Pale Beauty Moth

The Pale Beauty Moth, a.k.a Fringed Looper, (Campaea perlata) can be found in almost all of North America including Western Artic, except in Texas and its bordering states. One can find them in coniferous, mixed, and deciduous forests and shrubby areas; adults are nocturnal and come to light, but in the arctic where summer nights are short or absent, adults fly during the day.

I spotted this one in the early morning on the side of my daughter's house. He appeared white at first, but after I saw the photo, I saw the pale, emerald green color. The same afternoon, I found him resting in the grass. The funny thing is that he appeared dead, but when I went to pick him up, he hung on tightly and I spotted him moving his antennae. I've never been able to touch a moth before when they are resting (although I admit I've never tried). I find this fact pretty interesting.

For a closer look, click on the photo.

White Tipped Black Moths

This was taken in my back yard in St Petersburg, FL. I've never seen these little moths before and I couldn't find them in any of the insect books I have. Finally, I gave up and Googled, "black moth, Florida" and finally came up with the name of these little guys.

They are so cool with their red thorax and black abdomen and, as you can see they're pretty small. They really love my Mexican Sunflower tree, too. They were just all over it. Each one landing on a flower and staying there for quite some time.

To judge their relative size, I've included the whole flower in this photo. The flower is about 4 - 5" in diameter, so by comparison, these are pretty small moths. They're easier to see if you click on the photos to see a larger version.

These were shot after 4:00 pm when the sun was pretty low in the sky. Especially when photographing yellows, the sun needs to be lower in the sky and not shining directly on the flower so the yellow doesn't blow out or become over saturated.