#noctuoidea

[ljsbugblog]

probably one of the nicest looking moths I've found yet, Joseph's Coat Moth! I'm back from a trip to the northern tropics, and the wildlife did not disappoint.

Joseph's Coat Moth (Agarista agricola).

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

Have you seen the Edwards' wasp moth (Lymire edwardsii)?

I have now

Yes, in photos/videos

Yes, irl

I'm not sure

Voting ended onNov 17, 2025

[bugtoucher420]

Hypenine snout moths have no business being as beautiful as they are. Some of my favorite porch light visitors, and they’re not even the big showy moths like saturniids or sphinxes! Give some love to these little perpendicular creatures:

(All photos are mine)

[mothclock]

Boisduval's Autumn Moth (Oenosandra boisduvalii)

[flighty-flycatcher]

📍 Location: Nags Head, North Carolina 🗓 Date: May 19, 2025 🐾 Media: Image 🌿 Species: Delicate Cycnia Moth (Cycnia tenera) 📝 Notes: Small, pale moth commonly found in meadows, old fields, wetlands, and woodland edges across eastern North America. Adults are soft white to cream-colored with subtle dark markings and a delicate, almost translucent appearance in flight.

Larvae feed primarily on dogbane and related plants, sometimes incorporating plant toxins as chemical defense. Adults are nocturnal and frequently attracted to lights during warm months.

🔗 iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/282403641

[rattyexplores]

"if I cover myself in lichen, no one will notice I'm a caterpillar"

19/08/23

[birdblues]

Symphlebia

[imlichenthesebugs]

Arctiinae

Tiger Moths

order: lepidoptera

superfamily: noctuoidea

family: erebidae

There are about 11,000 named species of tiger moths worldwide. More of these are found in tropical America than anywhere else in the world (about 6,000 species).

Tiger moth colouration varies; some are white, others have disruptive or cryptic patterns, and other species have bright colours to warn any potential predators of the noxious chemical compounds they contain.

caterpillars obtain these chemical defenses (mainly pyrrolizidine alkaloids) from host plants and pass these on to adults

Many Arctiinae caterpillars are polyphagous (feed on multiple types of plants). However, there is still a bias towards plants containing alkaloids.

in some species, it is the adults that gather the chemicals from target plants (either instead of or in addition to the larval stage)

adult males especially -> for their own defenses, and to synthesise sex pheremones and offer during mating

the male passes some of the chemicals through sperm packets, and the female then passes some of these on to her eggs

Some species (in genus Cosmosoma and a few others) spend 9 hours copulating. To deter potential predators from taking advantage of this extreme vulnerability, the male will discharge fibers with alkaloid over the female.

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (in the aster and borage families, as well as a few others) - sequestered by both adult and juvenile arctiinae

Cardiac glycocides / cardenolids (in the dogbane family. A steroid named for the ability to cause humans cardiac arrest) and iridoid glycosides (in many of the Lamiales order plants) - sequestered by juvenile tiger moths

Arctiinae also uses mimicry a lot, especially in species that may not contain as many chemical defenses:

warning colouration of other distasteful insects

precise mimicry of wasps (colour; pattern; narrow, transparent wings; how the wings fold; similar waists

The less colourful species that fly at night can emit bursts of ultrasonic clicks to deter bats. This is thought to warn them that the moths contain distasteful compounds.