Every year in May I get little earthy green and brown moths hanging out on my kitchen window. I call this one Mothman because from the underside he looks a little bit like Spiderman clinging to the outside of the window. I'm not sure what these moths are but I have an identification request in at BugGuide.net so I'm hoping to update this blog post with the exact genus and species as soon as I hear anything from the wonderful people at the website. In the meantime it's fun to speculate about this "fuzzy" looking character with the big, black eyes!
My first guess after researching a bit was that this moth is a smaller parasa called Parasa chloris. However, I've learned today that smaller parasa moths have a green thorax (what looks like the top of his fuzzy head in above photo) and my guy has a brown one so he must be a Euclea. More precisely, E. incisa or E. delphinii.
In any case, my Mothman belongs to the Family of Slug Caterpillar Moths (photo credit). The caterpillars of these moths are colorful with spiny stingers so if you see any pretty little wormie sluggers - admire but don't touch! These guys in caterpillar stage like to feed on oak, willow, and other deciduous plants. They better stay off the 1000 year old Granddaddy of all Coastal Live Oaks I recently blogged about though!So back to identifications, the more I look at my moth the more I think it's Euclea delphinii. It's interesting to see what other Bug Huggers think about this one: follow the BugGuide.net discussion taking place right now.
"Mothman"
Just Hangin' Out!
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