moth

Orange-spotted Flower Moth

Orange-spotted Flower Moth (Syngamia florella)
This stunning moth is a true gem of the insect world. With its dark brown wings adorned with yellow patches and a striking red abdomen featuring two narrow bluish bands, it’s a sight to behold. That is if you look close enough. With a wingspan of about 15 mm they can easily be overlooked..
📍 Habitat: Found from South Carolina to Florida and from Arkansas to Texas, this moth also makes its home in the West Indies, Mexico, and even Argentina1.
🌼 Diet: The adult moths love to visit flowers, including dotted horsemint seen in this photo.
🗓️ Flight Season: While these butterflies migrate to northern areas during the warmer months, we can find them in Florida year-round.
Next time you’re out in a weedy or brushy area, keep an eye out for these small and beautiful moths.
Photo credit: Aymee Laurain
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White-topped Black Moth

The White-topped Black Moth (Melanchroia chephise) and Its Relationship with the Snowbush (Breynia nivosa)
If you examine the leaves of the snowbush (Breynia nivosa), you might spot a striking yellow caterpillar adorned with black stripes, feeding on its foliage. This caterpillar is the larval form of the white-topped black moth (Melanchroia chephise), a member of the Geometridae family, often referred to as “inchworms” or “spanworms” due to their characteristic looping movement.
Unlike most moths, which are primarily nocturnal, the white-topped black moth is an unusual daytime flyer. As adults, they have a wingspan of slightly over an inch, with velvety, dark navy-blue to black wings tipped in white on all four wings. The thorax is a vibrant orange, making them easily identifiable.
When laying eggs, this species is highly selective about its chosen host plants. The snowbush (Breynia nivosa) is the preferred plant for egg-laying, but the moth can also utilize other plants like the Otaheite gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus), snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marginata), and potentially the white sapote (Casimiroa edulis). Once the eggs hatch, the caterpillars emerge as voracious feeders, quickly consuming the leaves of the host plant.
While the caterpillars primarily feed on the leaves, if the leaf supply runs low, they may feed on the twigs and bark of the snowbush. Although this can cause significant defoliation, healthy snowbush plants are usually resilient and can recover from moderate caterpillar damage. However, in cases where the caterpillar population is high, and there are few natural predators, excessive feeding could lead to serious harm or even the death of the plant.
No intervention is necessary for those who appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the moth and its caterpillar. However, if defoliation is a concern and the aesthetic of the snowbush is important, controlling the caterpillar population is essential. To manage infestations, regularly inspect the undersides of snowbush leaves for salmon-pink eggs, which can be manually removed and destroyed.
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Southern Pearly Eye

The Southern Pearly Eye (Lethe portlandia) has a wingspan of 2¼ – 2¾ inches. The antennal club (the tip and thickest part of the antenna) is orange. As caterpillars, they are green or brown with thin, light stripes, two short tails, and two reddish horns on green heads. As chrysalis (pupa) they are little green pendants that often dangle from a host plant stem. Their host plants are Canes (Arundenaria spp.). They are most active on cloudy days and at dusk.
Cool Fact: Cocoons and chrysalis are often used interchangeably when discussing moths and butterflies, but they are two completely different things! Moths form cocoons, whereas butterflies form chrysalis.
Photo Credit: Lynn Marie
Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon
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Webworm Moth

– Webworm Moth –
The Ailanthus Webworm (Atteva aurea) adults are considered good pollinators. The host plant, Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is a non-native plant in Florida that the Ailanthus Webworm will use for laying eggs. Caterpillars will emerge and feed on the leaves. This species also use two native Florida plants. Both are Paradise Trees, Simarouba glauca, and Simarouba amara.
Photo Credit: Lynn Marie
Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon
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Luna Moth

Luna Moth
The adult Luna moth, Actias luna (Linnaeus), can be found every month of the year in Florida’s forests. They range from southern Canada to Florida and as far west as Texas. This large green moth has a wing span of 3–4¼ inches.
The luna moth lays eggs, and the caterpillars are bright green. Host plants include sweet gum, sumacs, hickories, persimmon, and plants in the walnut family. The adult moth cannot eat and only lives long enough to mate, and lay eggs. You will be lucky if you encounter one of these beautiful moths while sauntering through the woods.
Fun Fact: The Luna moth appeared on a first-class United States postage stamp issued in 1987.
Photo Credit: Andy Waldo
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Gaudy Sphinx

