Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Notarctia proxima

Here's an attractive tiger moth, Notarctia proxima - or less formally, the Mexican tiger moth. I found it this last spring along the Kings River a few miles east of Fresno. Actually, I should say that it found me, or rather, it found my light.



This second image is of the moth on my blacklighting sheet. It's a pale individual, making it a male. The female is darker, especially the hind wings, which also bear several dark areas. I've always loved seeing tiger moths ever since my high school biology teacher, Bob Mower, showed me his impressive collection. At the time tiger moths were considered a separate family (the Arctiidae). They are now considered a subfamily within the Noctudiae.  


The habitat shot is of Avocado Lake (just a stone's throw from the Kings River) at dusk.





1 comment:

Jon Quist said...

What a beautiful moth. I've considered colecting just enough Lepidoptera to have as art by my bug desk (with labels too of course). Perhaps this one would have been the start to this project, although, It'd be wise to ruin the more common, less attractive specimens first!