We’re finishing up National Moth Week today but don’t let my
tardiness in reminding you stop you from admiring these abundant insects. I say
abundant because there are almost 11,000 native moths in the US, far more than
native butterflies (about 800).
Last year, a new field guide for southeastern North America
was published: Peterson Field Guide to Moths. It’s very thick and covers plume
moths, twirler moths, pugs, daggers, sallows, darts and easily two dozen more
very interestingly-named groups! Surely we all know the sphinx and the silk
moths? Those are some of our biggest ones.
At first I was puzzled about how to use this guide. I could
not simply flip through 600 pages and reasonably expect to spot my mystery
moth! The guide talks about first verifying it is a moth (vs. a butterfly) by
looking at the antenna: moths have threadlike or feathery antenna while
butterflies have antenna that terminate in a club shape. You should also take
note of the overall size, of course, because some moths with the same shape are
different species based on the size. I found the best way (for me) to use this
book is to flip to the very end of the book where there is a two page spread of
silhouettes. Match the shape of your mystery moth to the silhouette and then go
to the section that has pictures.
So, if you’re interested in the bugs around you, add this book
to your library. Use it with your caterpillar identification guide and your
butterfly guide. Previous blogs of mine that talk about moths include:
This Southern Pink Moth is one of my favorite tiny moths and I spotted it again this week, hanging around the salvia (one of its host plants). I love the pink-on-pink effect of this photo.
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| Southern pink moth is very tiny; this is a Salvia coccinea flower |
And we'll just finish this out with an adorable picture of the yellow-striped oakworm moth (Anisota peigleri) which emerged in my yard in late June. Look at those antenna!
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