The Gaudy sphinx, Eumorpha labruscae, is a common and vibrant green moth whose range is from Argentina to Canada. Host plants include muscadine grapes, Christmas bush, and other vines. Pupae climb down into the soil where metamorphosis takes place. They emerge as adults. Females release pheromones at night to attract males who follow the scent.
Photo credit: Aymee Laurain
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Scarlet-bodied Wasp Moth

The Scarlet-bodied wasp moth, Cosmosoma myrodora, is a stunning moth found throughout Florida and coastal areas in the southeastern U.S. Males have filament containing pouches on the abdomen called flocculence. During mating the male will hover over the female and discharge the flocculence, creating a net over her before attempting to mate. These flocculence’s are a visible white.
The larvae emerge from the eggs appearing as tiny white hair-covered caterpillars. These hairs are called setae and help form the cocoon. Cocoons are constructed under leaves and are mesh-like balls. Larvae feed on native hempvines.
Adult males feed on dogfennel and pass the toxin, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, obtained from the plant to females during courtship as a way to protect eggs from predation. Some parasites are still able to get past these defenses. These include Hyphantrophaga sellersi and Tetrastichinae parasitoids.
Photo credit: Aymee Laurain
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Polyphemus Moth

The Polyphemus moth, Antheraea polyphemus, is a giant silk moth that can be found from Mexico to southern Canada and in every US state except Nevada and Arizona. The moth’s wingspan measures 4 – 6 inches. Colors vary and include gray, tan, and brown with shades of red, yellow, and pink. Polyphemus moths have large eyespots on their hind wings and were named after Polyphemus, the giant cyclops from Greek mythology with a large eye in the middle of his forehead. The male’s (pink pictured) antennae are bushier than the female’s (tan pictured) antennae.
 
Females produce 2 broods each year. In Florida, newly emerged Polyphemus moths can be found year-round. Because of their vestigial mouthparts, they cannot eat. A newly emerged female will release a pheromone to attract a male. The dating game lasts throughout the night with the most activity a few hours before sunrise. The pair will remain coupled all day before separating at sunset. For the next several nights, the female will lay single eggs in groups of two or three on a leaf of an oak tree or other desirable host tree.
 
Look for these moths near man-made light sources. Of concern is the Polyphemus moth’s attraction to mercury vapor lights that may distract them from mating, thus impacting their populations in cities and neighborhoods. (Worth and Muller 1979)
 
Photo Credit: David Gale (pink)
Photo Credit: Erin James (tan)
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Saddleback Caterpillar

Saddleback Caterpillars (Acharia stimulus) have hairs that cover their bodies, which secrete venom. Contact with the hairs will cause a painful rash, burning, itching, swelling, blistering, and nausea. The cocoon and the larvae have hairs as well. The hairs are hollow quills connected to poison glands beneath its skin. The venom will spread if the hairs are not removed from the skin.

Saddleback Caterpillars are easy to distinguish by their green-colored backs with a white-ringed, brown dot in the center. They are brown at either end, have skin with a granulated appearance, and sport pairs of fleshy horns. The Caterpillar is one inch long with a slug-like body in its larvae stage.

The Saddleback Caterpillar is a general eater and can be found in oak trees, fruit trees, and many other plants. Females lay up to 50 eggs on the top leaves of a host plant. The eggs are tiny and transparent with a scaly look.

The adult Caterpillar is the Saddleback Caterpillar Moth, which is dark brown with black shading. The dense scales on its body and wings make it look furry. The back wings are a lighter brown. The wingspan is between one to two inches wide. Near the front wing is a single white dot and another 3 white dots near the front apex.

The bright colors on this Caterpillar are a warning to predators. Never touch this or other brightly colored, hairy Caterpillars with your bare hands.
You can remove the hairs from the skin by using tape.

Photo Wikimedia Commons

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