Magnificent Moths Photo Gallery by lejun at pbase.com

Magnificent Moths

My goal in this gallery is to present whenever possible, the moths in their natural habitat.

I would like to acknowledge Bob Patterson (Moth Photographers Group of Eastern North America)
and J. D. Roberts (contributing editor to www.bugguide.net) who provided a number of the moth identifications on this webpage.
The identifications noted in these galleries are based on visual surface characteristics and thus should be regarded as tentative or preliminary.
Many species of moths are so similar in appearance that they cannot be identified based on surface characteristics noted in photographs.
Conclusive identification of moths often can be provided only from DNA and genitalia observations.
Any ID errors in this gallery are strictly my responsibility.
Please call to my attention, any specimens that you feel are mis-identified.

U.S. MOTHS: Pre-Tortricid - Tortricidae	U.S. MOTHS: Pre-Pyraloid - Phycitinae-Peorinae	U.S. MOTHS: Thyrididae - Geometridae:Lithostege	U.S. MOTHS: Epiplemidae - Noctuidae:Catocalinae	US MOTHS: Noctuidae:Catacola - Amphipyrinae
U.S. MOTHS: Noctuidae:Cucillinae-Grotellini	African Moon Moth Gallery	Atlas Moth Gallery	Unidentified Moths

comment

Terry T		11-Feb-2014 19:39
Yes. I have a picture of a moths under body and it has a very detailed of a mans face wearing a crown. very very unique! ive look at all pictures on the internet and have not seen this moth. and yes I did capture the shot of this moth. I would love to share this pic if this site would like me too.

ray preston		13-Jul-2013 19:32
This is ray from verizon wireless right next store to deb and i got a bunch of pics of it if anyone wants them i can email them raymnd12@gmail.com

Deb		13-Jul-2012 02:16
I saw a moth this week I had never seen before. On a store front at a plaza in Butler, PA. 3.5 to 4" from head to end of wings. Would probably been 6" or better spread. Body, legs and head were thick and all bright orange. Wings were much larger than body. Multi pattern of Orange and yellow in color. Wish I had a picture to show. Several customers were looking at it and no one had ever seen anything like it. I spent an hour looking at multiple moth image sites and cannot find it.

jegs		05-Sep-2010 10:54
good to share photo

Carrie Stpeney		21-Jul-2010 23:34
Hello! My Name is Carrie and I found a "huge yellow moth" at work today. I live in New Jersey. I would like to know what type of moth it is? CAN ANYONE HELP ME?! From what I found so far searchiung the net it resembles "the huge yellow moth" from Mentezuma, Costa Rica. It looks exactly like it and the wing span is about 5-6 inches matybe more. However I cannot find the name of this moth. Also when I caught the moth it began to lay massive eggs. Can someone help me?

Guest		21-Mar-2010 00:26
Thank you very much for sharing!

nigelpartridge		01-Aug-2009 16:47
Oh Wow! Fantastic gallery. I DO appreciate the time and effort that has gone into this. Well done. Nigel

Guest		27-Dec-2008 17:08
Hey

Rachel		01-Oct-2008 07:59
Your site is awesome. Thank you very much for this work!

jcliehn		06-Aug-2008 04:31
Beautiful series. Congratulations.

Tina Baltimore		29-Jul-2008 22:37
Yesterday I saw huge, beautiful moth on the side of a Wal-Mart store near an entrance. At rest, its wingspan appeared to be approx. 5 inches and was mostly yellow in color, with some tan and lavender. Its body was about 3 inches and was yellow with a stripe of lavender down the back. Its "head" appeared soft and fuzzy and was the largest part of the body, which tapered down gradually. I wish I could have taken a picture. It was absolutely stunning.

Chrissy		13-Jul-2008 01:54
Hi lovely gallery.Today I was with my friend at the mall and were walking outside and saw a huge moth on the wall it had an orange body and what looked like orange fellers and body its wings were a light brown color with some orange.I would really like to know if you could tell me what kind it was.I have never seen a moth that big. Thanks Chrissy ,PA.

Ali Majdfar		28-Jun-2008 12:05
Stunning captures, excellent. GMV

Belle		17-Jun-2008 19:34
I found a big moth in my warehouse in Colorado, and I would like to figure out what type it is. It is about an inch long, and its wings are a little less than two inches wide and rest away from its body. It is brown with black stripes across its wings and back, and it has yellow stripes along the sides of its head and two very distinct yellow stripes across its back near its tail. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Krzysztof Masłowski		12-Jun-2008 21:56
A really great collection. VOTE! Will you comment on myhttp://www.pbase.com/krzysztofmaslowski/foty1_nature ?

Luc Meynaerts		05-Apr-2008 20:00
Very nice naturally gallery... beautiful work

Ashley Hockenberry		21-Feb-2008 18:03
Great work !!

Cameron		01-Oct-2007 22:46
this place is simply amazing. i have found alot of moths here. thank you so very much

Jean Sabatier		03-Sep-2007 09:40
Help! I am trying to indentify a huge moth that we found inthe kitchen in Tenerife last night. It was black with a white marking on its head. When I tried to collect it to put it outside using a paper tissue it made an alarming rattling noise and was quite strong in its movements. I finally trapped in a covered glas and released it. Its wing span was about 6cms and body length about 8cms.....quite impressive!

rcope		27-Aug-2007 13:29
Magnificent pictures! I noticed the Yellow Wooly Bear moth is perching on an iris. My wife found a YWB caterpillar in her butterfly garden 2 weeks ago on a monarda. By the next day it'd moved the whole 2 feet to an iris and has since been working on the leaves diligently.

william mahan		24-Aug-2007 19:56
Wow! What a fantastic collection...beautiful and varied...You should do a book on these !!!

