This one was interesting too...I haven't tried to look him up yet. I guess not all moths are nocturnal? I've seen a variety in my garden during the day, and some at night - including the one that looks like a hummingbird.
Moth with an irridescent spot on his back
Shearpamela, your lovely picture is not of a moth, but a butterfly, one of the Skippers, in the family Hesperiidae. I cannot manage an exact identification however. There are a lot of very similar species and you really need to see both sides of the wings to identify them.
Thanks Kennedyh, I was hoping you would take a look and have the answer :) Maybe you can help with the mystery of the pink moth too? Maybe it is not really a moth either...
I have tried to locate your pink moth (which is indeed a moth), but no success so far I am afraid.
Very nice shot of the skipper, shearpamela. What flower is it on?
I think it was my mistflower.... They seem to be popular with the moths & skippers.
Thanks. Its already on my must get list for next spring, if not now.
Three cheers for Kennedyh!! ..
Folks, we're just gonna hafta devise some way to get kennedyh a trophy, an award, a ribbon .. some document that relays our appreciation, to him .. For the way he rises to the occasion .. or, falls right in here willingly .. (or, the way we manage to push him, rather! hee) .. and bails us out .. consistently! Whatdaya think?
Who can put their 'hands' on a nice little graphic .. denoting such .. for our mentor; Kennedyh .. and post it here or about somewhere -?-
(so sorry shearpamela .. I got caught UP in the moment)
That is a GREAT pic of the skipper !!!
Okie dokie Ken....I'm gonna leap right in and admit I'm a moron. How the heck do you tell a moth from a butterfly? I woulda sworn under oath that SPs pretty guy was a moth too. So, out with it! What's the difference? Thanks for any educashun you can send my way. :-)
-Julie
You are so silly Julie! Its spelt edumacashun!
LOL
The best way that I know of to separate butterflies from moths, is that butterflies have slender antennae with a clubbed tip ( a slight thickening at the outer end). The way they fly is also part of the answer, but I couldn't begin to describe that.
Here is a site I just found that provides an answer to the question:
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/help/faq/bflymoth/bflymoth.htm
I think I have managed to identify your skipper now. I think it is a female of the Fiery Skipper Hylephila phyleus.
http://www.nearctica.com/butter/plate27/Hphyle.htm
Great resource kennedyh! Thank you very much! :-)
-Julie