopsleeve #laptopcase #lavenderpurple #purpleaddiction #purple #purplelove #patternoftheday #redbubbleshop #textiledesigner #designershop #everythingpurple #purplepassion #shopsmall #createcultivate #butterflypattern #artistsoninstagram #surfacepatterncommunity #surfacepatterndesigner #patterndesigners https://www.instagram.com/p/BygHZHYnSdP/?igshid=z957s3y3grrb

[rhymeswithwiitch-blog]

Time for a 2018 art rewind 🔮 Thank you to everyone who made this a great year, for inspiration and encouragement and everything in between. Lowkey this year was good then it got t r a s h at the end so hopefully 2019 will be better!! Heres a majority of everything i drew in 2018 (according to my feed), hopefully there’s something for everyone! See you guys next year 😋 • • • • • • • • • • (Theres gonna be a lot rip) #art #drawing #prismacolors #copics #artistsoninstagram #doodle #gelpens #traditonalart #ocs #originalcharacters #murdocniccals #2dgorillaz #wiitchstory #playinggod #butterfliesandmoths #baldisbasicsineducationandlearning #pidgegunderson #hunkvoltron #reylo #starwarsart #augustussinclair #sallyfacefanart #salfisher #larryjohnson #rewind2018 https://www.instagram.com/p/BsCCHYkFbe5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1evxts35ncj5z

[roadtripnewengland]

Zabulon skipper on bull thistle #butterfly #zabulonskipper #butterfliesandmoths #naturephotography (at Lincoln, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/Chxv3bOOuod/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[eengwall]

Spiny Oak-slug Moth (Euclea delphinii). Careful with this one, it packs a wicked sting! #backyardnature #butterfliesandmoths #mothsoftexas #lepidoptera https://www.instagram.com/p/CVqtNYCPBkD/?utm_medium=tumblr

[nunoxaviermoreira]

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth2 7_30_21 by stanlupo (Thanks for 5,000,000 views) Hemaris thysbe https://flic.kr/p/2menRdj

[janking-stuff]

Good morning in the garden #butterfly #insectsofinstagram #insects #insectlife #insectenfotografie #insectsworld #butterflycaptures #butterflycaptures #butterflies🦋 #butterfly_n_flower #butterfliesandmoths #butterfliesoftheworld #commoncrowbutterfly (at Moggill, Queensland, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CExTvPng-2u/?igshid=hlgy9awv46fu

[rubicunda]

Hello there!

I really admire your account and love for moths & butterflies 🦋🦋 As a beginner in lepidopterology, I'd like to know if you can share any sources that would help me learn more about them!

Thank you :) 🦋🥰

tysm! I would recommend The Smithsonian as a starting point and public projects like butterfliesandmoths or project noah. all of those usually have good images and and information (although I wouldn’t recommend taking everything on project noah or butterfliesandmoths as fact since they’re more for documentation and discussion. you’ll see a lot of people on both websites helping with identification and that information can be useful when exploring.)

the way I got into the genera I study now is by starting with scientific/educational places like the smithsonian, browsing around, finding a species I wanted to know more about, researching it, and finding similar species in the process. for some lesser documented species, the best info on them usually comes from extremely specific databases you’ll stumble across in the process. you can find a ton of good information that way

[roseundwolf]

Lil‘ Atlas moth #wip to be finished when I feel up to it. What‘s this one‘s name? Any ideas?💡 . #crueltyfreetaxidermy #lepidoptera #lepidopterist #mothsandbutterflies #butterfliesandmoths #vintagestyle #mothlovers #atlasmoth #cutout #paperart #tattooinspired #victoriana #oldmeetsnew #thesketchbooksociety #floraandfauna #wildlife #wildlifeart #vintagestyle #sciart #scienceandart #blackworknow #blackwork #finelinerart #insectart #vintageillustration #natureillustration #papertaxidermy https://ift.tt/2DN2EFR

[mybisgovmy]

Hyposidra talaca in Santubong, Kuching, #Sarawak. Photo by Bernard Dupont. #ButterfliesandMoths

[yatinmehndiratta]

Moth // Moths are a polyphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are also crepuscular and diurnal species. . . . . #moths #moth #nature #insects #mothsofinstagram #entomology #butterflies #insect #bugs #macro #lepidoptera #art #ilovemoths #mothstagram #mothsandbutterflies #wildlife #handmade #taxidermy #butterfly #naturephotography #world #beetles #mothman #mothsarebeautiful #creatures #butterfliesandmoths #taxidermyart #littlenightcreatures #bhfyp — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/312cPz0

[roadtripnewengland]

Zabulon skipper on bull thistle #butterfly #zabulonskipper #butterfliesandmoths #naturephotography (at Lincoln, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/Chxv3bOOuod/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[tanyaisfallible]

Blue Morpho

Morpho peleides

Another slender small love, with electric blue colors on the inside of it’s wings. Their electric blue is barely visible when their wings are up. They live in Central and South American Rainforests. Blue Morpho butterflies reproduce sexually and live for about 115 days with their biggest priority being reproduction

Taxonomic Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropeda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Nymphalidae

Genus: Morpho

Fun Fact: Adult Morpho butterflies drink their food, but that’s different from how they consume their food at a younger age. As caterpillars they munch.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpho#Sexual_dimorphism

https://www.stlzoo.org/animals/abouttheanimals/invertebrates/insects/butterfliesandmoths/bluemorpho

[nunoxaviermoreira]

Tiger Swallowtail 6 7_23_21 by stanlupo (Thanks for 5,000,000 views) Papilio glaucus on my backyard butterfly bush. https://flic.kr/p/2md1aaB

[ksseniorstudio]

A first final draft of what I hope the others will look like on a basic level. The text on the front will be moved around to better fit the picture- aside from the mockup logo... That will mostly likely stay relatively in the same place. Estimated time : about 5 1/2 hours WITHOUT taking into consideration of the editing and research of the information provided. Websites used for info gathered:  http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/species/blue-butterfly https://www.stlzoo.org/animals/abouttheanimals/invertebrates/insects/butterfliesandmoths/bluemorpho http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/species/blue-butterfly http://agrilife.org/4-hentomology/studying-insects/classification-of-insects-and-other-arthropods/ http://bugguide.net/node/view/57 http://www.lepbarcoding.org http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/bio/insects/butrfly/famnymph/famnym.htm