Chuck2011		18-Aug-2007 23:32
WOW what a beautiful site. Thanks for sharing with the world. A true wealth of information.

Guest		04-Aug-2007 19:09
indeed a fabulous collection excellent work.

lejun		18-Jul-2007 14:14
Hi Mary: The moth for which you requested an ID is the Regal or Royal Walnut Moth (Citheronia regalis). A beautiful moth always wonderful to see. Lew Scharpf (Lejun)

Guest		17-Jul-2007 14:59
Hi, I am trying to identify a large orange moth we found in a receiving dock in Virginia. Any info yuo could provide would be greatly appreciated, my 5-year-old is very excited to learn more about our visitor! Link to pics of moth: http://darksword.tripod.com/moth/moth.htm Thank you again!

andrea		03-Jul-2007 18:53
Hello. My dad recently found a large moth at work. I didn't spot a similar one in your gallery and was wondering if anyone could identify it. I have a photo of it, is there a way for me to attach a picture? I'll try to describe it anyways: its wings aren't fully expanded but I would imagine if they were it would have a span of about 3 inches or more, it has a distict pattern with many shades of green and tan, looks very similar to army camoflage. Hope that's descriptive enough. I'm not usually interested in moths, but I didn't realize they had such unique patterns. Your gallery is great, they're very beautiful! Thanks! :)

Doris Potter		14-Jun-2007 02:43
A wonderful and extensive collection of beautifully taken pictures. You do these lovely creatures justice! Voted.

Janice Dunn		07-Jun-2007 02:21
You have an amazing number of moths. Excellent captures, thank you

Adrian		26-May-2007 21:33
very, very good and artistic job. Bravo.

lejun		16-Apr-2007 01:45
Sounds to me like a Snowberry Clearwing...what some call a type of hummingbird moth. You can see my image athttp://www.pbase.com/lejun/image/47326662

lorraine		16-Apr-2007 01:28
I just saw an amazing flying moth or bee feeding mid air like a hummingbird on our lilac bush. It had an elongated black, furry body; longer than what you usually see on a bumble bee. Brillant yellow face and sides of head and upper torso. Distinct yellow ring near the tail around the body. The tail was furry. Overall about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches long. It's wings moved so fast that you could only see a blurr. We're in the Santa Monica California Mountains about 1000 ft elevation. I've never seen anything like it. Any ideas of what it was. I've seen lots of bumble bees but this looked more like a moth.

John Cravatta		28-Mar-2007 03:14
Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the entire Gallery!

John Cravatta		28-Mar-2007 03:14
Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the entire Gallery!

John Sandfield		23-Aug-2006 21:11
Recently in south of France and encountered very large black and yellow moth looking like a large, shiny bee (or was it a bee?). After a close encounter with a passing truck it disappeared into a crevice in the concrete at the bottom of a gatepost. Can anyone help identify, please?

Rosemarie Kusserow		12-Aug-2006 20:23
Hi lejun, these gallery show really magnificent moths, I enjoyed every one, congratulation and thanks for sharing all these wonderful creatures with us, a big vote, Rosemarie :o)

Mike, Toronto, ON		06-May-2006 19:01
Wonderful site!! Great pictures!! Very inspiring work.

elias filali		25-Nov-2005 22:49
thanks for sharing these beautiful photos you are an inspiration and i always enjoys looking at your photos ,all i say keep up the good work ,u got my vote, simply bravo and i am a fan of yours with pleasure please accept my invitation to my galleries and feel free to critisize or complement www.pbase.com/elias2033uk

lejun		05-Oct-2005 15:19
Hi Beth: Thanks for your interest. You can see an image of the Saddleback Moth athttp://bugguide.net/node/view/6838

Beth		05-Oct-2005 11:46
Hi, can anyone show me a picture of a saddleback moth (in its moth form)? I have saddleback caterpillars happily eating away at my store bought tropical plants. Do they overwinter in a pupal form or do they still have time to fly from Delaware this late in the season? Just curious to know more about these distinctive-looking caterpillars. Thanks,

Guest		21-Sep-2005 13:05
Excellent Gallery!

Angela		07-Sep-2005 23:36
Can anyone help me with this? My friend found this in her backyard....she lives in Arizona. We are having trouble identifying it. She said it's 3-4 inches long. Thanks! [IMGhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/Rowansmomma/staceymoth.jpg[/IMG]

Gerry Lemmo / www.gerrylemmo.com		06-Sep-2005 01:18
This is the best site for moths that I have yet discovered. Excellent images, along with names, are of great help in identifying my own file of moth photos which I have, after many years, begun to add on to. One of the most recent additions is a white underwing. Keep up the suberb work!

Lucy Elmore		05-Sep-2005 22:38
Marvelous gallery of moths! Maybe I'll hang onto my Saddleback Caterpillar to see what sort of moth emerges! Thanks for sharing this gallery!

G.ra Tomlin		01-Sep-2005 02:12
nice gallery

PBase Server Error

ERROR: 500

NOTES: [hset] LOADING Redis is loading the dataset in memory, at /usr/local/share/perl5/Redis.pm line 268. ,

PBASE_ENV: production

Try Again:
Go Home

Type your message and click Add Comment

It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest. Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help	private comment