#i love getting the chance to mildly infodump about the natural world i grew up in

[urbanpineapplefarmer]

I just saw your tags under the post about rosy maple moths and where do you live that you saw them regularly growing up? I have never seen one in person in my life

Central New Hampshire!

My family was a little under an hour south/southwest of the White Mountains, solidly in the foothills and right on a lake. We have bug lights at all the outside doors and when you go to turn them off in the morning there’ll be like ten rosy maple moths (as well as some Luna moths, tiger moths, mayflies, and other moths I don’t know well enough to ID at a glance) all clustered around the light just chilling. They’re pretty easy to pick up either by scooping them off whatever wall they're clinging to or, if they’re flitting about, by just kinda sticking your finger near enough for them to catch you. They’re so relaxed and chill (and also really fuzzy)!

(Not my photo but I can’t find mine right now)

These little guys are native to North America (per iNaturalist, pretty much everywhere east of Texas/Kansas/The Dakotas) but I haven’t seen them as frequently in the southeast. Admittedly I’m (nowadays) in that region early-fall-to-late-spring in a small city and I’m up in New Hampshire in the middle of a forest over the summer, so that definitely affects when/where I’m seeing them.

Rosy Maple Moths live in deciduous forests and the caterpillars live and feed on all kinds of maple trees and the occasional oak tree, so you probably won't find them in bigger cities, grasslands, or west of the Rockies (lots of fauna only exist on one side of the Rockies because those mountains are a pain in the ass to cross). Despite pink and yellow being a rather distinct color combo to human eyes, the moths blend in really well with the seed pods of maple trees.

I genuinely love these little guys and I always appreciate having a reason to remember just how unique they are! A friend once said something to me to the effect of "If fairies are real, they're Rosy Maple Moths" which is like the best description of these little guys I've ever heard.