I ♥ Moths

moth

I love bugs. I mean, I really love bugs. I only wish that I had microscopes for eyes so that I could appreciate them properly.

I think few things rival the beauty of a moth or the strangeness of a caterpillar (check out the Puss caterpillar below!) at the macro level. Like a butterfly, a moth spends most of its life in the larval stage as a caterpillar and later pupates into the adult form. The caterpillars are sometimes spiny, sometimes furry and always a complete mind-trip. The adults are colorful, furry and have amazing fan-like antennas. I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit browsing pics of these little (and mammoth) creatures and still haven’t scratched the surface of the 200,000 or so different species.

Below I’ve posted some pics taken from Wiki Commons of a few species in their larval and adult stages. If you find these interesting, I highly recommend checking out a few of the Moth Pools on Flickr (here, here and here) where you can find some really amazing images. I honestly didn’t mean to go so apeshit on the number of photos I’m posting. What can I say.. I’m an obsessive dork. One moth just led to another. You know how that goes, right? Right?!

Oleander Hawk Moth

Oleander Hawk Moth

Leopard Moth

Leopard Moth

Saddleback Moth

Saddleback Moth

Royal Walnut Moth

Royal Walnut Moth

Puss Moth

Puss Moth

Promethia Moth

Promethia Moth

Popular Hawk Moth

Popular Hawk Moth

Luna Moth

Luna Moth

Io Moth

Io Moth

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

Garden Tiger Moth

Garden Tiger Moth

Elephant Hawk Moth

Elephant Hawk Moth

Death's-Head Moth (How metal is that skull on its thorax?)

Death's-Head Moth (How metal is that skull on its thorax?)

Cecropia Moth

Cecropia Moth

Atlas Moth

Atlas Moth

Cinnabar Moth

Cinnabar Moth

Emperor Gum Moth

Emperor Gum Moth

Ermine Moth

Ermine Moth

Rosy Maple Moth

Rosy Maple Moth

Spanish Moon Moth

Spanish Moon Moth

Sunset Moth

Sunset Moth

Tussock Moth

Tussock Moth

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4 responses to “I ♥ Moths

  1. Love it! Check out my pics from about two weeks ago (on FB) from a trip to the New River Gorge. I was stung by a Tussock Moth (nasty rash!), and one of those saddleback moths hopped a ride on my car. Since then I’ve seen about 6 more species. Maybe you need to come for a visit in West Virginia – they are all over the place right now! Very cool….

  2. Rad!
    By the way, “How metal is that skull on its thorax” might be the most punk rock thing I’ve ever heard.

  3. Battle Bunny

    HAHAHAA!!!

  4. is it wrong that i got hungry when i read the name cinnebar moth?

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