Actias luna - Luna Moth
This huge moth is familiar to almost everyone, whether they love insects or not. This particular individual was found at a gas station in rural Kansas at about 5:00 in the morning.
Family Saturniidae (Giant Silk Moths)
This huge moth is familiar to almost everyone, whether they love insects or not. This particular individual was found at a gas station in rural Kansas at about 5:00 in the morning.
Family Saturniidae (Giant Silk Moths)
Another photo, considerably better of a freshly emerged Luna Moth! There were quite a few that were attracted to the black light in Osceola National Forest the first night we camped there.
This is a side shot of the California Sister, and one I'm much more pleased with since the other picture isn't very good.
Generally these really cool moths are hard to identify, but this particular one is distinctive enough that with a little help I was able to identify it.
Family Pterophoridae (Plume Moths)
The butterflies are pretty common in Florida, not too sure about their distribution elsewhere in the US.
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
This is a Sachem butterfly, a member of the skipper family. It's nectaring on Ironweed
These tiny moths were pretty common for a couple of nights till it got cold again
I don't have much to say about this little moth other than that its well camouflaged.
Family Erebidae
With highly camouflages fore wings and extremely colorful hind wings, these moths are excellent at camouflage, and in case they are discovered, great at scaring off predators.
Family Erebidae
This is another one that I forget where I actually took it, but I have a hunch that it is from Sunol Regional Park, California.
Family Lycaenidae (Gossamer-winged Butterflies)
Found this one among some of my photos and it hadn't been put in its proper place.
Found this colorful moth sunning itself on a plant in the early morning.
Family Arctiidae (Tiger Moths)
This is a really common butterfly, and I'm not sure why I haven't shot it prior to now. It's in the same family as the Whites - Pieridae
A caterpillar of a Tiger Moth. Butterfly Weed is its host plant
This is the Southern cousin of the Monarch Butterfly that everyone knows so well.
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
This Julia Heliconian was likely just emerged from its chrysalis when I took this photo. There were many species of butterflies in the old Botanical Garden in Key Largo, and I wish that I had taken some more photos of the wide variety I saw there.
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
While this was found on a pine needle, it was moved to the log for a more photogenic setting. I usually try not to pose things, and almost never do, but I'm happy with the result. This is another species in the Saturniidae family, the Giant Silk Moths
This may be the first image taken in North America on the internet. Though I believe its more a matter of it being small and hard to see than of being rare.
Family Oecophoridae (Concealer Moths)
This is one of the prettiest moths I've ever seen, let alone photographed. This is a Tiger Moth, in the family Arctiidae.
This microlep has such a distinctive pattern but I was still unable to identify it closer than genus.
Family Elachistidae (Grass-Miner Moths)
I darkened this image a bit to bring out the colors in this amazing butterfly. It was the only interesting thing I found all day, but I was so excited when I saw it.
Family Pieridae (Whites)
Found this small goassamer-winged butterfly in a wet meadow up at Yosemite.
These are the commonest butterflies in summer where I live in San Ramon, CA, and what beauties they are.
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
This beautiful butterfly is one of a group of assorted Lepidoptera that I found feeding on salts and mineral in the mud near a lake.
Family Papilionidae (Swallowtails)
While it may look like a Hummingbird, for which it is often mistaken, this is actually a member of the Sphinx Moth family Sphingidae.
This might be the ONLY live photo of a male of this endangered species!
Even though its relatively common, its still a very pretty butterfly.
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
This subfamily appears to have only a single species in the US.
This large Sphingid is Manduca quinquemaculata, literally 5-spotted. It's in the same genus as the Tobacco Hornworm
Not too much to say other than this was the only species of butterfly I found in the Mariposa Sequoia Grove.
Family Pieridae (Whites)
It was a bit too bright to bring out the contrast I was hoping for in terms of color, but it makes up for it by being extremely sharp.
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
These are the highly distinctive caterpillars of the Tussock Moths, these individuals were all over Mariposa Sequoia Grove.
Family Lymantriidae (Tussock Moths)
This is one of a group of butterflies including the Zebra Swallowtail I found in the mud.
Family Papilionidae (Swallowtails)
This large beauty was nectaring on Ironweed (Veronia sp.)
This is actually an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. This is the black form of it
This is a very common butterfly in the fall, this one is a bit beat up though.
This is a very pretty noctuid moth that can be found throughout the Eastern US
This particular Crambid doesn't have a common name, though it is in the same genus as the moths known as Mint Moths.
Family Crambidae (Snout Moths)
A little too dark but identifiable nonetheless. Don't have many Hairstreaks in my photo collection
This female hairstreak was ovipositing on the chamise when I took this photo.
These were found along with a Giant Swallowtail and a Zebra Swallowtail feeding on minerals in the mud.
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
