Bugs, bugs and more bugs

I wanted to share some pics of moths that have made their home around me:






I find them very pretty and interesting.

They are beautiful! I have to admit, when I first read the thread title, I thought the worst . When I hear or read bugs I think of spiders or roaches!

Whats wrong with spiders?? .

When I was growing up, my mother didn't do anything outdoors with me. I now have a daughter who loves the outdoors. My son, not so much so .

A couple of saturniids. I don't know the name of the top one, but the bottom is the well known luna moth.

I've never seen the luna moths in person, though I've seen a couple of the larger brown ones, and several others of the family. We have a maple tree up front so I see the little rosy maple moths (pink and gold moth) fairly often.

I have seen lunas in person, they are as beautiful as they are HUGE.

They're gorgeous! I love butterflies and moths! I forgot to mention that in the other thread about bugs. I don't even mind Dragonflies so long as they don't land on me.

My guess is the first one is a Cecropia Moth.

Originally Posted by mrblanche

My guess is the first one is a Cecropia Moth.

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No, the body and wing markings don't match up. I couldn't match it to any of the ones I could easily find pictures of, in fact. I don't know the OP's location, which would help.

Yep, the second one is a luna moth. The first one reminds me of a moth that was on the wall of our building at work last year. I got to dig up that thread and find the pick that someone posted on it.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

No, the body and wing markings don't match up. I couldn't match it to any of the ones I could easily find pictures of, in fact. I don't know the OP's location, which would help.

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I live in NE Ohio and I did think it was a Cecropia Moth. If you could tell me what it was/is that would be great!

The Luna moth pic was from last year and I have one on my camera I have to upload and I can share that.

http://www3.islandtelecom.com/~oehlkew/zcecmoth.htm

You may have seen a female or a youngest, but the markings are similar. At least in the same family, I would think.

There's a lot of the brown ones that look alike. But the one pictured does not have the white head of a cecropia, the four wing marks, nor the double band that curves out on the bottom wings. The placement of a lot of markings are off. So while similar, they look as different as two people do.

And yes, they would be in the same family. Just as the luna moth is in the same family as the brown one and so are several that don't look like either. Saturniidae is a large family of moths.


I'll keep looking.

Perhaps you could help me with a small project I want to do when I have three glorious days off.

I would like to set up something that will attract moths and bugs at night. I am on a fairly limited budget so any advice would be great. I have read that a white sheet and blacklight works well.

I also read this: http://www.grandparents.com/gp/conte...-backyard.html

Attract bugs and moths at night? That's called a porch light + your hair.

Old fruit is great. Just putting out old fruit will attract all sorts of insects, including flies. So don't use any concoction or fruit right near your house.

Do you intend to just see what shows up or do you intend to collect them?

What's your yard look like? Trees? Do you have any flowers planted? And do you know that some moths, such as hawk moths, will occasionally use hummingbird feeders? Hawk moths are bad to have in your yard if you have tomatoes, though.

I predict that if you do any moth hunting that you'll probably find a lot of sphinx moths. They can vary from neat looking to rather plain. They're some of the most common moths to be attracted to lights and food.

We just want to see and not collect. I really just want to take pictures. My daughter, Samara, just loves to learn about insects.

I have raspberries, a hickory nut tree, honeysuckle and...uh, around 42 habanero peppers in pots in my yard. My backyard has a couple of maples and cherry trees.

Originally Posted by zohdee

.uh, around 42 habanero peppers in pots in my yard.

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LOL! Did you plant those from seed or where they accidental ones that grew from throwing some habaneros out? If you haven't cut up a large amount of them before, one pair of gloves such as what you'd use for jalapenos isn't good enough. Double glove or wear heavier ones. I learned that the hard way!

And good! You have a lot of vegetation that will attract a large variety. Yes, the sheet and black light will work, as will a white light. I suggest you find a spot in the middle of your yard away from everything and set up a table (or a make makeshift table) with the sheet and light.

Turn your porch lights off if you do not use yellow lights in them and make sure there's not too much light coming out the windows. The darker the night, the better they'll see the light you set up. You could try simply leaving out some pieces of overripe fruit on the table or painting that mixture recipe onto something - you could probably pour a little in jar lids and put cotton balls in it so they could safely drink.

You want to wear some type of mosquito repellent.. I hope that won't interfere much. Don't use the off clip ons or anything like that, though.
Since you do have a lot of vegetation, you and your daughter probably do not want to wander too far around the yard, you might find a skunk if you're not careful.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

LOL! Did you plant those from seed or where they accidental ones that grew from throwing some habaneros out? If you haven't cut up a large amount of them before, one pair of gloves such as what you'd use for jalapenos isn't good enough. Double glove or wear heavier ones. I learned that the hard way!

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Yup, I planted them. I have a recipe for some awesome sauce:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bobs-Ha...re/Detail.aspx

I tried to grow some Bhuts but they died. Next year.....next year.

A dozen plants is usually more than enough. You're going to have a lot of peppers. If you have a local farmers market you may see if you can sell them or have someone sell some of them for you.

Good luck with the big watching. If you have problems identifying anything, post the picture and I'll try to figure it out.


Oh, and your brown moth is a promethea silkmoth with some variation on the wings and I'm guessing some not showing up in the picture because it's darker.