fuck yeah, moths!

a blog dedicated to moths. all pictures belong to their authors; we do our best to always acknowledge the source. background by pocketmole; colours by pinkpretty.

[chalkandwater]

Life (Episode 6: Insects, 2009)

[bugkingdom]

It’s a Sunset moth (Chrysiridia rhipheus)!

[fuckyeahmoths]

This is a moth I found inside my boyfriend's kettle (I think it fell in during the night). But still found it looking so perfect and beautiful, despite its unsuccessful swimming lesson.

Original Post: http://my-shiny-veneer.tumblr.com/post/56254739201/just-found-this-moth-in-a-kettle-thats-gross-but

(submitted by my-shiny-veneer)

[fuckyeahmoths]

flikkerlicht submitted:

Hello, I've been trying to identify this moth but I've never came to be sure. It has distinctive white/black marks. The wings are more gray/brown than in the photo. The red spot seems to be a bald spot because my friend caught a different moth and it had the same kind of bald spot. I live in europe. 

Thanks for your help!

this is a pretty difficult one! there are quite a few noctuidae with similar markings, and since it's such a large family, narrowing it down is not an easy task. the closest match i've found is the saxon, but i am not convinced it's the moth you saw. i wish i could be of more help!

[hardcorestitchcorps]

Beautiful work by Mother Eagle. Click through for close-ups of each moth.

[fuckyeahmoths]

to the person who's just made two submissions:

i am pretty dang sure that neither of those pictures was taken by you. in fact, one of them is a low-res version of a picture from wikipedia, which by the way is there under a CC BY-SA licence, and that means i am not allowed to repost it without attributing the author. i'm sure it must have taken a lot of effort to slap your website's url on the bottom of each picture, but the photos are still not yours. what you're doing is basically using others' work in a way that violates its licence to promote your website, and i have half a mind to actually put its url in this post so that people who care about crediting photographers know NOT to visit it.

to everyone else:

the submissions are primarily a way of sharing moth pictures taken by you or your friends/family, plus other moth-related content (if you record a moth-themed concept album, i will absolutely post a link to your bandcamp, and also love you forever). i love receiving submissions! all i ask is that you briefly specify the source; a short "photo by me" or "taken by my friend who's made a vow never to touch a computer" will easily suffice. i'd just hate to accidentally post someone's work without crediting the author.

on that note — thank you to all submitters (who haven't lifted their submissions off goddamn wikipedia)! seriously, it's not just empty words when i say i love receiving them. y'all are super rad and you have no idea how much i appreciate you.

sealed with a kiss & signed by the head moth

[fuckyeahmoths]

A large and lovely Pandora Sphinx Moth found in New Kent, VA ( USA )

(submitted by thestuntkid)

[fuckyeahmoths]

I believe it's a member of the Sphingidae family. They sound like small helicopters if they fly by your ear; it's a little startling.

Photo by me.

(submitted by sadisticink)

[fuckyeahmoths]

logenoir submitted:

Hi! We seen this moth in the middle of night while high on lsd, i was trying to identify it myself but then i though i could send it to you since it is a nice photo as well!

Cheers from Czech republic!

i'd say we're looking at a Garden Tiger (Arctia caja) — the hindwings are a more vibrant colour than i'd expect, but i suppose a ton of factors can influence the colours in photos, and the wing pattern definitely looks right.

[fuckyeahmoths]

kerfufflecat submitted:

My mom found this at her job (in southeastern VA), but neither of us are sure of the species. :c The photo is from her facebook.

this seems to be a female Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis). incidentally, just the other day i got a link to cjwhiteshizzle's pictures of a female Imperial Moth submitted to me, so check them out if you're interested.

[fuckyeahmoths]

Please tell me you're going to start updating again soon? Saw you posted a submission and got excited...

right now i have two more submissions in my queue, and after that i plan/hope to keep updating regularly. the moth is back in town!

[fuckyeahmoths]

amentalwindow submitted:

Snapped a pic of this beauty outside on my porch. Could you perhaps help me find out the species?

this fellow looks like a Luna Moth (Actias luna)! or perhaps a similar moth from the Actias family, but i'm bettin' on the luna.

[mattcoors]

Moth—Glyphodes onychinalis  

—A beautiful little moth that I found on Juniper Street in downtown San Diego today.  Thanks to the good folks at BugGuide for helping me identify this. Turns out this species is native to the Afro-Asian region (India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand), but was introduced to the U.S. and first seen in Southern California around 2000.

[fuckyeahmoths]

Moth Tattoo done by Sean Ambrose at Arrows and Embers Custom Tattooing

Moth Tattoo done by Sean Ambrose at Arrows and Embers Custom Tattooing

(submitted by arrowsandemberstattoo)

[fuckyeahmoths]

Could you tell me who this little guy is? :~)

(submitted by sour-sunflower — please direct your answers to them!)

[fuckyeahmoths]

Hey, I'm looking for a white moth (maybe with blue hints) to get tattooed on me. Preferably from the midwest of the USA, but wherever's fine. (White moths mean "to remember a lost loved one," and the woman who raised me recently killed herself so i want a tattoo in her honor. Moths are also my favorite insect).

#suicide warning

i imagine the best known species that’s white-ish is the domesticated silk moth (bombyx mori); however, it doesn’t naturally occur outside of east asia. female muslin moths (diaphora mendica) are mostly white and very beautiful, but also not found in the usa. for american moths, i recommend looking into the genus spilosoma and the related species hyphantria cunea. and here’s some geometer moth species you could check out: lomographa vestaliata, eugonobapta nivosaria (a gorgeous, pure white species), ennomos subsignaria, sericoptera virginaria, campaea perlata (greenish but mostly very pale) and tetracis cachexiata. unfortunately, i couldn't find any white moths with blue markings.

for further search, ukmoths.org.uk allows you to search by colour and markings, although the system is still experimental, and of course the site’s focus is on british moths; and bugguide.net is always a big help.

i hope this is helpful! good luck on your search ♥

[irkajavasdream]

[sinobug]

Male Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas, Saturniidae)) The Atlas Moth or Giant Silkworm Moth is a large saturniid moth found in the tropical and subtropical forests of Southeast Asia, and common across the Malay archipelago. Atlas moths are considered the largest moths in the world in terms of total wing surface area. This is the second of my captive raised Atlas Moths to emerge. The first was a female (see her here). See caterpillar here and here. Male Atlas moths are distinguished from females by their smaller size, more tapered wings, and larger, bushier antennae. Neither sex possess fully formed mouthparts and therefore do not feed; throughout their one- to two-week adult life they survive entirely on larval fat reserves that they build up while they are caterpillars. by Sinobug (itchydogimages) on Flickr. Pu’er, Yunnan, China See more Chinese moths on my Flickr site HERE…..

[fuckyeahmoths]

Parotis sp.