Monday, September 05, 2016

Minimalist moth

A threadbare moth spent a couple of days hanging out on the Mexican tiles behind my kitchen sink. She looked so worn down that I couldn't find it in my heart to shoo her away.

Probably a yellow underwing moth.

Stripped down like this, the structure of the feathers and wings shows through. Some feathers are hair-like, or furry; others are like little square tiles.

Detail of shoulders and forehead.

The wings are papery, thin, almost transparent, yet still strong.

Detail of wing structure, with a few square feathers. The small dark patch near the bottom is nearly always there in the yellow underwings.

From the hints of pattern still visible, I think this one, found last fall back in Delta, is a match:

Yellow underwing, Noctua pronuba.

My, what big eyes you have!




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