Things have been quiet here for quite a while – mostly because I’ve been inundated with work (always a good thing). But I have also recently joined the party eight years late to the Twitter train. For daily images of cool insects please follow me over there @skepticalmoth. Of course some stories require . . . → Read More: Follow me on Twitter
 Comments are closed  Entomology, Science News  Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Media, Microlepidoptera, Moths, Photography, Skepticism, Twitter 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 Share this! 2 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology Arizona, Collecting, Colorado, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, New Species, Photography, Rearing Have you seen the beautiful photos taken by Sam Droege for the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab? Ever wondered how he got those beautiful shots? Tomorrow, September 26th at 1pm eastern time, Sam will be doing a LIVE tutorial on YouTube on how to take these photos and how to do it on . . . → Read More: Specimen Imaging Demonstration – Live! Share this! Comments are closed Entomology, Science News Cameras, Entomology, Museums, Photography, Tutorial, USGS Welcome to the new home of the Skeptical Moth! I know updating blogrolls isn’t all that fun, but thank you for sticking with me. And since it’s Monday – here is an Automeris io (Saturniidae) from southern Illinois, May 2012.
Cheers and Happy New Year! . . . → Read More: Welcome To The New Location! Share this! 7 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology, Miscellaneous "Trail of Tears State Forest", Announcement, Entomology, Illinois, Lepidoptera, Moths, Photography, Saturniidae On a brisk 37 degree morning in Northern Illinois I decided to dust off my camera and explore the progress of “spring”. I hit Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve by 6:30am, just in time for first light to melt the patchy frost. A week and a half ago temps were pushing the upper 80’s and summer . . . → Read More: Prairie on a Cold Spring Morning Share this! Comments are closed Miscellaneous Aves, Birds, Illinois, Non-Insects, Photography, Prairie, Rollins Savanna The first annual National Moth Week will be this summer, July 23-29, 2012! This is the first event of its kind in the US (it has been popular in the UK for quite some time) and is an attempt to encourage people to head outside and explore their often overlooked moth fauna. The US has . . . → Read More: National Moth Week 2012 Share this! Comments are closed Entomology, Science News Citizen Science, Collecting, Conservation, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Microlepidoptera, Moths, National Moth Week, Photography For all intents and purposes this looks like a blue butterfly (as in subfamily Polyommatinae)… it’s very, very blue after all. But assumptions based on color would lead you down the incorrect road; as it turns out this butterfly is actually a species copper. There are subtle difference in wing shape and probably venation, but . . . → Read More: A Copper Butterfly in Disguise Share this! 2 comments - (Comments are closed) Entomology Arizona, Butterflies, Collecting, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Photography Gnophaela vermiculata pair
This Monday moth is an Arctiinae, Gnophaela vermiculata. These beautiful day flying moths were abundant on yellow Helianthus flowers around 9000′ in the Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. Caterpillars feed on bluebells, but the adults prefer the highest quality nectar source in the area – which fortunately makes . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! Comments are closed Entomology Collecting, Entomology, Lepidoptera, Monday Moth, Moths, New Mexico, Photography Schinia villosa
This Monday’s moth is a duo of Schinia villosa (Noctuidae) resting on what I am assuming is their host plant (Erigeron sp.). I snapped this shot around 9,000 feet up on the Kaibab plateau in Northern Arizona last month. A fire must have burned the area a few years ago . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! One comment - (Comments are closed) Entomology Arizona, Entomology, Flowers, Lepidoptera, Moths, Photography Last week Jim Hayden guessed the moth I posted was an Australian Oecophoridae. It was a good guess because there are so many large and stunning moths in this family from Australia. One of the best has to be this one, Wingia lambertella (Oecophoridae), captured on Black Mountain in Canberra October 23, 1955 (CAS collections). . . . → Read More: Monday Moth Share this! One comment - (Comments are closed) Entomology California Academy of Sciences, Entomology, Invasive Species, Lepidoptera, Moths, Photography |
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