This beautiful animal is a moth I reared from Quercus palmeri down in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. It’s in the family Gracillariidae and most likely in the genus Acrocercops – according to Dave Wagner it may represent a new species, but that’s not an uncommon thing with small moths. It was fairly abundant, so . . . → Read More: Monday Moth
 2 comments - (Comments are closed)  Entomology  Arizona, Collecting, Colorado, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, New Species, Photography, Rearing For this Monday’s Moth I thought I’d post a brief tutorial on how to accurately determine the sex of moths. While there are lots of examples of sexually dimorphic species (where males and females are obviously different), the vast majority of moths are not. Saturniidae make our lives easy by having strikingly different antennae between . . . → Read More: How to Sex a Moth Share this! One comment - (Comments are closed) Entomology Entomology, Female, Genitalia, Lepidoptera, Male, Monday Moth, Moths, Sex, Sexing, Sexually Dimorphic, Techniques
Today’s moth is a beautiful species from the Rocky Mountains outside of Denver, Epermenia stolidota (Epermeniidae). This is actually a larger specimen than it appears, about 20mm from wingtip to wingtip. Those raised, darkened, tufts of scales on the posterior edge of the forewing is a great character for this . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! Comments are closed Entomology Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Microlepidoptera, Monday Moth, Rocky Mountains
This week I’m sharing a tiny, scruffy, and semi-competently spread Nepticulidae in the genus Stigmella from the same light trap of Prescott Arizona as the past few Monday Moths. I usually wouldn’t share a photo of a moth that isn’t in the best condition, but I’m using this as an example of . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! Comments are closed Entomology Arizona, Lepidoptera, Microlepidoptera, Monday Moth, Nepticulidae, New Species, Spreading Moths How about another unidentified Gelechiidae from the same location as the previous specimen (nr. Prescott Arizona). I’m taking a stab at this moth being in the genus Chionodes – and it is superficially similar to the species C. continuella. Thankfully there is a monograph of this group (Moths of America North of Mexico, fascicle 7.6) . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! 2 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology Arizona, Entomology, Gelechiidae, Genitalia, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, Unidentified
This moth is a good example of what a lot of my moths are at the moment – unidentified! This is certainly a Gelechiidae, you can see the large upturned palps on the front of the head, and a finger-shaped projection on the tips of the hindwings. Just about one of the easiest . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! 5 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology Arizona, Entomology, Gelechiidae, Lepidoptera, Microlepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, Unidentified Today’s moth is a stunning micro and another creature from Barb Bartell’s back yard in the Rockies. To the best of my knowledge it’s a species of Mompha (Coleophoridae), probably claudiella,but I don’t have a positive ID on this bug yet. Once I start digging through the micros from this site there are sure to . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! 2 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Microlepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths To reignite the Monday Moth series here is a stunner: Melemaea magdalena (Geometridae).
This rare beauty has previously only been known from scattered localities across the mountain west and only from a few individuals every other season. That is until Denver Museum volunteer Barbara Bartell began inventorying moths on her property near Golden . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! One comment - (Comments are closed) Entomology Colorado, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Entomology, Geometridae, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, Museums A Monday moth in fuzzy pink – Dryocampa rubicunda (Saturniidae). These rosy maple moths are pretty common in southern Illinois, but always a stunner when they come to light. . . . → Read More: Fuzzy Pink Monday Moth Share this! 6 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology Entomology, Illinois, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, Saturniidae
Today’s moth is an understated brown Crambidae, Loxostege brunneitincta. While this isn’t a particularly captivating moth it does have an interesting story that illustrates the need for scientific collections and museum loans. If you read the label image you will notice the moth was originally collected in 1927 by E. P. Van . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! 3 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology California Academy of Sciences, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, Paratype, Pests, Taxonomy |
Skepticism |
