Did you know it's National Moth Week?

[MoonRiver]

Yes, moths are an important part of the world's ecosystem.



IT'S NATIONAL MOTH WEEK and it has it's own website with videos of moths (of course) but also instructions on how to view them. http://nationalmothweek.org/ Moths can be beautiful (like this one) but since they come out at night they're just not as popular as butterflies.

[DirkGently]

1. Moth interething!

[NightWatcher]

2. I participated in National Hotdog and Icecream Days, but

I don't really want to eat moths this week. Izzat cool?

[MineralMan]

3. The Cecropia Moth - One of my favorites

[kas125]

5. I found a cecropia caterpillar a few years ago and it hatched -

[MineralMan]

9. Beautiful! Nice job.

[Solly Mack]

13. Nice! Very nice!

[MoonRiver]

19. It's like a Rorshach test!

I can see a lizard and a fish.

[kas125]

24. When I found it, I had no clue what it was but I knew I HAD to bring it home and put it in a jar to

see what it would turn into. My son insisted that it was poisonous and that I shouldn't touch it, lol. I put it in an old pickle jar and it immediately started making a cocoon. It only took 30 seconds of googling caterpillar pictures to figure out what it was and then I could not wait til spring when it would emerge. It hung around for two days before it flew away. This is what the caterpillars look like -

?zz=1

[MoonRiver]

26. What a beautiful caterpillar!

Do you know what species it is?

[kas125]

31. It's a cecropia moth. And you're right, it was very beautiful.

Even the bottoms of it's feet were different colors. It was like four inches long and the moth was big, too. I posted pictures of the moth it turned into above.

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. either that's a tiny jarvor a large moth

[kas125]

32. It's a big pickle jar. Or maybe an empty sauerkraut jar, lol.

It was a big jar AND a big moth. The caterpillar was over four inches long and as thick as my fingers. The cocoon was big, too. I actually found a regular yellow hairy caterpillar and put it in a jar next to this one so the little girl I was watching at the time could see the difference. I might still have the jars, with the old cocoons out in the shed, if I didn't throw them away, I'll take a picture of both so people can see how much bigger this guy was.

[MoonRiver]

11. Wow, gorgeous!

[MineralMan]

4. Polyphemus Moth. I raised one of these from an egg.

It took almost a year.

[MoonRiver]

12. Beautiful creature! Very mysterious looking.

[XemaSab]

7. They're related

Moth wings fold back while butterflies fold up or into a "jet fighter" position.

Moth antennae are feathery while butterfly antennae are clublike.

Um... those are the two ways I know.

There are pretty good butterfly books out there. Some of them are really easy to ID. Some of them... notsomuch.

[XemaSab]

8. I did know this

[MoonRiver]

25. Cool!

[Solly Mack]

10. Hawk Moth

Rustic Sphinx Moth

[MoonRiver]

14. Looks stealthy!

[Solly Mack]

16. They love Petunias. They come out around nightfall

and they sorta look like little birds at first.

[MoonRiver]

20. Moths are masters of disguise!

[Solly Mack]

15. Luna Moth

I love bugs!

[MoonRiver]

21. Looks so much like a stingray!

[Fumesucker]

17. Video I took of a clearwing hummingbird moth in our garden

I had never even heard of these before.

http://tinypic.com/r/2aaj5ex/6

[kas125]

18. Wow, I've never heard of them before, either. That is very cool!!

[MoonRiver]

22. Amazing video - thanks!

[cloudbase]

23. Interesting creatures.

[SummerSnow]

27. The remake of Mothra is coming out just in time for National Moth Week...

just kidding

[Liberal_in_LA]

28. butterflies get'more respect

[MoonRiver]

30. Maybe because they are more visible.

Moths tend to come out at night.