Moths

Steph's Virtual Garden: Moths

Sphinx Moths and Big Moths

Sphinx moths, at least the ones I've found, are pretty darned big for a bug. It took me a while to be comfortable picking them up, but now it's rather fun to see how long I can get them to perch on my finger for photographs before they fly off.

Pluto Sphinx Moth

Banded Sphinx Moth

Streaked Sphinx Moth
Protambulyx strigilis

Rustic Sphinx Moth

I put both photos of the Ello Sphinx Moth here in case you're trying to identify a moth. The Ello Sphinx looks very different depending on how its perched.

Ello Sphinx Moth

Tersa Sphinx Moth

Looks like a dead leaf moth

IO Moth

Giant Leopard Moth

Hieroglyphic Moth
Diphthera festiva

More Moths

If the moth's name is underlined, you can click on the moth or its name to see larger pictures and find out more about the moth. If it's nameless, I haven't figured out what it is yet, and will add a name when I identify it.

Pyrausta tyralis

Syngamia florella Moth

Soybean Looper Moth Pseudoplusia includens

Diaphania indica

These large thumbnail images might help you identify a moth that you've found. I'm still looking for more South Florida moths to photograph and put here. Sometimes it's hard to get them to sit still while I take their picture.

Someone recently asked me if moths bite, so I had to add the question. No, they don't; they can't bite. Adult moths & butterflies have a proboscis, not a mouth. The proboscis is like a long curled up straw on their face that they unroll and stick into flowers to drink nectar.

So, moths can't bite, because they don't have teeth. By that reasoning, a mosquito can't bite either, because they also have a proboscis, but I dare say you've been "bitten" by one. There is a genus of moths, the Calyptra genus, that includes at least one blood sucking moth: Calyptra thalictri. Wikipedia mentions it, and Earthweek has a great picture of the "Vampire moth" biting a human thumb.

This is a 'Looks Like A Dead Leaf' Moth. Yes, it's a cumbersome name, but appropriate nonetheless.

It is flying, with just its front legs on the flower. See the brown proboscis sticking out of its face and going into the flower? That is how the moth eats. So, do moths bite? No, they don't have teeth, or even a mouth, so they can't bite. The same goes for butterflies.

This is a Pluto Sphinx Moth. Look between its green eyes, and then down just a tiny bit. Do you see that short brown line that runs top to bottom? That is its proboscis. When they aren't sipping nectar, they keep their proboscis curled up, protected, and out of their way.

Have you ever used the tooters that kids blow through at birthday parties? You blow in them, and they unroll and make noise. When you stop blowing, they roll right back up to the whistle part. If you hold one upside-down (so it rolls up on the bottom, not the top), that's similar to how a proboscis rolls up.

Moths, butterflies, and other bugs do have tiny claws that help them hold on to their perch. This Ello Sphinx Moth was holding on to me with its claws, but they're so small I couldn't feel them at all.