I Saved This Post A While Back To Eventually Identify The Moth, But Since It's Already Been I'D, I Thought

I saved this post a while back to eventually identify the moth, but since it's already been I'D, I thought I'd show yall how pretty the Virginia Ctenucha is :)

Image credit: Babette Kis

I mean, look at this creature!!

Hi, sorry if this is a weird question, but I’ve been wondering about something for years, and I figure here’s as good a place to ask as any.

So, this was years and years ago, like mid-2010s probably. I was living in southern Ontario at the time, like an hour away from Toronto? And I saw this butterfly during recess at my school, while I was at the park.

Its wings were this gorgeous really dark brown, like roughly the same colour as Minecraft bats if you’ve played that game? And I remember its body was really brightly coloured, like bright red and cyan, possibly with a black head. I don’t remember any markings on the wings, but I was like 12 and it was dark brown so I might have just missed them. I don’t really remember the shape either, so it was probably a relatively generic butterfly wing shape? It was also probably around 3 to 6 cm, but don’t quote me on that, I’m just guessing since I recall it being pretty average size for a butterfly and that seems to be the usual range for Ontario butterflies.

Obviously it could’ve easily been a moth, but I’ve never found any butterflies or moths that fit the description I remember. I’m not even sure butterflies/moths with brightly-coloured bodies like that EXIST, honestly. Also not sure it was native to my area: I’ve never seen anything that looked like that before or since.

(If it helps, it was a suburban area, but one with a lot of wooded areas nearby? There was also this tiny reservoir lake not too far from the area. It was sometime between 10 AM and 1 PM when I saw it, probably around noon.)

Anyways, anybody have any idea what I might’ve seen? Because it’s kind of been haunting me for years.

Now that it's ID'd, I suggest caterpillar rearing!! It's fun, informative, and you could possibly contribute to scientific knowledge about it (gosh I love citizen science)

Anyways, here are some of my favourite articles on caterpillar rearing:

A very detailed article

An article that covers the basics with less detail

Some setups for rearing

So yeah!! I recommend being very thorough, because caterpillars do tend to die easily. Sometimes they have a parasite and it isn't your fault, but other times it's fixable. One thing that isn't mentioned in these articles is that if you place food too aggressively in front of the caterpillar, some have a self defense mechanism where they basically regurgitate their innards. I did this once and my caterpillar died :( RIP Gerald, you will be missed 😔

Also humidity and heat within the container is very important. Here's an article on ways to provide your caterpillar with adequate water :)

i found a moth and it laid eggs what do i do heeelp

found it in north california, usa

FAVORITE BUG ACQUIRED

sadly I could only find one mole cricket plush in existence and since it’s a hand made one it’s very expensive, so I don’t think I’ll be getting a plushie of my all time favorite bug anytime soon… but now I have my favorite moth! She is SO cuteeeee

Fun fact:

Those hair-like bits at the end of its wings are called setae, they help the moth to sense what's going on around it

I found this interesting article by microscopy UK on it, and here's a quote I thought was cool.

"Adults have tactile setae on almost all of their body parts. The setae play an important role in helping the butterfly sense the relative position of its many body parts (e.g., where is the second segment of the thorax in relation to the third segment). This is especially important for flight, and there are several collections of specialized setae and nerves that help the adult sense wind, temperature, and the position of head, body, wings, legs, antennae, and other body parts."

Hdfghjkcyyc I love biology :)

Opinions on black berry looper moths?

OH MY GOODNESS, THEY LOOK KIND OF WOOLLY? LIKE THEY WERE KNITTED TOGETHER! THEY'RE SO PRETTY! GSSHSKSGSOSGSOSSUOSSJS BU9A79GSU9GGSGU9 BLACKBERRY LOOPER MOTH!

The other day I found a little goth moth, all black, clinging to a wall along the road...

I picked it up, and discovered that (other than being extremely unwilling to wake up, eepy sleepy moth) it had a beautiful bright orange abdomen. Halloween deco moth.

I had to go to work, so I didn't have time to take a pic, and I just put it back down to sleep not far from where I picked it up, but it stayed in my mind so I decided to look it up

(Pictures not mine)

I found out it's a Phragmatobia luctifera/Epatolmis caesarea , of the Erebidae Arctiinae family. (Family with lots of cool moths and cool facts about the way moths can pick up or produce toxic or irritant chemicals, and also family which contains moths with piercing proboscis)

Unfortunately, I also found out it is considered endangered in almost all its habitats in Europe. If I knew it was such a rare find, I'd definitely would've spent a couple extra minutes taking a picture of it.