mysticmothworld - Tumblr blog

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Creature found chilling on my leeks??? Having a little snack perhaps?? Miku moth?!?

Mimas tiliae (lime hawk-moth) I think, definitely not an entomologist so correct me if I'm wrong

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ニオイバンマツリの花でオオスカシバが吸蜜してた（5月8日）

yesterday-today-tomorrow or kiss me quick (Brunfelsia latifolia) and a coffee bee hawkmoth, pellucid hawk moth or coffee clearwing (Cephonodes hylas)

[mysticmothworld]

So I was bored....

the moon and stars faded but the moth stayed!

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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!

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MOTH

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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.

[mysticmothworld]

PEOPLE ON TUMBLR

PLEASE HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD (no, no, nothing really important, don't worry)

PLEASE

I NEED TO KNOW EVERYONE'S ANSWERS

MY MUTUALS, BESTIES AND STRANGERS

SHOW ME BEST MOTH YOU HAVE EVER SEEN

Pls reblog (no forcing ofc!!) like or comment, tell me what in your opinion is best moth, show them love and if you have energy to do so, send me some videos or even games about moths!!

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I found a luna moth at work today!!

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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.

[mysticmothworld]

You'll need to relax them first, so they aren't brittle. Then pin them on a spreading board like you'd pin it if the body were there, just estimate the size of the body. Be careful where you handle the wings (it should be from the biggest vein only) and be careful not to pin through them. To mount them, I'd suggest using insect glue not pins to not damage the wings.

Some of my favourite articles on insect pinning:

One (this one's a pdf btw)

Two

Three

Four

Five

Anyone have any knowledge or resources on how to mount moth wings? Literally just the wings, though.

Because every article about insect mounting I've found so far only talks about mounting the entire insect, but I've only got the wings that were scavenged from the ground.

[mysticmothworld]

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

[mysticmothworld]

Part of the reasons I love moths is because they have really entertaining names.

Today I saw a Laudable Arches moth! It’s a cutworm moth related to Implicit Arches, Explicit Arches, Erect Arches, and the Beloved Marginea moth.

Moth names are sometimes so biased or judgmental! What exactly is going down in the moth entomologist community???

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Okay so I've had a few ppl do this tag game and not know what my url is so here's an elaboration :D

(apparently another case of my autistic ass finding like super specific stuff relating to my interests and not realizing it isn't actually common information 😭)

But in case you didn't know my url is a slight misspelling of a name for a family in the Lepidoptera order! (moths & butterflies)

They contain the largest Lepidoptera, and some of the largest living insects overall– a good example would be the Atlas moth, with an impressive wingspan of 24 cm! (larger than the average human hand) which is also probably my all time favorite moth!!!

Anyways my url is based off me going by Moth online (which is also related to my actual name, funnily enough). It's not just for aesthetics bro I am a dedicated Saturniidae and Lepidoptera super fan.

I've a big fascination with (ethical! Always do research before purchasing taxidermy and related items!!) insect pinning as well; I've got a rather small collection I'm currently working on expanding, a few years back I went to a pinning class for a deathshead moth (though I've yet to put it up 💀) and it was really fun!!! I think these animals are genuinely so beautiful and endearing they deserve to have their beauty preserved and shared with the world (especially considering they have such short lifespans) as well as finding the practice of insect pinning for educational purposes fun! Ironically I have an aversion to live insects but still love learning about them! :)

Anyways I hope anyone who follows me/is a mutual and wasn't sure what my url meant finds this helpful! Sorry it kind of turned into a bug ramble

Picture of my collection below the cut!!!

The Atlas (top left) is what got me into collecting, it was a birthday gift from my mom :D

Sorry this isn't a great picture but it's like 3am rn so it's not like the lighting would be any better 😭

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all my followers get a free random image

Yay!!

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Look what I found outside of my door!!!! A Tiger Moth!!!! 🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅

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Moth days that never end