National Moth Week: Moth Awareness Submissions
Here’s a few exciting moth sightings from our Cuplet Fern team!
I've never seen a black witch moth until it landed on my screen porch. Seems like screens are a favorite hangout for big moths! This one was a real surprise- I didn't think black witches, Ascalapha odorata, even existed in Orlando! The moth belongs to the Noctuoidea family and happens to be the largest representative of it. This one was no less than 6" long! This moth uses many plants in the legume family as it's larval host plants.
If you ever come across one and happen to have a black light flashlight in close range, try shining their wings. They are astonishingly iridescent- with even more nuanced intricate patterns- in ultraviolet light.
Mark Kateli
Here are a few photos I took of a tersa sphinx month and tersa sphinx moth caterpillar. Although many people dislike seeing them in the garden because they like to eat tomatoes and other plants in the nightshade family, I think they are so neat! The caterpillars remind me of the Pokémon, Caterpie, and the moths look like a wooden aircraft, except almost futuristic. The last time they visited the garden, they stuck to my native firebush, so my tomatoes came out unscathed. And the firebush is doing great as well, so they’re welcome back any time!
Chelsea LeNoble, PhD
Banded Sphinx Moth. It has a very colorful caterpillar. And it is one of the moths that can fool people into thinking that they are seeing a hummingbird.
Cindy Stump
I decided to go with the Polyphemus moth for my pick :) A little more than a year ago I spotted these beautiful moths for the first time. Not only was I not used to seeing moths in the day but I had never seen ones so big. I was fascinated and immediately went home to identify. Some cool facts: Their large eye spots on each hindwing helped to name the moth; they were named after Polyphemus who was a cyclops in greek mythology that had one large eye. They are also born without any mouthparts so they can't feed themselves. In only a few short days their time is solely spent on reproducing before these beautiful moths succumb to starvation. If any moth is worthy on a mention it's definitely the Polyphemus :)
Vicky Hines
View our YouTube video about Gardening & Florida’s Beautiful Moths by Subscribing here. This video has received over 200 views and was produced by Cuplet Fernheads!
And a bonus video on the buck moth, Hemileuca maia! 😀