Moths

These are the moths I've found so far. My site was a virtual butterfly garden, but lots of other nifty critters visit too, so I thought I'd share them as well. Here are my moths. If their name is underlined, they have a page you can click to visit. If they aren't identified, email me your ID, and if it checks out, I'll credit you with identifying them on their page.

Pluto Sphinx Moth

Looks like a dead leaf moth

Utetheisa Moth

Anisota virginiensis

IO Moth

Syngamia florella Moth

Wendy found this next moth laying eggs on her screen. If you know what kind it is, please send me an email to let us know.

Oleander Moths

didn't identify yet

Soybean Looper Moth Pseudoplusia includens

We'll see which eggs these are when they grow up.

I think these eggs might have been bugs, not moths; whatever was in them got through the bug box lid openings and got away (inside, yuck!)

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.